A bubble bath is not going to fix much. Nor is one “mental health day” on a calendar of hundreds of stress-filled workdays going to make it all better.
As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, it is critical to address the crisis of mental health for women in the workplace and also to acknowledge what Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine and founder of Gemma, calls “faux self-care.”
Read MoreDo the negative news stories, content and information we consume affect who we are, our state of mind, and how we work and move in the world?
Emma Varvaloucas, executive director of The Progress Network, believes that is the case. In her role of providing content, podcasts, newsletters and more in this “network of ideas,” she is helping to shift the concentration on extreme, volatile opinions to a more positive gathering of news and facts based on progress.
Read MoreIssue 198 — April 27, 2022
Within minutes after we concluded the virtual Take Time for You event on April 23, Jen Koeller wrote this note to me:
Hi Gloria,
I was very excited to attend today’s Take Time for You event because it spoke to me on many levels
Read MoreIssue 197 — April 18, 2022
I got so many flowers on my big 8–0 April 13 that I jokingly asked whether I had died. I’m incredibly fortunate to be alive and high kicking as I veer into Betty White territory. I’m looking forward to people thinking everything I do that makes any sense at all is adorable. You know, like they do with preschoolers who use three-syllable words.
Read MoreBecause it’s about time to take time for you.
We’ve all been through some difficult times in the last two years. We’ve heard many of you talk about feeling stress and burnout. And even if that’s not you, it’s still important to “Take Time for You.”
Read MoreIssue 187 — December 20, 2021
Just when we thought it was safe to go into the water…or to the theater, to the office, inside the restaurant, to have our family and friends together for holidays…maybe even to feel comfortable taking our masks off — everything changed again.
Read MoreIssue 170 — June 28, 2021
My weekly zoom with women friends who have been staying in touch through the pandemic recently focused on how hard it is to get old ideas and solutions out of their heads when a new and better one has been proven more effective.
The examples mostly came from the world of science and medicine, starting with Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis who was hounded out of the medical profession in the 19th century. Dr. Semmelweis observed that simply washing hands after treating other patients could significantly reduce maternal mortality. Despite a growing body of scientific papers that backed up his theory, most physicians refused to change their traditional practices, and eventually had Semmelweis committed to an institution where he died.
Read MoreIssue 169 — June 6, 2021
As a girl, I loved tennis. I was never destined to be a Naomi Osaka, but I played regularly until I was 13 years old. Then my family moved to a small town where the only public tennis court was at the local high school. Soon after arriving in town, I went there with a girlfriend.
The court bordered on the street. A few minutes into our game, a carload of teenage boys parked in front of the court and shouted remarks about our physical appearance. We ignored the boys till they left, then packed up our racquets and went home. I never played tennis again.
Read MoreCalling someone strong is supposed to be a compliment. For generations of Black women, expecting and demanding they always be strong—and silent—no matter what, is cause for concern.
Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler, licensed clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, is out to change all of the stigmas, misconceptions and invisibility of Black women and redefine what it means to be a strong Black woman.
Read MoreLast year it felt like everyone who could began working from home. The COVID-19 pandemic sped up already common work-from-home trends, and many parents found themselves suddenly balancing it all.
If you’re still working from home, there are things you can keep in mind to balance your work life and make sure that your baby or toddler is thriving. As a mother myself, I know firsthand how hard it can be to juggle work responsibilities with motherhood.
Read MoreIf COVID-19 has not directly affected your mental health, then you are likely a very rare case.
And if the collision of crises in economics, health, injustice, family, work and career have touched you in the last year, then know there is access to steps to improve your mental health.
Moving towards an economic, health and wellness recovery, many women—and men— are strategizing to not only cope with the effects of the pandemic, but to manage a re-emergence and recovery post-COVID that is better than before the crisis hit.
Read MoreWith the projections that the “normal life” of pre-pandemic may not return until the end of 2021—if ever—is causing enormous anxiety, affecting most everyone from a remote contract freelancer to a CEO of a global enterprise.
“Are you OK?” is a question leaders can ask at the start of a Zoom conference calls, but it no longer affords a simple, quick response.
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