Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Now or Never: Long-Term Care Strategy is a podcast for all those seeking answers and solutions in the long-term care space. Too often we don’t fully understand the necessity of care until it’s too late. This podcast is designed to create solutions, start conversations and bring awareness to the industry that will inevitably impact all Americans.
Meghan Judge: A lot of people
that are of retirement age now
I'm sure you know this don't
want to retire. And it's because
they know because they are now
going well I see my friends and
all they do is like sit in front
of a TV. They don't take care of
their their mental health is
goes along with their gut health
goes along with their physical
fitness, right? So a lot of them
just kind of give up. It's all
connected.
Caroline Moore: Welcome to Now
or Never Long-Term Care Strategy
with Kosta Yepifantsev a podcast
for all those seeking answers
and solutions in the long term
care space. This podcast is
designed to create resources,
start conversations and bring
awareness to the industry that
will inevitably impact all
Americans. Here's your host
Kosta Yepifantsev.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Hey, y'all,
this is Kosta and today I'm here
with my guest Meghan judge, host
of judging Meghan a podcast
created with a mission of ending
the stigma surrounding mental
health and trauma. Today we're
talking about aging, and our
mental health crisis. So Meghan,
we get this question all the
time, or changes in personality
and behavior, a normal and
expected part of aging?
Meghan Judge: Well, first of
all, thank you so much for
having me on. Absolutely. To
answer your question. Yes, I
think so. I think that, as we
age, there's so much of there's
so many things that are great
about aging, you know, like that
the bad part is we don't
physically look the same as we
did in our 20s. And then, as we
go on, we look worse and worse.
But the best part is the wisdom
and the knowledge that we
inevitably hopefully have, and
life learned lessons by the time
we're older. But I do think that
the amount of wisdom that we
inherently have, by the time
we're older is, you know,
that's, I believe, a good change
and something that, you know,
people, the elderly should be
glorified for that I know, for
me personally, I have found that
being around older people is
something that I love doing. I
actually take this lady to Mass
every Sunday, I'm Catholic, so I
go to masseuse. And she's about
she's 89. Her name's Pat. And I
just love hearing her stories,
she has so many amazing stories,
you know, and I think a lot of
times people are afraid of, of
learning about people that might
be like, have come from a
different generation, and there
may be like, scared off because
they're gonna say the wrong
thing. They're people just like
where people?
Kosta Yepifantsev: Absolutely I
think we don't give I don't, I
think that we just don't give
seniors people that are elderly,
enough credit. And, you know,
they have so much to offer so
much wisdom. And we discredit
them, like you're saying, you
know, we just kind of discount
their worth, and we don't take
the time to build relationships
with them, because they may not
be on the same pace,
essentially, that we are on. And
that's sad, because they've
already got so much life
experience and have lived
through so many things,
struggles, etc. I mean, if you
think about it, people that are
CEOs of major companies are
usually identified for their
skills, but more importantly for
their experience. And when it's
not someone in a position of
power and influence, and
they're, you know, over the age
of 65, then it's like, oh, well,
you know, they're they don't
know what they're talking about,
or they're stuck in the in the
old times, you know, and the
world's new and shiny and what
can they do to contribute to the
narrative? So I think you're
absolutely right.
Meghan Judge: I think too, like
as a society, we're we're so
ageist, you know, and it's a
major, major issue. I think that
what we all need to remember is,
you know, we could be in our 30s
and 40s and 50s, and even 60s
and be successful and taken
seriously in the world or in the
business world. And then it's
like you're kind of thrown out
to pasture and you're expected
to, like sit in front of a TV
and play golf. Yeah. And, and
it's, that's not that's not
fair. People don't should not
have earned, like, where they're
supposed to go backwards and be
an infant again, I find that my
friend or the people that I know
that are you know, maybe at the
end of their life, including my
own mom, who's in her late 70s
Yes, she might report she might
tell me a story three times, you
know, or they're a little like
slower to you know, they can't
do the same things physically
that we can do, but you
Kosta Yepifantsev: wouldn't get
mad at your kids. If now
Exactly. It's such a good point.
So Megan, what are the signs
that someone might have a mental
health condition that should be
addressed?
