Self-Care & Mental Wellness: Dr Janet Lindow Of Rural Behavioral Health Institute On The Top Five Selfcare Practices That Improve Mental Wellness

An Interview With Maria Angelova

Every day, I spend time outside in motion — walking, skiing, hiking, kayaking. This is by far the most healing thing I do for myself. It provides resilience and stimulates creativity.

Let’s face it. It seems that everyone is under a great deal of stress these days. This takes a toll on our mental wellness. What are some of the best self-care practices that we can use to help improve our mental wellness and mental well-being? In this interview series, we are talking to medical doctors, mental health professionals, health and wellness professionals, and experts about self-care or mental health who can share insights from their experience about How Each Of Us Can Use Self Care To Improve Our Mental Wellness. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Janet Lindow.

Janet Lindow, PhD is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Rural Behavioral Health Institute (RBHI), a 501(c)(3) public charity that aims to reduce suicide among youth in Montana and rural regions of the US. She is also an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center. For the past 12 years, she has worked to help improve the health of populations with limited access to effective treatments.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. It is a great honor. Our readers would love to learn more about you and your personal background. Can you please share your personal story? What has brought you to this point in your life?

Mental health affects us all, how we view life and how we feel day-to-day. I have experienced suicidality since I was 11 years old and still struggle with an eating disorder. I know what it feels like to want to die to escape pain and to be afraid of admitting it to anyone because of stigma. I also know what it feels like to recover and to find a life full of friends and great experiences! The organization I lead is dedicated to getting the mental health care kids need to them so they can live their best lives.

What is your “WHY” behind what you do? What fuels you?

Mental illnesses are common, treatable diseases just like an infection or diabetes, but so many people do not receive the care they need. I want to help others who are struggling find their way to a healthier and more peaceful life. I am passionate about identifying ways to provide care to the kids who are thinking about dying or those who are struggling with mental health issues. They have so much life left to live.

We need to prioritize mental health in the same way that physical health is prioritized. People are suffering needlessly. It is time to change that.

Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake or failure which you now appreciate has taught you a valuable lesson?

I think one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my career was trying to work on a problem I thought I should be interested in because it had the potential to make a big impact, but was actually not a good fit for me. Because the project didn’t hold my full attention, I did not pursue it with my usual passion. That made me feel like a failure, which I didn’t like, and so I continued working on the project far longer than I should have to try to make it a success. From this experience, I learned how critical my work was to my overall life satisfaction. My work was and is an essential part of my life, and I must therefore find projects that fill up my cup rather than drain it. I also learned that shutting down projects is not necessarily a failure as the decision can lead to new and unexpected opportunities.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I think there are three character traits that anyone can develop to become a successful leader: curiosity, belief in yourself, and cultivating relationships with excellent mentors.

Curiosity comes naturally to me and is why I became a scientist. I have always loved the scientific method because it is based entirely on asking questions and finding possible answers. My research career has taken me to many interesting places, including Botswana and Brazil, where I researched infectious diseases. In both countries, I saw firsthand the impact the diseases I studied have on peoples’ lives. That made me want to focus on real world problems and how to solve them. Having success working in fairly diverse scientific areas helped build my self-confidence.

After my time in Brazil, I took a leap of faith and shifted my focus to mental health research, even though I had no formal background in the field. I wanted to work on a major public health problem and mental health in Montana seemed like a great challenge (and has beautiful mountains). I partnered with mental health experts who spent countless hours guiding my progress. While working with community partners on various research projects, it became clear that rural communities need mental health solutions now. Digital mental health care seemed like a possible solution that could be implemented quickly. With the encouragement of my mentors, I decided to found RBHI. I believed I could be successful because I had colleagues who are content experts, and I had a clear purpose that I was passionate about. It was one of the scariest and best decisions I’ve ever made. I now have an incredibly talented and innovative team working with me to improve the mental health of kids so they can feel and function at their very best. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now? How do you think that will help people?

RBHI aims to reduce suicide among youth living in rural regions of the US. We focus on suicide prevention because suicide is the second leading cause of death among kids aged 10 and up nationally. In Montana and other northern Rocky Mountain states, kids die by suicide at rates more than two times higher than their US peers. Despite much effort, suicide rates continue to climb.

Thanks to our generous donors, including support from the Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children’s Mental Health’s Innovation Awards program and a contract with the State of Montana, our organization has developed an innovative process of self-reported suicide risk screening and referral to same-day telemental health care for Montana schools. The program is called Screening Linked to Care (SLTC). This school year, our implementation team (Kayleigh Brown, Andrew Keating, Bella Nyman, and Samantha Peirce) will deliver SLTC to 25% of all Montana middle and high school students. Ten percent of students who have participated in SLTC this year have reported recent suicidality, another 9% have clinically significant depression, and 9% have clinically significant anxiety. SLTC gives kids the opportunity to say that they are struggling and connects them with quality mental health care within hours.

To ensure students who need longer-term mental health care receive it, we have added two critical components to SLTC this school year: brief case management and bridge psychiatric services. Case management, led by Heather Windley, helps connect students and their families with services they need. For students with high risk of suicide and those with clinically significant depression or anxiety symptoms, Dr. Heather Zaluski, RBHI’s Medical Director and one of the few child psychiatrists in Montana, provides diagnostic evaluations and works with students to develop treatment plans, which can be carried out by the students’ primary care provider.

