Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgia
News Network. Georgia athletes and sports organizations are uniting to
help a local mental health movement for fans. The AD
Council and the Arthur m Blanc Family Foundation leave the
effort to reach Georgians with localized mental health resources. Here
today to talk about the Georgia Love Your Mind Today
campaign or Brad Gazon, Atlanta United professional soccer player, and
(00:33):
Beth Brown, Managing Director of Mental Health and well Being
from the Arthur m Blanc Family Foundation, going on now,
you're trying to get people to look out for their
mental health. Talk about that, Beth from your standpoint, and
then Brad used to talk about it from your standpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So from the standpoint of the Arthur Blank Foundation, we've
made a multi year commitment to invest in mental health,
including increasing awareness and most importantly, getting people to the
resources they need. So we're just thrilled that we're partnering
with the AD Countful and so many teams in Atlanta,
(01:10):
including Atlanta United, to have athletes including Brad, sharing their
stories of mental health. Because athletes can be such powerful
spokespeople in role models and encouraging us all to talk
about our mental health, reminding us that one hundred percent
of us have mental health. So that's it from my perspective.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Now, do you think people in sports have mental health problems,
not generally but speaking now and then, they have mental
health problems.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Well, I think we all have mental health questions. And
I think it's funny because sometimes when I say we
all have mental health, people think of that we all
have mental health challenges. But just like we all have
physical health, all have mental health. And the name of
this campaign Loves your Mind. I think it's important that
(02:01):
it's love Comma your mind and to think of it
like if our minds were writing us a love letter,
what would they say. We all have that chatter going
on all the time. And we think of athletes from
their physicality and what they're able to accomplish with their bodies,
but to think about the the what it takes to
(02:24):
focus to be there. And yet you know, one out
of every five people in America at any moment it
is having a mental health challenge. And I bet that's
also one out of every five athletes. Now, now Brad's
a better supposed person from his world, but that's my
perspective on it.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Yeah, but Brad, what about you?
Speaker 5 (02:45):
I would our I would echo that sentiment and uh,
to be able to the partner with the AD Council
for this campaign and to speak about mental health. You
asked if if athletes have mental health problems. I wouldn't
say their problems. As best stated, I think it's we
all have mental health, and it's how you care for
(03:08):
that mental health, right, and whether it's it's good or bad,
it's important that we acknowledge that and we look after
that and we help each other and we help ourselves.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Do you notice a lot of it on your on
your team Atlanta United? Do you notice others that maybe
having problems or something like that? Do you talk to
them or something?
Speaker 5 (03:28):
Absolutely? I think it's not about having again, it's not
about mental health problems. I think it's about how can
you be supportive to your teammates? How can you be
supportive of those around you? And in a locker room,
there's different Uh, there's different individuals from all over the world,
and you've got to be able to try and support them.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Does does a lot of the uh, you know, you know,
they come from every every walk of life. Really they
come to you and to form a team, so you
do have to deal with that. A lot that have
their problems in their families, have problems in their countries
or something like that. Is that what you notice sometimes absolutely, And.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
When you're in a team environment, especially in a soccer environment,
a soccer locker room such as ours, where we have
individuals from all over the world, it is just that.
And you have individuals that are relocating to a new country,
maybe the first time through the US, and things that
(04:31):
we take for granted is a little bit new to them,
but it's not just them, and it's also their families
and their support system that may be coming with them.
And for them to get acclimated to a new team,
a new environment, and then also a new country and
a new culture that could be extremely overwhelming. And so
(04:52):
as a senior player on the team, as someone that
has played abroad and has traveled the world, to be
there as much as I can to help them, and
whether it's answering questions, whether it's giving them kind of
inside this about the city or whatnot, but allowing them
to use me as a sounding board so that the
(05:14):
overwhelming sense of newness of coming to a new country,
a new potentially a new language, a new team, a
new locker room doesn't become too much of a burden.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Now, now, Beth, you are the Blank Foundation. Have you
you been dealing with this quite a bit? Is this
something that happens amongst teams regularly?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Amongst teams as well? Was that the question?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yes, yes, so much most teams to p pro teams
or any team for that.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Matter, Oh, a team's te.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
Yes. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
One thing about this campaign that's so great is it
includes athletes from all different team including the Braves and
the Dreams, the Falcons, the Hawks, Park Atlanta PGA UGA
and Atlanta United. And I think that really speaks to it.