Meghan Judge: I mean, that is a
great question. I don't have an
answer for that. Honestly, you
don't look at what happened
yesterday. Yeah. I mean, it was
so sad all day with the Twitch
that the producer that committed
suicide. So that's what happened
to him. It was it was yeah, it
was a gunshot. It was a gunshot
wound to
Kosta Yepifantsev: my gosh, and
he's only 40 years old. 40 years
old.
Meghan Judge: I'm completely
like, I mean, I know me
personally, I was so upset all
day yesterday, because as like,
we really are way too into
Instagram. Everybody knows that.
But I would follow Instagram and
his family and his wife and they
were so happy. And I loved
watching their dancing. And he
was always smiling. And my point
is you just never know, like,
how do you know that somebody
has is suffering with their
mental health. I personally was
diagnosed with complex PTSD,
stemming from my childhood, a
lot of trauma I went through,
and that was a few years ago.
And you would if I didn't tell
you, you would probably have
never known because I high I
did. I don't anymore. I'm very
honest. And that's part of why I
started my podcast, but I hid
behind jokes and humor. And I
was always kind of like the life
of the party. So you don't that
question is so hard to, to
answer, because you really don't
know, unless you're somebody
with like a case of like, you
know, bipolar and, or like,
like, it's like severe
schizophrenia, your
schizophrenia, you would maybe
you wouldn't even know it if
somebody was suffering with like
major depressive disorder a lot
of times. So there's really no
answer to that. It's kind of
like, if the sports analogy of
like playing through an injury,
like say, you hurt your
shoulder, right. And your foot,
my nephew happens to be a
football player. And he's he
plays for TCU, actually, so
they're going to laughs Yeah.
Johnny Hodges, I love him.
Anyways, so he hurt his
shoulder. And he was still
playing through. And nobody
would have known it because he
was sitting there still tackling
people and doing his job. Well,
it's the same thing with our
brains. You know, we we have the
capability as humans to hide so
much, because this massive
Oregon, you know, isn't really
like you're not wearing a cast
on it. You just don't know.
Right?
Kosta Yepifantsev: Right. Yeah.
And I think you said it really
well, when you were talking
about social media and
projecting that image, while at
the same time you said the most
important thing in your journey
was was coming out and speaking
about it, you know, I'm talking
and you, I'm just I'm trying to
put all this together, because I
knew Twitch had passed away, I
just didn't know that he had
committed suicide. I think so
many people in our society, and
honestly, this happens in the
long term care space. Often,
people suffer in silence, you
know, and it's even more
pronounced when you go into like
a nursing facility, when you're
in an institution, that type of
base care, facility based care.
They suffer because they're
isolated, they suffer because
they don't want to be there. And
I mean, you take when you take
care of your mom, are there ever
things that you notice that she
may or may not do? When being a
healthcare medical, or I'm
sorry, a mental health
professional, that you can see
that and say, Oh, I know what
that is, and I know how to fix
it.
Meghan Judge: Well, my mom,
thankfully, my mom is seven, she
just turned 79. The woman does
Pilates five days a week. And
she looks like she's probably
60. She's in great health. The
only thing that my mom really
has going on is dementia happens
to run in our family on both
sides, which is very scary. But
she says she's getting to that
age. I mean, it's like, you
know, our physical body slow
down. You know, we when we get
hit a certain age, we can't like
run, we can't do certain things
a lot of times, same thing with
our minds. So if you're going to
tell a story three times, so my
mom is definitely not one that I
really am worried about, like
taking care of. I don't take
care of her right now. She lives
in Florida. I have three other
siblings. They're closer to her.
Yeah, I've already said you can
move to California when it's
your time. But yeah, so I can't
really answer the question about
my mom. I'm in particular, but I
can tell you I can tell you just
in general, having lived through
my my aunt being suffering with
dementia and slowing down and
all of that stuff, I wasn't
witnessing it. But I just know
how hard it was for my sister.
Yeah, to go through and to touch
on something you just said, I'm
getting help with your mental
health. And I, by the way, I'm
no professional, like I am
somebody that does a mental
health podcast. Because I
decided a few years ago, when I
was at my lowest point, I wasn't
going out that way. And instead
of the, you know, I'm very
upfront and honest with my own
battles with suicidal ideations
and all of that, I decided I was
going to stay. And I picked
myself up and I started a
podcast without even really
understanding what it was. And
now it's way to do it. Yeah. And
now, I mean, that's what I do.
