This week Christy and Ciara talked about the mental wellness of the family, including children and
friends of 1st Responders. Ending Mental Health Awareness month they touched on all the stressors of
every day life, and how even children can be affected by this.
How everyone can suffer differently through depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, and various other
mental health hurdles we can all go through. Learning how to go through life with healthy coping skills
and how to help your children.

According to studies “1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness, and over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18) either
currently or at some point have had a seriously debilitating mental illness.”
The book Ciara talked about “Supercharging the Female Brain” by Daniel G Amen. We found a lot of
men’s mental health books, but nothing specific like the female one. I will do some more research and
give recommendations next week.
Some tips for First Responders to take care of yourself , actually anyone can use these tips when they
feel they are in challenging situations.
As parents we all think we can fix all help all, but sometimes it’s ok to step back and say we need help,
here is what we chatted about a bit.

988 is ALWAYS available for anyone to talk and get help.
COPLINE 1-800-COPLINE
IAFF Hotline 855-900-8437