And these players are all stay volunteered to do this,
(06:14):
so no one's being paid for. But this issue is
so resonates so much, I think just now at this
time in our country, and I think also just the
generosity of the athletes wanting to give back and to
make a difference, because as we increase the awareness and
(06:36):
it makes it okay for people to talk about it
and ask for help and get help, then we can
really help address the mental health challenge in our country.
And so along with the PSA and the great images
and messages from the campaign, we hope people go to
(06:56):
the resource site, which is Georgia dot Love your Mind
Today dot org.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Let's talk about some of the resources because you do
have them now and because they're they're for people that
that are listening to this radio show. People people just listening,
people normal everyday people forget you know, forget about the teams.
There are people out there who are being affected by this.
There they can go online. What can they find out online?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, so it's again it's Georgia dot Love your Mind Today,
dot org. And I think you know how we all
we all have mental health and we're all at any
time on on a on a can you know, on
a continuement. Most of us are okay and stable most
of the time, but we could still use mental health
(07:41):
uh support and that can look like I love the
the uh what what Brad is talking about kind of
about teammates and being you know, new and having high
pressure uh job, and that what Brad is creating kind
of a sense of the law among our team is
(08:02):
something that I think we could all do for each
other and to and to practice in whatever our team
in our lives looks like, whether it's being in school
or whether it's being in a workplace. That's peer support
(08:23):
of a resource. There are organizations that offer that peer support,
like the National Alliance for Mental Illness and they have
a Georgia chapter, but we can also just do that
for each other once our awareness is raised. We also
have a national mental health hotline. That's the number nine
(08:43):
eight eight, So if you or someone you know is
really in crisis and needs to talk to someone right now,
that's the number to call.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Is the nine eight Is that the suicide line too?
It is?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
It is?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yeah, yeah, nine eight is when we've been hearing that
more on this show that we we deal with things
like this, And we had a show a while back,
a couple of months ago where nine eight eight was
all we talked about on the show. Is nine eight
eight called nine eight eight if you need help so
called nine.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Eight eight Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
So so you worked with organizations to to help mental health,
the mental health of people on teams, on maybe not teams,
there's people. So can you talk about some of those organizations.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
A little bit?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Sure? So we are grant making organizations, so we make
investments in nonprofit organizations, mainly those focused on young people,
so to help young people in terms of preventing mental
health challenges. So, I don't know about y'all, but when
(09:49):
I when I was growing up and in school, people
were not talking about mental health.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
But they were many years ago, No they weren't.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, I think now and thanks to role models, you know,
like Brad and others who are opening this conversation, young
people are talking about mental health a lot, a lot more.
And you know, we hear a lot about youth mental
health and the crisis that they're in. On the hopeful
(10:17):
side of that, there's so many things that we can
do to help young people, you know. And part of
the Love your Mind at campaign it's called the rituals
we share. You see Brad and you see other athletes
kind of taking a pause. You know, it could be
a meditative moment or a prayer, or taking some breathing
(10:40):
before they go on the field. You know, young people
can do that too. One of the things that's been
super inspiring to be is like to come across like
third graders who can name their emotions and can do
breathing to calm themselves down. I mean, that's kind of
(11:01):
stuff like it's it's pretty simple, but it's also transformative.
So we invest in programs in schools, we invest in
efforts around what we call digital mental health, so that's
really your relationship with your phone, and encouraging teams to
to get off the phone and maybe to get out
(11:22):
in sports in nature more So, those are some of
the examples of what we thought.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Brad, What about you and your team, what do you
do guys do for mental health to help you mentally?
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Yeah, exactly similar to what Beth had mentioned. You know,
when you go into these high stress environments, whether it's
a game or practice, and you have to be at
your best for the entirety of the mass the entirety
of practice, just being able to take a step back,
remembering to breathe, remembering to to kind of smile at
(11:57):
the situation of that you that you're in, uh and
not take it too seriously and not allow that overwhelming
feeling to to become too much for you. And so uh,
for me personally, I'd like to obviously physically make sure
that I'm I'm ready in terms of stretching and and
physically activated, but also mentally and and that's uh, mental
(12:22):
preparation for the game. Uh. But then also you know,
thinking about my family, looking at pictures of my kids
and and things like that that allow me to to
stay calm. That's that allow me to to stay activated
mentally and not being again, like I said, overwhelmed by
(12:43):
by the situation that I'm about the faith and and
I found that has has really helped. And you know,
after after a game, being able to decompress, whether it's
a successful game or or maybe a game where you've
made a mistake, being able to to meditate, being able
to take a few minutes to yourself and and allow
(13:05):
that decompressed decompression of the game and the situation and
and kind of just relaxing your mind to feel at
ease has really helped me in terms of being able
to then get ready for the next game or the
next practice.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
You know too to that. You know their kids out
there that are playing soccer, that are worried about being
a professional soccer player. They probably not all of them
are going to make it. And football or baseball or whatever.