And I think, going backwards a
little bit, just to touch on
what you said, it's a
generational thing, you know,
people that are in their 70s,
and 80s, and 90s. We're barely
touching the surface of being a
generation or society coming out
of COVID, that feels comfortable
saying, Oh, I have depression,
I'm suffering. They don't,
there's no way that somebody
sitting in assisted living or
anything like that, would ever
feel like it's okay, so, so sad,
because they're really suffering
in silence, because they can't
speak up. And it's hot. It's not
okay.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Right. So
what you're saying is, is for
the, for the elderly population,
these issues are even more
pronounced, and then they're not
going to talk about it. And so
we need to be even more keen on
finding ways to start these
conversations, and identifying
tools, what strategies can be
used to reduce the stigma around
mental health and aging adults?
And also, how can we empower our
older generations to prioritize
mental health?
Meghan Judge: That is such a
good question, I really think
it's about once again, educating
them. And in the United States,
we have so many uphill battles
with mental health, obviously,
with homelessness, and all the
things that go on shootings,
like everything we deal with in
the United States. But I think
with the elderly, we really need
to have a system in place where
they can have like cap free
counseling, and they can have
like, it should be normal, it
should just be normalized, we as
a society would not have the
issues that we have, if we just
made mental health, one of the
top priorities in our country.
Kosta Yepifantsev: You know, I
was talking to a friend of mine,
and he worked for the state of
Tennessee, so I'm based in
Tennessee, he works for the
state. And, you know, we all
know that anytime that you work
for a government agency, you
have fantastic health insurance,
right? We were talking about him
going to therapy, and he has to
pay first off, he can't find a
therapist in his area. So most
rural communities, small towns
don't have access to you know, a
wide array of therapists or
counselors for that matter. So
he has to drive probably about
an hour and a half drive. He has
to pay almost $100 per session
out of pocket with insurance.
And I asked him, I said, you
know, why not, you know, make it
free or like a $10 copay or
something like that. And for
some reason, that's not been a
area that you know, healthcare
in general has wanted to
address.
Meghan Judge: Well, I'll tell
you something that makes me
infuriates me. So that is very,
very sad. There are resources, I
would highly recommend for
people to look into something
like better help. Yes, they are
one of my sponsors, but I
personally use better help,
because I was in therapy. And my
therapist was writing a book and
kind of took a break. And I was
like, if I'm, if I'm going to be
promoting a company, I'm going
to try it myself. Sure. So that
that would be a great resource
for people across the country
that don't have access and or
are in rural rural communities.
But I also think, I 100%
understand what he and so many
people in this country are going
through. I worked in corporate
America for 15 years of my life.
I had started having massive
panic attacks. I could not work
anymore. This was like, right,
going right into 2020. And now
my I'm an independent podcast
like, that's my job. That's what
I do. And it's my and I, what
was it the pressure? Yeah, like,
Kosta Yepifantsev: what was what
was it? Because I have heard
that story before. And it's very
often like, what about that
environment, and you don't have
to go into too much detail, if
you don't want to know I'm
Meghan Judge: very open about
it. So I was, I just went
through, I was basically at a
boiling point with all the
trauma from my childhood,
pushing it pushing it down. I
went to this really bad friend
breakup, very long story. So I
felt at the time this was going
into 2020, extremely isolated,
upset, like, UPS depressed. And
then I always kind of had
suffered with panic attacks. But
it was at a boiling point where
I was having such bad panic
attacks that I would wake up at
night and thought I was dying.
Oh, well, I think the
combination of everything and
then having the pressure, I was
a female in sales, I was always
looked upon as a number. I am
somebody that when I was in
corporate America and sales, I
was always pushing myself to be
the best kind of an
overachiever. And then I know
the feeling Yeah. And then I
just, you know, I think that
we're, we're in, we're just
pushed to our limits, and people
push. It's all about money and
consumerism. And it's not about
like, it's kind of like a
facade, where we're all just
like, obsessed with materialism,
and all these things. And then
it's really blacking out what's
really important, which is
obviously getting help and
mental health. And then just to
like, piggyback on one other
thing I said, was when I lost
when I ended up, like leaving my
job, due to COVID, and
everything else, the panic
attacks. I then had to pay and
my insurance for my family was
like 1600 a month, I had always
been in a job where I had like,
perfect insurance. Yeah, think
about all the people that maybe
don't qualify for, you know,
insurance, and they make over a
certain amount. So they have to
pay that it doesn't make any
sense. It makes sense.
