This year, the theme of Mental Health America’s 2022 Mental Health Month Toolkit is "Back to Basics." After the last two years of pandemic living, they’ve found that many people are realizing that stress, isolation, and uncertainty have taken a toll on their well-being. 
 
Nearly 450 million people worldwide are currently living with a mental illness, yet nearly two thirds of people with a known mental illness never seek treatment. 
 
It impacts all ages. A 2021 Healthy Minds Network study of college student mental health found that 34 percent of respondents had anxiety disorder and 41 percent reported depression. An American College Health Association National College Health Assessment survey in Fall 2021 found that 73 percent reported moderate or serious psychological distress. And researchers at Boston University engaged in a long-term study of college student mental health reported this spring that from 2013 to 2021, rates of depression among college students increased by 135 percent and rates of anxiety by 110 percent. Additionally, the BU researchers found, the number of students suffering from one or more mental health doubled from 2013 to 2021.
 
And our present pandemic circumstance contributes to more. Researchers have linked social isolation to all sorts of negative health outcomes: Loneliness is associated with a 50% higher risk of dementia, 32% increased risk of stroke and 29% greater risk of heart disease, and "significantly increases a person's risk of premature death from all causes," per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
As this month comes to a close, we wanted to pause to reflect on the importance of mental health and wellbeing.
 
One practice we employ to serve our wellbeing at Rob Roy is connection to our values. Values are the essence of the true meaning of what we care about, what drives us, what we strive to protect. We hold ourselves accountable to practicing our values — to ensure meaning is ever present.
 
Here’s how we practice:
 
Curiosity …
  • We ask questions before we assert solutions, and we have our clients reorient to the most important questions for them
  • We question our own biases and perspectives and ask each other what we may not be seeing (point out my blind spot)
 
Compassion …
  • We proactively unearth the pain points and personal agendas our customers are experiencing and feeling
  • We advise (beckon) our clients to explore their audiences’ feelings and perspectives and honor them in their communication
  • We show up as we are and hold each other as you are – by asking each other “what can I do to support you” and asking for help when we need it
 
Courage …
  • We call each other’s best self forth and we call each other out when there’s room to grow
  • We ask the hard and uncomfortable questions – to our clients and each other
  • We listen to our fear and use it as an entry point for our creations and a guide for where we want to grow/learn more
  • We share our shortcomings openly and we ask for the help we need to compensate
 
Conviction …
  • We are on the pursuit of the truth – not a truth in our obligation to speak to truth and have the courage to walk away if a truth is being sought
  • We practice integrity: we only create what we believe in, and we help our clients do the same (we teach and encourage clients so they can practice integrity).
  • We co-create solutions with our clients, and we recommend what clients need ahead of what we sell
 
Living our values helps bring meaning and connection; to what matters most to us and to others. We encourage you to connect to your values. And, when you do, ask yourself how they can be observable behaviors… so you can embody that which you believe in.
 
And, there are a variety of incredible resources to examine if further exploration would be of value for you. Here are a few:
​Guryan Tighe is a Senior Associate at Rob Roy Consulting, an accomplished speaking coach, and the Founder and Fear Technician at Fourage. 

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