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September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, which seeks to promote hope and normalize seeking help by recognizing the warning signs for suicide, encouraging open conversations about mental health, and connecting people to proven treatment and resources.

A person’s mental health can be impacted by several factors—including family and community relationships, access to opportunities, and environmental circumstances—all of which contribute to an individual’s ability to thrive and experience optimal well-being. Dallas resident and licensed counselor Lucy Keith said she cannot think of anything more important than taking care of one’s mental health.

“The health, capacity, and strength of your mental and emotional health impact how you see the world, how you see yourself, how you show up in relationships, your quality of life, how you react and cope, the decisions you make, and so much more,” she said. “It’s also directly tied to your physical health outcomes and longevity.”

Research initiatives have revealed the strong correlation between mental and physical well-being, with conditions such as chronic stress, anxiety, and depression having significant impacts on sleep, digestion, heart health, immune function, and energy levels. Depression has also been linked to several chronic illnesses, including diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic diseases. Dallas-area resident and mental health advocate Khshaeta Cama said mental health should be prioritized as equally as physical health because of its connection with the immune and nervous system.

“Your body is a machine and needs all of its parts to work together, so if you’re in a depressive state, that function can cause issues to everything else—your sleep, blood pressure, pain, and thoughts,” she said. ”However, when your body is working together well and you are in a better state of mind, then you are able to understand yourself and what you need to help regulate those feelings, build relationships, understand the importance of healthy communication, and be able to work through issues you were once scared to address.”

Cama also said focusing on mental health can help motivate a person to develop the tools and skills needed to manage stress and regulate emotions and eventually be able to break through walls of sadness, stress, anxiety, and burnout.

“Prioritizing mental health helps your body create balance and peace,” she said. “It is similar to exercising continuously and straining the body. Your brain is the same. They deserve equal attention—or more given to your brain, as that is the power house of your body.”

While mental health tended to be more of a taboo topic years ago, it has been brought to light in recent years, especially with professional athletes and other well-known figures speaking out in support of making it a priority. And as Cama pointed out, the pandemic also highlighted its importance as individuals spent more time by themselves and experienced feelings of isolation.

“We were able to talk about it more openly because everyone was going through certain feelings of depression and anxiety when we did not know what was happening,” she said. “In the past, people were told to ‘tough it out’ and keep their struggles private. Now, people are more open, and public figures have made the idea of mental health something relatable for all people. Normalizing the advocacy for mental health and therapy has allowed for the culture shift in recent years, showing that we are human and should feel emotions.”

Like Cama, Keith also credited the uncertainty and isolation stemming from the pandemic for bringing mental health to the forefront, as that period of time helped shed light on how people were truly experiencing life and the variety of feelings that resulted from the unexpected situation that suddenly impacted the world.

“We had time to assess our lives and functioning, and taking away many of the typical distractions and packed schedules gave us all enough time to sit with ourselves and the state of the world, our purpose and priorities, relationships, functioning, emotions, etc.,” she said. “It also brought significant attention to our need for community and connection, which is a pillar of mental and emotional health. I think we didn’t have a choice but to recognize our fragility and need for one another, and luckily, from one conversation to the next, people began feeling more comfortable being open and honest about how they were doing.”

Just like maintaining and caring for one’s physical health requires effort and action (working out, eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, etc.), prioritizing mental health also means taking practical steps on a regular basis. Keith said personally and in her practice, she focuses on the basics, such as quality (and enough) sleep, daily sunshine, daily movement, balanced nutrition, stress management, screen management, and whatever form of stillness works for the individual.

“Some mental struggles require greater intervention and care as well as consideration of systemic issues, but everyone needs to have a strong foundation of basics to have the energy and regulation to tackle the big stuff,” she said. “I’m a big fan of journaling—not the 'Dear Diary' kind but the ‘I’m giving myself the next 5–10 minutes to dump every uncomfortable emotion and thought that’s stuck on me’ kind. It doesn’t need to be pretty or make sense, it doesn’t need to have correct grammar, and it doesn’t need to come to some sort of resolution. Just put pen to paper, and let your stream of consciousness flow.”

Keith also said she is a strong believer in going for a walk the second the feeling of a shift in mood or an intrusive thought occurs.

“Walking is an excellent, free, daily mental health tool,” she said. “It engages the body and senses, exposes you to nature, and can stop rumination in its tracks, and the bilateral, rhythmic movement mimics that of therapeutic interventions that support emotional processing.”

It’s also important to remember that others are battling their own issues, too, sometimes silently. People can help others and support one another’s mental health by treating each other with kindness and care and checking in with friends, even the ones who seem happy, helpful, and productive.

“They may just be really good at distracting themselves and performing,” Keith said. “Instead of asking friends, ‘how’s it going,’ when nine out of 10 times, we answer ‘good,’ try asking ‘so what’s going well, and what’s not going so well lately?’ Don’t let your friends off so easily. From there, listen and validate their feelings. Listen and validate.”

Just as Keith pointed out, Cama also recognizes that the seemingly small actions of listening, paying attention, and truly hearing people can have significant impacts that make others feel cared about and valued.

“That kindness is everything to someone,” she said. “Just being there for a person in those moments and being a friend are all that matter. People deserve to be cared for and loved in all their ways, and focusing on being present with others instead of trying to ‘fix’ someone is where it starts.”

You are approximately 1 to 2 centimeters taller in the morning when you first wake up than at the end of the day because gravity compresses cartilage in your spine and other body parts that are able to spread out and decompress when you are lying down.