Kosta Yepifantsev: You know, a
lot of the issues that I think
everybody experiences some type
of PTSD or trauma, whether it's
mild or severe. I think
everybody does. But I have been
going to therapy for six years
now. And I'll be honest, like,
if that wasn't an outlet or an
avenue? I don't know, I don't
know, what would have happened.
You know, I answered so many
underlying issues, questions, I
guess you could say, during
therapy, and I see a lot of
people suffering. And that's why
I really am curious, like when
someone is resistant to seeking
mental help. What do you tell
that person?
Meghan Judge: Well, I number
one, I always tell my listeners
or people that you know, I think
because I've been doing this a
little while people just assume
I'm a good resource. I don't
know why. But anyway, I say that
that finding the right
therapist, and I'm sure you can
agree with this is like going on
a blind date, or like, I never
did the dating where the online
dating, but it's kind of like
doing, doing your research, like
going on these bad dates to find
the good person that you want to
date. It's the same thing with
therapy, right? You might have
to interview a couple therapists
go to a couple of sessions to
find the right one. I think that
I went through that personally,
where for years, I had kind of
like, been in and out of
therapy. And then I happened to
find this amazing therapist,
and, and I was able to not only
like put in the work and do the
work because you have to write
like if you're just gonna, like,
do phonons and be like, No,
everything's fine. And it is
hard. Like, I mean, some days
I'm sure you can relate to this.
You dread going to therapy or
like I have nothing to talk
about sign today. Yes. But then
you leave or you're like, Oh, I
didn't realize I had to talk
about that. Yeah, right.
Kosta Yepifantsev: And, you
know, so my therapist always
hands out. He always gives hand
handouts like tango, ABC, stuff
like that. And he's always say,
now listen, you need to actually
read this and try this. Don't
come back and just, you know,
put it in with all the other
papers that you have. And you're
absolutely right. You have to do
the work if you want to improve.
Meghan Judge: And then we're
always to like just to give you
like a pat on the shoulder. A
little bit even though we just
met for men like for men to be
like, I'm going into therapy,
I'm doing therapy. I, it's so
frowned upon, you know, like,
for for men in general, like
they feel like, Oh, I'm strong,
I can get through this. Whereas
the highest suicide rates are
men. So women are taught from a
young age like we're chatters,
we love to talk about with our
girlfriends or friends. Like I
can't believe my boyfriend did
this. I love the law. And men
really just like are taught to
like, hold things in. Yeah, and
then don't get me started on the
African American black
community. That is, you know,
I've done that. And they just
won't, they won't. They're
taught to hold it all in. Yeah,
Kosta Yepifantsev: I'll tell
you, there's a good documentary
called the mask we wear or the
mat it's about, it's about young
boys and teenage boys. It's on
Prime Video, I believe. Anyway,
long story short, it discusses
primarily how boys are raised to
you know, you can't cry in
public. You know, if you're 10
years old, and you're crying in
public, you know, your parents,
your friends, all of society
thinks there's something wrong
with you. So you bottle up all
of this emotion, right? And it
eats away at you unless you're
able to express yourself. And so
I've got I've got four kids, and
two of them are boys, ones are
oldest, eight years old. And the
other one is for spent to be
five and April, okay. And I try,
I almost go out of my way to try
to make them feel comfortable
when they're just trying to be
themselves. So if you want to
cry, go ahead and cry. And it's
just because, like, a lot of the
issues that I have was similar
to what you were saying earlier
about. My dad was, hey, you got
to be the best. You got to be an
overachiever. You know, things
are hard. Don't don't, you know,
don't show any emotion, just
push through it. And so you hold
yourself to this incredibly
difficult standard. And it's
very difficult to it's almost
impossible to reach it, you
know, nobody's perfect. But you
hold yourself to that perfect
standard, and it eats away. I
think a lot of times that your
self confidence. And you develop
other problems because of it. So
Meghan Judge: 100% Yeah, I think
that's great. I think the more
men that teach their young boys
to be themselves and talk about
their problems. I mean, that's
the work that we have to do.
