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After a short break, The Mental Minute with Michigan Medicine is back with a new episode for the month of October. Host Will Heininger begins the episode by recognizing September as National Suicide Prevention Month and acknowledging the importance of increasing mental health awareness across the globe. He proceeds with the usual Sports Minute, which is dedicated to Michigan Football. Will reflects on his time playing for the Michigan Football team and, speaking from personal experience, provides advice to the athletes on how to use mindfulness techniques to achieve the greatest individual outcomes.

In the second half of the episode, Will speaks to psychiatrist Dr. Victor Hong, who serves as Medical Director of Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) at the University of Michigan. Dr. Hong was inspired to specialize in psychiatry when he was working with veterans dealing with PTSD during his medical school rotations. He expresses that there are a plethora of ways to get involved in the mental health field, especially with the increasing demand for mental health care in society. Dr. Hong discusses the interesting trends and progress that he has seen in the mental health space throughout his career and emphasizes that “when you don’t have your A-game mentally, there’s just no way you can perform physically.”

Dr. Hong concludes the episode by providing advice on how to continue normalizing and destigmatizing mental health in our community. He explains the theory of “thwarted belonging” and the importance of knowing you’re not alone in decreasing the chances of worsening mental health outcomes.

To listen to the full episode and learn more about The Mental Minute with Michigan Medicine, visit the main Mental Minute page.