What do you say to them like that when they're
they're thinking, I want to be a soccer player whatever,
And you're thinking you might not make it. You know,
how do you that's got to be a mental health
(13:45):
problem at some point.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Well, Listen, what I would say is I first encourage
all kids to reach for the stars and chase their dreams.
If if that's what they want to do, then then
chase it. And and I say, chase it with a
smile on your face, and enjoy the process. Enjoy the process,
enjoy the journey, because that's the most important part. And listen,
(14:09):
at the end of the at the end of the rainbow,
if you've become a professional soccer player or a professional athlete,
or maybe they want to be a doctor or a
dentist or a police officer, whatever that ultimate goal is,
whatever that dream is, and if that's at the end
of the rainbow and they reached it, then that's great.
But as you mentioned, the likelihood, especially as a professional athlete,
(14:35):
is quite slim. And so I don't want to be
the one that takes that away from that child or
that individual. And who am I to say that they
can't do it? And so I'm certainly not that person.
And when I was growing up as a kid, I've
never had anyone telling me no, you can't do that.
But at the same time preparing for other avenues and
(15:00):
encouraging the importance of school and homework and grades and
education and and these things that prepared me in case
soccer didn't work out. And so it's it's hugely important
that we allow the normalcy of mental health to be
able to allow the kids and these individuals to to
(15:22):
go and chase their dreams. Uh and throughout that process
talking about their mental health and talking about the different
feelings that they're experiencing during that journey.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I was just gonna sorry, I was just gonna jump in.
I just I just think Brad's giving so many examples
of things that are like so transferable to young people
and all people like we all have, you know, big
dreams and goals, and we all have disappointments, small ones
you know, every day and big ones. What we may
be greeting or something you know is really challenging, and
(16:00):
the thee and that these skills around you know, Brad
was mentioning kind of accepting the situation you know you're in,
or practicing gratitude looking at pictures of family members. Brad
mentioned a word that we hear all the time when
people are talking about stress, which is overwhelm and you know,
(16:21):
overwhelmed when when when you say that or feel that,
it's kind of like you can get a sense of
paralysis by that, like it's really hard to take the
next step. And so some of these practices of just
reminding yourself where you are and that you can do
the next best thing. You know, one thing, it's trying
to be present and rather than what I say, what
(16:44):
I and I'm not, I didn't make it up, called
like future tripping in your head, like what could happen?
What might go wrong? I just think those are such
such great examples and skills no matter what your team
looks like, you know in your own life.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
True, that's true.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You also mentioned a minute ago about the phone, and
you have a program to tell people to get off
the telephone, put it down and go out and do stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Talk about that, so sure, and I'd love to hear
I'd love to hear from Brad too and what his
relationships and his teammates are with the phone, especially social
social media. But for us, we've invested in a program
that the leaders on this are young themselves, like between
(17:32):
maybe ages like eighteen and twenty four, and they're really
lead leading the movement for the phone to do less harm.
So some of them have been their own mental health
has been greatly impacted by by social media and being
(17:52):
either bullied or really recognizing that being on the phone
it is it can be an addiction and like it
can do the same thing to your brain as drugs
and alcohol. So it's it's really inspiring to have young
leaders who are then mentoring people even younger than they are,
(18:13):
you know, in elementary or middle school, to encourage them
that there's more to life, you know, than than than
than being online. And now one thing though we also
hear from young people is if the parents are saying
just get off your phone, get off your phone, they say, hey,
we see you on it as well, you know. So
I think that that I think that the issue of
(18:36):
having a healthy relationship with one phone is something not
just for young.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
People, right, Brad, what do you think about that?