Again, if we can't get people
into therapy, we have, we have
jobs, a job as parents, I have
two young girls, and it's really
important to me that I got my
older daughter, who is in her
tween hood. She's about to be 13
and into therapy right away,
because I think that what these
kids have to go through right
now with just so much like tick
tock like, it never saw media.
It just never ends.
Kosta Yepifantsev: I'm terrified
when my kids turning 13 I'm just
I mean, I'm just like, they have
iPads that, you know, they play
yeah, five minutes a day. But
they're not. They're playing
Roblox right now.
Meghan Judge: Yeah, I have an
eight year old and she's into
that I let I let her. I let my
kids I do allow them on social
media. It's impossible. I was
talking to a mom the other day,
she was like, Oh, it's a parent
of an eight year old, a good
friend of mine in my daughter's
class. And she's like, Oh, I'm
not allowing my daughter to have
a phone and I go. Okay, said the
same thing. When every single 12
year old in the seventh grade
class, has a phone and your
daughter is the one kid that
doesn't have a phone. Right? You
start? What do I do?
Kosta Yepifantsev: Yeah. Well,
you almost do more harm than
then good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So
in your opinion, what's the
greatest mental health threat to
seniors and our aging population
today?
Meghan Judge: I think it goes
back to what we talked about a
little while ago, isolation. A
lot of people that are of
retirement age now I'm sure you
know, this don't want to retire.
And it's because they know
because they are now going well,
I see my friends and all they do
is like sit in front of a TV.
They don't take care of their
like their their mental health
is goes along with their gut
health goes along with their
physical fitness, right. So a
lot of them just kind of give
up. It's all connected. So I
think the isolation piece of it
is Self isolation. I mean, my
mom is 79 years old. I hate to
pick on My poor mom. But I adore
her. And I just told you, she
does Pilates five days a week.
It's amazing. She is goes out
with her friends for like a
margarita night. She is very
socially active. Like she's
always, you know, chatting with
friends and going to coffee and
doing things. But she also still
works. And she's 79 She works
like one day a week in a store.
It's amazing. And I'm like, Mom,
why are you still working? And
she goes, Megan, it's really
good. For me, it helps me like I
have to do the register and like
check people out. And it sounds
really funny. But she got an
end, not to mention the fact
that she volunteers in a
hospital once a week to wow, she
does kind of like a candy
striper position, you know, and
goes and talks to patients and
to help my mom, you know, stay
non not isolated, you know, and
so I think she's, that's
something that people really
should think about as they age.
Right? You know,
Kosta Yepifantsev: I think that
you said it really well, like
people don't want to retire.
It's almost like they throw up
the white flag when they retire.
You know, it's like, okay, I'm
out, you know, I'm done. But
what they don't realize is that
retirement, as long as they
follow kind of a similar
pattern, where they don't
isolate themselves, a lot of
times, especially if someone
gets injured, or let's just say
like they go, they have a
traumatic medical event, like
maybe a stroke or heart attack
or something like that, and it
changes their life
significantly. They're like, I
can't face everybody. I can't
face my friends, I can't face my
people that I know, in the
community, because I'm
different. Now, you know, before
I could walk, you know, with a
steady gait, you know, no
problem. But now, maybe because
I have some pair, like, maybe
it's an issue, I was paralyzed
on the left side or something
like that, I look different, I
feel different. I am different.
And so whether or not people
will accept me, I don't know,
I'd rather just not fool with it
altogether. And I see that a
lot. Because when I talk to
family members of some of the
individuals that receive care
within my agency, and they tell
me how different they were prior
to their disability, and I think
to myself, what if that
individual talked to a
therapist, and was able to sort
of connect the dots between why
they feel the way that they do
now? And how their, their their
perception of their disabilities
affecting them? So, for what
that's worth,
Meghan Judge: no, I think it's a
great point. I mean, it's like
an Olympian training and hurting
themselves, and then they think
their life is over. Yeah. And
it's, it's about, you know,
they're still young enough that
they can pick themselves up and,
and, and go on a lot of aging is
about ego, right? Yep. And so if
if somebody in their senior
years, like, let's say, takes a
fall, well, they have to do the
therapy, the physical therapy to
get themselves while but a lot
of times I think they just give
up. Yeah. And that and that,
again, is connected with the
mental health piece.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Absolutely.
