Key Insight Two:
Managing the Risk of Mental Health
Trigger Warning: Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
Growing up, my parents always taught my sister and I the importance of communication. From across the house, my father would call my name if he needed me, only to never respond when I said “Yeah?” Truth is, he heard me. He was just waiting for me to change my response to the more appropriate “Sir?” As a result, from a young age, I always chose what I said carefully without even thinking, depending on who I was around. When talking with my parents, I would be partially casual, yet still respectful since they are my friends, but still my parents. With my friends, I could be fully casual, since none of them expected me to say “Sir” or “Ma’am” when answering their questions. And at school, when communicating with teachers, I would be fully respectful, as they may be nice to me, but they’re my superior and that was the respect they deserved. Since I knew these things, you can guess how much my eyes rolled when I was required to take Management 250: Professional Communication as a student at the Darla Moore School of Business (they rolled a lot).
I’ll be honest, I went into Management 250 with poor expectations. I expected to be bored out of my mind, as a teacher taught me something I already knew. However, Dr. Kathy Langston, my professor for Management 250 during my second semester sophomore year, quickly changed my mind. This course focused on the other people that I would soon be dealing with, people like colleagues, acquaintances, and project members. Early in the semester, Dr. Langston had us take the 16Personalities assessment, which is an assessment that assigns us a personality type that was derived from the Myers-Briggs type indicator. Throughout the semester, she told us that we would be referring to our personality types and practicing communication based on our personality’s strengths and weaknesses. In practicing professional communication throughout the semester, we paid specific attention to the details in my Artifact One which explained how to communicate with every other personality type and how to cater to specific individuals' needs during a conversation. As an introvert and INFJ-P, this was difficult for me. However, I learned how to effectively communicate with everyone by accommodating their needs throughout the conversation through extensive practices in class, where we practiced conversations in front of the class and analyzed them afterward. Through these exercises, I learned how to communicate effectively, and since then, I have subconsciously applied these techniques to different scenarios in my life as a result.
Artifact One:
INFJ (Advocate) Myers-Briggs Profile
The following semester, I joined a program called Mental Health Ambassadors. As a part of my training for this program, I was required to participate in a training called Suicide Prevention for Gatekeeper’s Training. The training was a part of a full day event (10 hours), but I was fortunate enough to participate in the class with a familiar face: my good friend Caroline.
One of the most interesting parts of training came right before we took a break for lunch. We paired up and practiced asking each other if the other person was thinking about attempting suicide. This is done as a result of research that shows that asking directly is the best way to prevent suicide and asking does not add the thought to the individuals mind, if they were not already thinking of it. After practicing, the leaders of the training asked us how it went. Many people expressed difficulty in asking this question, stating that they were worried about what the response might be, or that they would offend their friend for asking. I did not share, but I was feeling alone since I had no difficulties asking this question. During lunch, Caroline and I looked over our notes (my notes are Artifact Two) and talked about our experiences practicing, as she and I did not pair up together. To my own delight, I was relieved to hear Caroline’s surprise at how difficult it was for everyone else to ask such a simple (albeit difficult) question. We thought about it for a second, and almost simultaneously, we both thought about Management 250. As a business minor, Caroline also took the class, and we began to reflect on how the communication techniques and the importance of communicating directly to the needs of the other person helped us have confidence in asking these difficult questions. After a break in talking, I thought about how similarly important professional communication is in businesses and how important effective communication is in conversations about sensitive subjects.
Artifact Two:
Notes from Gatekeeper Training
Taking Management 250 and joining Mental Health Ambassadors were two great things that I am happy I did. Even though I thought I knew what respect was, I did not know what being an effective communicator was. I did not know that being an effective communicator was important in both businesses and mental health discussions. However, they are. They are important in diffusion situations, avoiding confusion, and appropriately expressing concerns. Additionally, there is a time and place for everything. Effective communication does not always prevent or solve mental health concerns or issues, just like professional communication does not always solve any concerns or questions in businesses. Effective communication helps dilute the differences between individuals to help them come together and emphasize their similarities while remaining true to themselves.
My conversation with Caroline will always resonate with me, as it helped me understand the value of effective communication in business, with mental health, and with everyone in between. As a result, the techniques learned in Management 250, where I learned to speak directly to people’s various needs depending on their learnable personality, developed me professionally and personally. These changes are obvious to me and others as well. As an introvert, I have developed a plan that calms me down before doing something inherently uncomfortable like presenting my story for Mental Health Ambassadors or discussing specific workflows with my supervisor at work. As a result, these plans and techniques have helped me become more confident. Further, my partner comments on my growth as well. Since taking Management 250 and Suicide Prevention for Gatekeeper’s Training, I have become the Chair of Mental Health Ambassadors, begun a new internship, and I have begun networking more.