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Yeah? Absolutely, you know from my personal experience, my wife
and I we've got four young kids under the age
of ten, very similar, right, We try to set aside
time where we're not going to have our phones, you know,
in our pockets, in our hands and we're going to
try and set our phones away and be present because
(19:05):
we want to be present with our kids. We want
to talk about how their day at school was, we
want to talk about the activities that they're doing, and
we just want to be there and be able to
interact with them without any distractions. And then that takes
me into the locker room setting, where sometimes that message
(19:26):
doesn't resonate quite as easily, and everyone will be be
on their phone doing something or another. And again, you
talk about a place where there's individuals from all over
the world, and so if we're in the locker room
at eight o'clock in the morning, it might be five
o'clock pm over on the other side of the world
(19:50):
where one of the player's family members are, and so
now they're communicating with their family and vice versa, right,
And so in those moments, I tried to want to
allow them to have that time, but at the same time,
I want our teammates, uh, my teammates to be present.
I want to know how they're feeling. I want to
(20:10):
know how their new baby's doing. I want to know
how their girlfriend is or if there's any new exciting
news within their family. Because I again, I think it's
hugely important that we don't lose that face to face interaction.
We don't lose that ability to communicate to our teammates,
to our family members, to our friends. And it's it's
(20:34):
not just about having our nose in our phone all
the time. It's about being able to be present with
those around you and and still be able to hold
a conversation. So it's for me, it's it's finding that
right balance, especially in uh in a multicultural locker room.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yeah, I guess, you know, getting getting people to to
realize that you telephone can also lead to some bad stuff.
You know, the people out there looking for other people,
young people to get involved with things like like bad things,
and we want to get those people, goose kids away
from those phones. You know.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Well that that is certainly true. And one of the
organizations we fund is called Common Sense Media, and they
put out a lot of tools and advice especially here
that parents and teachers be to really understand the the
you know, dangers of what's what's on on the phone,
(21:36):
because you know, the kids might be more agile with
the phone than the parents are even the teachers. So
to learn what the you know, the the dangers of
some of those algorithms and and trying to have a
safe environment with the phone. I did want to follow
(21:57):
up on one thing that that Brad was saying about,
you know, really knowing his teammates and asking them about
you know, milestone events and even like the awareness of
what times and their family is. I mean, what Brad
is speaking to actually just the qualities of an excellent
organizational leader. And I think it's so transferable to the workplace.
(22:23):
When you are surveys around the workplace, say, most people
say work the workplace stresses them out, and the one
person who has so much influence on them is their manager.
And I think anyone who has any kind of managerial uh,
(22:44):
you know role in their workplace can really, you know,
benefit from hearing the type type of things that Brad does.
People want to feel a sense of belonging. You know,
we might be talking about skills and productivity and deadline
and we all want to be seen every day as
a human being. And I hope some of the awareness
(23:09):
around mental health really kind of changes the culture of
all the places we're in. And that's something that I
do think the younger people in the workforce, especially like
the gen Zers. They want that out of their workplace.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
So where older.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Generations might not have talked about mental health, now they're
going to come into work and say like, Okay, what's
the mental health culture here?
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah? Yeah, that's good, that's true. That's true. Yeah, we
didn't talk about it very much. I mean, I'm probably
right along there with you, and we didn't talk about
mental Healthlets now they're talking about it now.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
They are just.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Tell everybody what they can do, where they can go,
and where they can get help.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Sure, So the I encourage people to go to Georgia
dot Love your Mind Today dot org for a resource site.
And I also just encourage you to ask for help
from the people around you. And if you're someone who
has something to give in some some time in your calendar,
in your heart, you know, make sure you're asking the
(24:09):
people around you how you can support them.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And Brad, what about you? What do you show people
that where to go?
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Absolutely, it's about normal normalizing mental health and and sending
the message that it's okay to talk about your feelings,
it's okay to talk about how how you you're you're
going about life right, Because whether you're an athlete, or
a doctor or acquireman or whatever your job or whatever
(24:39):
you're a student, what whatever you're doing. We all have
mental health and it's so important that we understand that
it's okay to talk about it, it's okay to ask
for help, because we all need help along our journey,
along our path of life, whether it's now or in
the future. And so my message to everyone would be
(25:02):
that it is okay to talk about your mental health.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Good well, I thank you both for being on today
and talking about this. I'm with you one hundred percent
and love your mind is what it's all about, and
we appreciate you all coming on today.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Thank you, John, Absolute pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
That's Brad Gazan from Atlanta United and Beth Brown from
the Arthur M. Blanc Family Foundation. Find out more at
Georgia Looveormindtoday dot org. For questions or comments on today's show,
you can email me John Clark at Georgeannewsnetwork dot com.
Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next week right
here on your favorite local radio station on Georgia Focus
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgia
News Network. Georgia athletes and sports organizations are uniting to
help a local mental health movement for fans. The AD
Council and the Arthur m Blanc Family Foundation leave the
effort to reach Georgians with localized mental health resources. Here
today to talk about the Georgia Love Your Mind Today
campaign or Brad Gazon, Atlanta United professional soccer player, and
(00:33):
Beth Brown, Managing Director of Mental Health and well Being
from the Arthur m Blanc Family Foundation, going on now,
you're trying to get people to look out for their
mental health. Talk about that, Beth from your standpoint, and
then Brad used to talk about it from your standpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So from the standpoint of the Arthur Blank Foundation, we've
made a multi year commitment to invest in mental health,
including increasing awareness and most importantly, getting people to the
resources they need. So we're just thrilled that we're partnering
with the AD Countful and so many teams in Atlanta,
(01:10):
including Atlanta United, to have athletes including Brad, sharing their
stories of mental health. Because athletes can be such powerful
spokespeople in role models and encouraging us all to talk
about our mental health, reminding us that one hundred percent
of us have mental health. So that's it from my perspective.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Now, do you think people in sports have mental health problems,
not generally but speaking now and then, they have mental
health problems.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Well, I think we all have mental health questions. And
I think it's funny because sometimes when I say we
all have mental health, people think of that we all
have mental health challenges. But just like we all have
physical health, all have mental health. And the name of
this campaign Loves your Mind. I think it's important that
(02:01):
it's love Comma your mind and to think of it
like if our minds were writing us a love letter,
what would they say. We all have that chatter going
on all the time. And we think of athletes from
their physicality and what they're able to accomplish with their bodies,
but to think about the the what it takes to
(02:24):
focus to be there. And yet you know, one out
of every five people in America at any moment it
is having a mental health challenge. And I bet that's
also one out of every five athletes. Now, now Brad's
a better supposed person from his world, but that's my
perspective on it.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Yeah, but Brad, what about you?
Speaker 5 (02:45):
I would our I would echo that sentiment and uh,
to be able to the partner with the AD Council
for this campaign and to speak about mental health. You
asked if if athletes have mental health problems. I wouldn't
say their problems. As best stated, I think it's we
all have mental health, and it's how you care for
(03:08):
that mental health, right, and whether it's it's good or bad,
it's important that we acknowledge that and we look after
that and we help each other and we help ourselves.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Do you notice a lot of it on your on
your team Atlanta United? Do you notice others that maybe
having problems or something like that? Do you talk to
them or something?
Speaker 5 (03:28):
Absolutely? I think it's not about having again, it's not
about mental health problems. I think it's about how can
you be supportive to your teammates? How can you be
supportive of those around you? And in a locker room,
there's different Uh, there's different individuals from all over the world,
and you've got to be able to try and support them.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Does does a lot of the uh, you know, you know,
they come from every every walk of life. Really they
come to you and to form a team, so you
do have to deal with that. A lot that have
their problems in their families, have problems in their countries
or something like that. Is that what you notice sometimes absolutely, And.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
When you're in a team environment, especially in a soccer environment,
a soccer locker room such as ours, where we have
individuals from all over the world, it is just that.
And you have individuals that are relocating to a new country,
maybe the first time through the US, and things that
(04:31):
we take for granted is a little bit new to them,
but it's not just them, and it's also their families
and their support system that may be coming with them.
And for them to get acclimated to a new team,
a new environment, and then also a new country and
a new culture that could be extremely overwhelming. And so
(04:52):
as a senior player on the team, as someone that
has played abroad and has traveled the world, to be
there as much as I can to help them, and
whether it's answering questions, whether it's giving them kind of
inside this about the city or whatnot, but allowing them
to use me as a sounding board so that the
(05:14):
overwhelming sense of newness of coming to a new country,
a new potentially a new language, a new team, a
new locker room doesn't become too much of a burden.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Now, now, Beth, you are the Blank Foundation. Have you
you been dealing with this quite a bit? Is this
something that happens amongst teams regularly?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Amongst teams as well? Was that the question?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yes, yes, so much most teams to p pro teams
or any team for that.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Matter, Oh, a team's te.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
Yes. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
One thing about this campaign that's so great is it
includes athletes from all different team including the Braves and
the Dreams, the Falcons, the Hawks, Park Atlanta PGA UGA
and Atlanta United. And I think that really speaks to it.