Imagine that you’re driving down the road, peacefully listening to Taylor Swift or 90s pop or The Ticket or a podcast or whatever your audio choice is, and the car in front of you unexpectedly makes a turn without signaling. Or perhaps someone cut in front of you in your lane without the blinker letting you know it was going to happen. Your beautiful peace or car concert might be interrupted and suddenly turn into frustration.

According to a study conducted by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), drivers who fail to use their turn signals account for more than 2 million accidents annually. What is more, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that failure to use turn signals is one of the most common causes of accidents and that drivers who fail to use their signals when turning or changing lanes are more likely to engage in other unsafe road behaviors, such as speeding and distracted driving.

Dallas-area resident David Recker said he has noticed that an overwhelming amount of drivers, especially those in Dallas, do not consistently use their blinkers when turning or changing lanes. He also poses the notion of a trend he’s noticed based on the vehicles individuals drive.

“Compared to living in Pittsburgh, a city renowned for awful drivers, Dallas drivers are the worst,” he said. “In my completely anecdotal experience, I’ve observed somewhat of a bell-curve pattern of relative value of the car aligning with whether or not signals are used. At the extremes—sh***y cars and high-end Beamers and Range Rovers alike—drivers don’t signal, and drivers of middle-range-value cars seem to be more conscious of signaling.”

Like Recker, Dallas resident Darlene Alcocer said she doesn’t think enough drivers use their blinkers, and she believes that this is a conscious choice those individuals make that stems from people being rather self-focused.

“Nothing gets me riled up more than someone who is selfish enough not to use their blinkers, as if it’s the hardest thing in the world to do,” she said. “Apparently, everyone is always concerned with ‘me, me, me, me, me’ and never the collective good of humanity. I can drive down the road here, and there’s no way I’ll encounter 100-percent appropriate blinker usage, especially in Dallas—and don’t even get me started on Houston.”

Dallas resident Drew Mbiam, however, thinks the question of whether or not the use of the blinker feature is adequate is a bit more contingent upon semantics.

“It depends on how you’d define ‘enough,’” he said. “Enough to avoid accidents? Yes. Enough to make driving stress-free? No.”

While Mbiam has been fortunate enough not to be part of any of those annual accident statistics from lack of signal usage, he does have a theory as to why blinkers aren’t used as often as they legally should be.

“A lot of people suffer from main character syndrome and feel like the world revolves around them,” he said.

While some individuals may be focusing solely on themselves, their actions certainly have the ability to have significant impacts on those around them. Alcocer said she wishes that more drivers would use their blinkers to avoid unnecessary safety issues and thinks that the lack of frequent use stems from people caring more about perception than the well-being of others.

“Using your blinker isn’t seen as cool,” she said. “Common courtesy is somehow viewed as a ‘soft’ thing to do, and it makes me angry because it’s actually dangerous. No one cares that you don’t look like a badass (insert annoyed emoji here). Your fragile ego is putting my life at risk, and on top of that, you’re just lazy.”

Many individuals also become caught up in the hurry-up world that currently exists, with people commonly mentioning how busy they are and rushing from one place to another. Recker said he thinks such a reality highly contributes to the no-blinker issue.

“I’m sure it has a strong negative correlation with distracted driving and also the fast-paced need to get from A to B as quickly as possible—meaning, as distracted driving increases, signal usage decreases,” he said.

In order to help better the safety of those on the roads, Recker has a solution that he believes would contribute to less carelessness from those in the driver’s seat.

“I’ve long advocated that all drivers should be retested at certain intervals, with increasing frequency at milestone ages,” he said. “It would bring in good revenue for the city, reinforce safe driving habits, and possibly keep drivers who can’t pass a test from getting behind the wheel.”

Mbiam, on the other hand, thinks it would be wise to use fear-inducing tactics on the general public to make individuals more aware of what could happen when they choose not to drive responsibly.

“Keep showing them car accidents and the fallouts from them until they use their blinkers more frequently,” he said.

Alcocer said she also thinks using a form of instilling a bit of fear in drivers would be effective, though her method would be more in the guilt and disgrace sense.

“I think we need to start bullying people who don’t use their blinkers,” she said. “Bring back public shaming. I would like to point out that throwing tomatoes at people was a pretty successful public humiliation tactic back in the day. They can’t arrest all of us.”

WEEKLY PHOTO OP

Some of the NatNews staff, our sole investor, and dear readers recently celebrated with dear reader Elizabeth Cruz, who is getting married this month 

Monday, September 1: NBA YoungBoy at the American Airlines Center (also on Tuesday)
Tuesday, September 2: Free Rooftop Movie — Scary Movie at Sundown at Granada; Mahjong Social at Sadelle’s Dallas
Wednesday, September 3: Pantera at Dos Equis Pavilion
Thursday, September 4: Cowboys vs. Eagles Watch Party at Happiest Hour; Cowboys vs. Eagles Watch Party at Legacy Hall
Friday, September 5: Nelly at Dos Equis Pavilion; Flamenco in the Golden Age of Hollywood at the Latino Cultural Center (goes through Saturday); Dallas Silent Disco at Klyde Warren Park; Candlelight — Queen vs. ABBA at the Irving Arts Center
Saturday, September 6: WRRC Saturday run from Taco Joint; SMU vs. Baylor at Gerald J. Ford Stadium; Rangers vs. Astros at Globe Life Field
Sunday, September 7: Dink & Drink Pickleball Tournament at the Sandy Pickle; DMA First Free Sundays — Access for All at the Dallas Museum of Art; Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix in Concert at the Meyerson Symphony Center (runs Thursday through Sunday)