And yeah, your mom does not go
to therapy,
Meghan Judge: right. My mom is
of the generation that she and
my mom actually was on my
podcast, and has been through
more trauma than probably most
people could ever imagine. And
she should have been in therapy,
but she has never been in
therapy.
Kosta Yepifantsev: How do you
support her and her decision to
choose to not go to therapy.
Meghan Judge: I mean, that's the
thing you can only, like, you
can only encourage somebody so
much, you know, to to do the the
work a lot of times, people it's
like teaching an old dog new
tricks, and I hate to say old
dog, but if they don't want to
try and learn the trick or do
the work, they're just not going
to do it. And my mom's one of
those people. She is kind of set
in her ways. She knows she's
been through stuff. She's very
spiritual. She is a great
person, but she kind of has been
gotten to the point where she's
like, well, it is what it is
like this trauma. This stuff
happened to me. And it is what
it is. Yeah. Whereas I know she
suffers and, you know, is in
pain, but at least she's doing
the best she can with what she
has. Yeah.
Kosta Yepifantsev: It's it's
really interesting when you talk
about different generations. And
again, Another conversation that
I have very often with people in
the healthcare industry is it's
hard to change people. And so
it's almost like you adapt a
system for a specific
generation. And then you adapt.
And then you completely adapt.
And then you completely change
your adaptation for a different
generation. And so our health
care system caters to the senior
population one way caters to the
millennial Gen Z population a
different way. And I think a lot
of it has to do with with
funding. And the reason that I
bring that up is because, you
know, obviously, people over the
age of 65, qualify for Medicare,
and Medicare pays 80% of
physical ailments. So like the
claims that that say, for
example, if you have, you know,
if you get hip surgery or
something, Medicare will pay for
80% for mental health treatment,
they will only pay 50%. So you
can see where they place value.
But I'm curious, where in your,
in your experience, where do
people go to seek mental health
care if they don't have a lot of
money?
Meghan Judge: Okay, that's a
great question. A lot of times,
schools offer free mental like,
so if it's a therapist and
training, so colleges, like
local community colleges, even
or local, if you live near a
major university, they have
their they have people that are,
you know, in their getting
their, you know, they're in
their final year and they have
to do cases and they have that
free service so people can reach
out that way. And try mench I
mentioned earlier better help is
it does it does cost money. But
I don't feel like it's too
expensive. I think you they have
a coupon code you can use for
the first month. And so there
are so many new Reese, like new
resources coming out for I
think, especially from COVID
Wow, there's such a focus now on
mental health. I'm sure that
people understand that and are
learning that as time goes on,
and it'll no matter
Kosta Yepifantsev: how much is
the better help? Is it a
subscription? Or do you pay a
Meghan Judge: monthly
subscription? Okay. And you, I
can't remember exactly how much
it is because I haven't been
doing it for like the past three
months, probably. But you pay a
monthly fee. So say it's like
180 for the month or something
like that. And then it might be
less than that for the for a
month. And you can use my code,
by the way, and you'll get a
discount your code is charging
Magan chi Chan? So yeah, I can't
remember what the actual
discount is. And that's great on
my part that I don't even know.
But yeah, so you can try that
code and get a discount for your
first month.
Kosta Yepifantsev: I love it.
So, before we wrap up, I want to
ask you about COVID because it
is a constant theme that's come
up where, you know, people
essentially either got laid off,
or they went to go work from
home. And so they spent a lot of
time with themselves, their
families. And one of the
statistics that I've read
recently is that a lot of like
addiction issues have have risen
tremendously during the
pandemic, because people were
using some type of substance to
cope What was your experience,
like, whenever COVID hit, and
you had this fast paced job, and
you had all these goals and
expectations, and then it's
like, go home and you know, stay
safe? What was that like for
you?