And these players are all stay volunteered to do this,
(06:14):
so no one's being paid for. But this issue is
so resonates so much, I think just now at this
time in our country, and I think also just the
generosity of the athletes wanting to give back and to
make a difference, because as we increase the awareness and
(06:36):
it makes it okay for people to talk about it
and ask for help and get help, then we can
really help address the mental health challenge in our country.
And so along with the PSA and the great images
and messages from the campaign, we hope people go to
(06:56):
the resource site, which is Georgia dot Love your Mind
Today dot org.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Let's talk about some of the resources because you do
have them now and because they're they're for people that
that are listening to this radio show. People people just listening,
people normal everyday people forget you know, forget about the teams.
There are people out there who are being affected by this.
There they can go online. What can they find out online?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, so it's again it's Georgia dot Love your Mind Today,
dot org. And I think you know how we all
we all have mental health and we're all at any
time on on a on a can you know, on
a continuement. Most of us are okay and stable most
of the time, but we could still use mental health
(07:41):
uh support and that can look like I love the
the uh what what Brad is talking about kind of
about teammates and being you know, new and having high
pressure uh job, and that what Brad is creating kind
of a sense of the law among our team is
(08:02):
something that I think we could all do for each
other and to and to practice in whatever our team
in our lives looks like, whether it's being in school
or whether it's being in a workplace. That's peer support
(08:23):
of a resource. There are organizations that offer that peer support,
like the National Alliance for Mental Illness and they have
a Georgia chapter, but we can also just do that
for each other once our awareness is raised. We also
have a national mental health hotline. That's the number nine
(08:43):
eight eight, So if you or someone you know is
really in crisis and needs to talk to someone right now,
that's the number to call.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Is the nine eight Is that the suicide line too?
It is?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
It is?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yeah, yeah, nine eight is when we've been hearing that
more on this show that we we deal with things
like this, And we had a show a while back,
a couple of months ago where nine eight eight was
all we talked about on the show. Is nine eight
eight called nine eight eight if you need help so
called nine.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Eight eight Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
So so you worked with organizations to to help mental health,
the mental health of people on teams, on maybe not teams,
there's people. So can you talk about some of those organizations.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
A little bit?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Sure? So we are grant making organizations, so we make
investments in nonprofit organizations, mainly those focused on young people,
so to help young people in terms of preventing mental
health challenges. So, I don't know about y'all, but when
(09:49):
I when I was growing up and in school, people
were not talking about mental health.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
But they were many years ago, No they weren't.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, I think now and thanks to role models, you know,
like Brad and others who are opening this conversation, young
people are talking about mental health a lot, a lot more.
And you know, we hear a lot about youth mental
health and the crisis that they're in. On the hopeful
(10:17):
side of that, there's so many things that we can
do to help young people, you know. And part of
the Love your Mind at campaign it's called the rituals
we share. You see Brad and you see other athletes
kind of taking a pause. You know, it could be
a meditative moment or a prayer, or taking some breathing
(10:40):
before they go on the field. You know, young people
can do that too. One of the things that's been
super inspiring to be is like to come across like
third graders who can name their emotions and can do
breathing to calm themselves down. I mean, that's kind of
(11:01):
stuff like it's it's pretty simple, but it's also transformative.
So we invest in programs in schools, we invest in
efforts around what we call digital mental health, so that's
really your relationship with your phone, and encouraging teams to
to get off the phone and maybe to get out
(11:22):
in sports in nature more So, those are some of
the examples of what we thought.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Brad, What about you and your team, what do you
do guys do for mental health to help you mentally?
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Yeah, exactly similar to what Beth had mentioned. You know,
when you go into these high stress environments, whether it's
a game or practice, and you have to be at
your best for the entirety of the mass the entirety
of practice, just being able to take a step back,
remembering to breathe, remembering to to kind of smile at
(11:57):
the situation of that you that you're in, uh and
not take it too seriously and not allow that overwhelming
feeling to to become too much for you. And so uh,
for me personally, I'd like to obviously physically make sure
that I'm I'm ready in terms of stretching and and
physically activated, but also mentally and and that's uh, mental
(12:22):
preparation for the game. Uh. But then also you know,
thinking about my family, looking at pictures of my kids
and and things like that that allow me to to
stay calm. That's that allow me to to stay activated
mentally and not being again, like I said, overwhelmed by
(12:43):
by the situation that I'm about the faith and and
I found that has has really helped. And you know,
after after a game, being able to decompress, whether it's
a successful game or or maybe a game where you've
made a mistake, being able to to meditate, being able
to take a few minutes to yourself and and allow
(13:05):
that decompressed decompression of the game and the situation and
and kind of just relaxing your mind to feel at
ease has really helped me in terms of being able
to then get ready for the next game or the
next practice.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
You know too to that. You know their kids out
there that are playing soccer, that are worried about being
a professional soccer player. They probably not all of them
are going to make it. And football or baseball or whatever.