Treatment of mental disorders early in disease progression generally leads to improved health, social, and academic outcomes. Screening for mental health issues regularly in schools represents an opportunity to help many kids, not only those who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, about the interface between self-care and mental health. From where you stand personally or professionally, why are you so passionate about mental well-being?

The pandemic has exacerbated the mental health problems kids are experiencing. Kids need mental health support now and we need to provide this where kids spend most of their time — at school!

Suicide is killing thousands of children every year. It is devastating to lose a child to suicide. In rural communities, the entire community may mourn this type of loss. Losing a friend or loved one to suicide increases one’s risk of dying by suicide. Additionally, when an individual is experiencing clinically significant symptoms of depression or anxiety, it is very hard to socialize, concentrate, find excitement in activities one usually enjoys, or do homework. Knowing one isn’t at one’s best is hard on one’s self-esteem and can lead to symptoms worsening. The problem is adolescents often don’t know when or where to go for help, and in rural regions, mental health resources may be scarce or nonexistent. By screening all adolescents for suicide risk and common mental health issues at school, we are able to identify those who need mental health support and connect them to appropriate care. We are building care in schools so there are fewer barriers to care.

Based on your research or experience, how exactly does self-care impact our mental wellness?

Mental wellness is not separate from physical wellness. Self-care is critical to feeling well because life is full of difficult moments, and we need the energy and know-how to weather tough situations. Self-care builds resilience, which allows us to navigate hardships more effectively. When we take care of ourselves, it is easier to think of potential solutions to problems, which keeps us from feeling “stuck.” Overcoming challenges helps fuel self-confidence, which helps us feel independent, strong, and capable of handling new challenges. Understanding what each of us needs to feel and function at our best empowers us to achieve wellness.

Here is our primary question. Can you please share your “Top Five Selfcare Practices That Each Of Us Can Use To Improve Our Mental Wellness”?

These are my self-care practices and ones that I think everyone could benefit from:

• Every day, I spend time outside in motion — walking, skiing, hiking, kayaking. This is by far the most healing thing I do for myself. It provides resilience and stimulates creativity.
• I try to remember to take a moment to feel gratitude for something — my dog, where I live, that I love what I do for a living. Remembering how much I have to be grateful for can shift a day when nothing seems to be going right into a much better day.
• A few minutes of daily play invigorates me. This can be dancing around my living room to my favorite music or, my personal favorite, skipping like I did when I was a kid.
• I mark successes with a little treat — a morning ski or a yummy dessert.
• The practice that I have the most trouble with, but know I need to do to feel well, is listening to my body and taking time off when I’m tired. This can be hard on days when I have mounds of work to do and am feeling stressed. When that happens, I force myself to go for a walk, which always clears my head and refocuses me.

Can you please share a few of the main roadblocks that prevent people from making better self-care choices? What would you suggest can be done to overcome those roadblocks?

People have a lot on their plates. It can be hard to find time to do self-care when there are chores to do or kids to put to bed or work to finish. Self-care may not be a high priority when people are struggling to pay bills or feed their children. Mental health care can also be expensive and hard to find. In rural America, there is a severe shortage of mental health providers and people may live 200+ miles from the nearest therapist. Mental health-related stigma may keep people from seeking the care they need. If something isn’t a priority, it likely won’t get done when other things are taking precedent.

I find putting time on my calendar for self-care helps make sure I have the time to do it. Having it on a schedule also helps make it a routine part of my day. Here are some things I do, which have become part of a typical day. I walk my dog before and after work. I do some jumping jacks mid-morning and afternoon. I prep food for my week on the weekends, so I have healthy food available even when I’m super busy. I have a bedtime that I adhere to, so I get enough rest.

In one sentence, what would you say to someone who doesn’t prioritize their mental well-being?

Our heads are attached to our bodies — mental wellness is an essential component of overall good health.

Thank you for all that great insight! Let’s start wrapping up. Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does this quote resonate with you so much?

The Dalai Lama said, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” I love this quote because it is an excellent reminder that each of us can make positive impact no matter how small. If we work together, many small advances will become a large one!

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? They might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

It is too hard to pick one! There are so many people making major impact in the world. I polled my RBHI team (we are music lovers) and here are the people my team would be super excited to talk with:

• Halsey because she/they has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ communities and very open about her/their bipolar disease.
• Lizzo because she is a courageous, powerful woman who has also been open about her struggles with depression.
• Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons because he stops shows to talk with his fans about how therapy saves lives. One of our staff members cried at a concert when he did this.

Three others I would love to speak with are:

• Oprah because she has the power to inform and reduce the stigma around mental illnesses.
• Warren Buffett and Bill Gates because both have used philanthropy to change the world for the better in truly impressive ways.

I truly appreciate your time and valuable contribution. One last question. How can our readers best reach or follow you?

Please check out our website (www.rbhi.org). The links to our social media are there along with information about our team and the programs and resources we provide. Thank you!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.