Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily, a project of SIMHA, the Sephardic Initiative for Mental Health Awareness.
I’d like to take a break from what we've been talking about, to note that over the past few weeks since the attack in Eretz Yisrael, people's anxiety levels have been up, to different extents and levels, and people are concerned about their state of mind.
People often try to help themselves, that’s why it’s called self-help, and that’s why there are so many self-help books out there for people to try to get themselves out of their problems. But there comes a point where you might not be able to help yourself. Just like when it comes to a bad knee, you try to
work it through. You try to stretch and do whatever you can, but there comes a point in time when you
say, “I think I need an X-ray.”
So how does it work with mental health? At what point do you need help?
There's an interesting pneumonic I D F, which in this case, does not stand for Israeli Defense Force. It stands for Intensity,
Duration, and Frequency. That means if you don't want to get up in the morning because the previous day was a bad day at work, and it's a one-time thing, you're not depressed.
It's a one-time thing.
If it happens for two or three days, and it's the same light feeling, it’s also not enough. But if it's extremely intense, and the person feels depressed to the point that they don't want to live anymore, or it starts becoming very frequent, or if feeling lasts for six weeks straight, these are all indicators that
something more has to be done. People have to realize, and this is an important point, that mental illness is no different than physical illness.
Just like you can't talk yourself out of a kidney stone, you can't necessarily talk yourself out of anxiety, depression, or any of the multitude of mental health challenges. You don't have to feel like you're weak.
It's something that is sometimes just internal. It's chemical. It's something that's emotional that you're not in charge of. Someone was surprised when I told him that even a great rabbi can have a mental health challenge. It has nothing to do with your Talmudic knowledge, or your level of righteousness. But that's where the stigma comes in. People think, “Oh, there's something wrong with me. There's
something not right about having a mental health struggle.” Just like you're not embarrassed if you have a broken or sprained ankle, you shouldn't be embarrassed if you're dealing with a mental health challenge. And people are dealing with this. There's been a spike in the entire America, and there's a
spike in the Jewish community. and therefore, I just feel a responsibility to let everyone know there is s a
wonderful organization that I work for , called SIMHA (which stands for Sephardic Initiative for Mental Health Awareness) located in Brooklyn, to help the local community. If anyone out there is struggling, all calls are confidential. I don't know anyone's who’s calling unless the person asks to speak to me. I
don't have access to the database. If you’re worried about a rabbi knowing about it, they won't.
The clinicians are people that don't know you and you don't know, so you don't have to worry about that
either. They're all licensed mental health professionals.
You can call or text 9298415160 email office@simhahealth.org
or you can go online to https://simhahealth.org/contact-us
When you call, the first thing that happens is, they do a phone screening. There's a nice lady whose name is Zahava who picks up the phone. She's a licensed clinician. She'll speak to you and ask you some basic questions. Then we'll schedule an in-person meeting for a full comprehensive assessment so we
can better understand your needs. You come down to the office (or if necessary, you can use Zoom),
and we give you what's called a clinical assessment.
It's a comprehensive, diagnostic evaluation, giving you insight into your struggle. We will give you a psycho-education, which means explain what's going on exactly. If sometimes it's for a child or somebody else, we do consultations as well, and then we coordinate with you to get to the best possible professional who can help you. If you need insurance, we try to get providers that are covered by your insurance. Sometimes it's just what you need to do, and it's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of.
And the good news is it's all free. We don't give therapy, but we help you get to therapy, and we continue to follow up and help you.
This is just my little offer to reach out if you're struggling.
You're not alone. There are a lot of people out there that are struggling. Healthy people are the ones that ask for help. As the slogan goes, “It's okay not to be okay, but it's not okay not to ask for help.”
Have a wonderful day.