What do you say to them like that when they're
they're thinking, I want to be a soccer player whatever,
And you're thinking you might not make it. You know,
how do you that's got to be a mental health
(13:45):
problem at some point.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Well, Listen, what I would say is I first encourage
all kids to reach for the stars and chase their dreams.
If if that's what they want to do, then then
chase it. And and I say, chase it with a
smile on your face, and enjoy the process. Enjoy the process,
enjoy the journey, because that's the most important part. And listen,
(14:09):
at the end of the at the end of the rainbow,
if you've become a professional soccer player or a professional athlete,
or maybe they want to be a doctor or a
dentist or a police officer, whatever that ultimate goal is,
whatever that dream is, and if that's at the end
of the rainbow and they reached it, then that's great.
But as you mentioned, the likelihood, especially as a professional athlete,
(14:35):
is quite slim. And so I don't want to be
the one that takes that away from that child or
that individual. And who am I to say that they
can't do it? And so I'm certainly not that person.
And when I was growing up as a kid, I've
never had anyone telling me no, you can't do that.
But at the same time preparing for other avenues and
(15:00):
encouraging the importance of school and homework and grades and
education and and these things that prepared me in case
soccer didn't work out. And so it's it's hugely important
that we allow the normalcy of mental health to be
able to allow the kids and these individuals to to
(15:22):
go and chase their dreams. Uh and throughout that process
talking about their mental health and talking about the different
feelings that they're experiencing during that journey.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I was just gonna sorry, I was just gonna jump in.
I just I just think Brad's giving so many examples
of things that are like so transferable to young people
and all people like we all have, you know, big
dreams and goals, and we all have disappointments, small ones
you know, every day and big ones. What we may
be greeting or something you know is really challenging, and
(16:00):
the thee and that these skills around you know, Brad
was mentioning kind of accepting the situation you know you're in,
or practicing gratitude looking at pictures of family members. Brad
mentioned a word that we hear all the time when
people are talking about stress, which is overwhelm and you know,
(16:21):
overwhelmed when when when you say that or feel that,
it's kind of like you can get a sense of
paralysis by that, like it's really hard to take the
next step. And so some of these practices of just
reminding yourself where you are and that you can do
the next best thing. You know, one thing, it's trying
to be present and rather than what I say, what
(16:44):
I and I'm not, I didn't make it up, called
like future tripping in your head, like what could happen?
What might go wrong? I just think those are such
such great examples and skills no matter what your team
looks like, you know in your own life.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
True, that's true.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You also mentioned a minute ago about the phone, and
you have a program to tell people to get off
the telephone, put it down and go out and do stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Talk about that, so sure, and I'd love to hear
I'd love to hear from Brad too and what his
relationships and his teammates are with the phone, especially social
social media. But for us, we've invested in a program
that the leaders on this are young themselves, like between
(17:32):
maybe ages like eighteen and twenty four, and they're really
lead leading the movement for the phone to do less harm.
So some of them have been their own mental health
has been greatly impacted by by social media and being
(17:52):
either bullied or really recognizing that being on the phone
it is it can be an addiction and like it
can do the same thing to your brain as drugs
and alcohol. So it's it's really inspiring to have young
leaders who are then mentoring people even younger than they are,
(18:13):
you know, in elementary or middle school, to encourage them
that there's more to life, you know, than than than
than being online. And now one thing though we also
hear from young people is if the parents are saying
just get off your phone, get off your phone, they say, hey,
we see you on it as well, you know. So
I think that that I think that the issue of
(18:36):
having a healthy relationship with one phone is something not
just for young.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
People, right, Brad, what do you think about that?