Meghan Judge: I think it was,
like very, a very scary time and
very humbling for for everybody,
not just me, you know, I think
that we as a society never
really realized that we would be
placed in a position in 20 in
the year 2020 where we had to
wear a mask and be in self
isolation like that or family
isolation. And I think a lot of
people turn to alcohol pills you
know, that's why or addiction
issues are so horrific right
now. For me personally, I just
you know, I I got through it the
best way that I I was equipped
to get through it like everyone
else. And in some ways, I
sometimes think that COVID I
know this sounds insane was a
blessing. Because I don't world
down. Yeah, it slowed everybody
down, I think, until it got
political and people went crazy
over it. In the, in the very
beginning part of COVID, I think
people started to really like
look at themselves. And after
drinking, like at three o'clock
in the afternoon and kind of
going on, they, they looked at
themselves and went like, this,
like Life is short. Yeah, right
now, like, this is kind of
scary, like, how am I gonna go
on and people came out of it
different forever, however, it
it, it touched you.
Kosta Yepifantsev: As a society
as a whole, I think is
operating. It's functioning
completely different, which is
which, you know, that's also in
and of itself, traumatic for
people. Because, you know, as
human beings like, we accept
change, but we don't always like
change. And, you know, in
literally three years, the world
has been turned upside down. And
as much as everybody wants to,
you know, talk about the before
times, and that we're almost
back to the before times, I
don't think we're ever going to
be back. The world's a different
place. And so I think now more
than ever, people need therapy
to better understand and I want
to touch on one more thing. You
were talking about addiction
issues and addiction rising
during the pandemic. And I'll be
honest, the same exact facet
applies to people that are
elderly. And physically
disabled. There are I don't know
the exact percentage, but there
are very high levels of elderly
individuals taking opioids that
are prescribed opioids that are
prescribed various other
psychoactive drugs. And if
you're not talking about your
problems, and you're going to
use a substance to cope, so you
don't have to feel or talk about
it. That's a very slippery
slope. So
Meghan Judge: 100% And I think
that I it's funny, you say that,
so I took a break from alcohol.
First, I took 68 days, I know
that's so random. I went to
like, it was recently my
birthday. So it didn't drink
for, like 68 days, yeah. And
then I started going down the
rabbit hole of like, what
alcohol does to our bodies, and
how we're basically putting
ethanol in our fleet, we're
poisoning ourselves, and, and
how alcohol had been such a
crutch for me, you know, like, a
form of escapism. But then when
I stopped for that period of
time, and I haven't gone back, I
was a daily drinker, I'm very
honest about that, I would drink
wine every single night. I will
never go back to that, because I
think it all it is, is a band
aid. Same thing for you know,
you're talking about the
elderly, and how a lot of them
are being, you know,
administered pills and whatever
else. It's a band aid. And it's
an I feel like it's never too
late for somebody to, if you
just kind of like open up that
person, they really just want to
talk, they really just want to
know that somebody cares, right
at the end of the day, that's
all we as human beings really
want is to know that we matter.
And our contribution to society
matters. And our stories matter
and our lives matter and what
we've done in our lives matter.
And that's really, at the end of
the day, really what happens.
And then a lot of times, ego
just gets in the way for
everyone.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Luckily, the
world is still malleable. And
we're still kind of trying to
figure out what to do next with
after this whole pandemic. So I
think this is about as best as
the chances we're going to get
to, to convince people that
there's a better way to do
things. 100% Yeah. So we always
like to end the show with a call
to action. What's your best
advice for anyone in the long
term care industry that is
seeking to promote and
prioritize their mental health?
Whether they be an industry
professional, a caregiver, or a
patient?
Meghan Judge: Are you saying
their own mental health? Yes,
well, I would say you can't
really seek out it you can't
really administered advice and,
and help other people unless you
help yourself like the old
saying of nobody's ever gonna
love you. If you don't love
yours. off, right? That's
correct. So it's the same thing.
Caroline Moore: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
Now or Never Long-Term Care
Strategy with Kosta Yepifantsev.
If you enjoyed listening and you
wanna hear more make sure you
subscribe on Apple podcast
Spotify or wherever you find
your Podcasts, leave us a review
or better yet share this episode
with a friend. Now or Never
Long-Term Care Strategy is a
Kosta Yepifantsev production.
Today’s episode was written and
produced by Morgan Franklin.
Want to find out more about
Kosta? Visit us at
kostayepifantsev.com