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Yeah? Absolutely, you know from my personal experience, my wife
and I we've got four young kids under the age
of ten, very similar, right, We try to set aside
time where we're not going to have our phones, you know,
in our pockets, in our hands and we're going to
try and set our phones away and be present because
(19:05):
we want to be present with our kids. We want
to talk about how their day at school was, we
want to talk about the activities that they're doing, and
we just want to be there and be able to
interact with them without any distractions. And then that takes
me into the locker room setting, where sometimes that message
(19:26):
doesn't resonate quite as easily, and everyone will be be
on their phone doing something or another. And again, you
talk about a place where there's individuals from all over
the world, and so if we're in the locker room
at eight o'clock in the morning, it might be five
o'clock pm over on the other side of the world
(19:50):
where one of the player's family members are, and so
now they're communicating with their family and vice versa, right,
And so in those moments, I tried to want to
allow them to have that time, but at the same time,
I want our teammates, uh, my teammates to be present.
I want to know how they're feeling. I want to
(20:10):
know how their new baby's doing. I want to know
how their girlfriend is or if there's any new exciting
news within their family. Because I again, I think it's
hugely important that we don't lose that face to face interaction.
We don't lose that ability to communicate to our teammates,
to our family members, to our friends. And it's it's
(20:34):
not just about having our nose in our phone all
the time. It's about being able to be present with
those around you and and still be able to hold
a conversation. So it's for me, it's it's finding that
right balance, especially in uh in a multicultural locker room.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yeah, I guess, you know, getting getting people to to
realize that you telephone can also lead to some bad stuff.
You know, the people out there looking for other people,
young people to get involved with things like like bad things,
and we want to get those people, goose kids away
from those phones. You know.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Well that that is certainly true. And one of the
organizations we fund is called Common Sense Media, and they
put out a lot of tools and advice especially here
that parents and teachers be to really understand the the
you know, dangers of what's what's on on the phone,
(21:36):
because you know, the kids might be more agile with
the phone than the parents are even the teachers. So
to learn what the you know, the the dangers of
some of those algorithms and and trying to have a
safe environment with the phone. I did want to follow
(21:57):
up on one thing that that Brad was saying about,
you know, really knowing his teammates and asking them about
you know, milestone events and even like the awareness of
what times and their family is. I mean, what Brad
is speaking to actually just the qualities of an excellent
organizational leader. And I think it's so transferable to the workplace.
(22:23):
When you are surveys around the workplace, say, most people
say work the workplace stresses them out, and the one
person who has so much influence on them is their manager.
And I think anyone who has any kind of managerial uh,
(22:44):
you know role in their workplace can really, you know,
benefit from hearing the type type of things that Brad does.
People want to feel a sense of belonging. You know,
we might be talking about skills and productivity and deadline
and we all want to be seen every day as
a human being. And I hope some of the awareness
(23:09):
around mental health really kind of changes the culture of
all the places we're in. And that's something that I
do think the younger people in the workforce, especially like
the gen Zers. They want that out of their workplace.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
So where older.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Generations might not have talked about mental health, now they're
going to come into work and say like, Okay, what's
the mental health culture here?
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah? Yeah, that's good, that's true. That's true. Yeah, we
didn't talk about it very much. I mean, I'm probably
right along there with you, and we didn't talk about
mental Healthlets now they're talking about it now.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
They are just.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Tell everybody what they can do, where they can go,
and where they can get help.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Sure, So the I encourage people to go to Georgia
dot Love your Mind Today dot org for a resource site.
And I also just encourage you to ask for help
from the people around you. And if you're someone who
has something to give in some some time in your calendar,
in your heart, you know, make sure you're asking the
(24:09):
people around you how you can support them.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And Brad, what about you? What do you show people
that where to go?
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Absolutely, it's about normal normalizing mental health and and sending
the message that it's okay to talk about your feelings,
it's okay to talk about how how you you're you're
going about life right, Because whether you're an athlete, or
a doctor or acquireman or whatever your job or whatever
(24:39):
you're a student, what whatever you're doing. We all have
mental health and it's so important that we understand that
it's okay to talk about it, it's okay to ask
for help, because we all need help along our journey,
along our path of life, whether it's now or in
the future. And so my message to everyone would be
(25:02):
that it is okay to talk about your mental health.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Good well, I thank you both for being on today
and talking about this. I'm with you one hundred percent
and love your mind is what it's all about, and
we appreciate you all coming on today.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Thank you, John, Absolute pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
That's Brad Gazan from Atlanta United and Beth Brown from
the Arthur M. Blanc Family Foundation. Find out more at
Georgia Looveormindtoday dot org. For questions or comments on today's show,
you can email me John Clark at Georgeannewsnetwork dot com.
Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next week right
here on your favorite local radio station on Georgia Focus
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