Speaker A: Welcome to sharing my truth with Mel and Suzie, the uncensored version where we bear it all.

Speaker B: We do 1234.

Speaker A: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to sharing my truth pod. You're here with Mel and Suzy, and we just had a really, really important and powerful interview with this gorgeous and lovely girl. Her name is Brittany Krystantos, and I hope I'm saying that right. So we just finished the interview. It's on a really important topic that I think a lot of our audience will take something really positive away from. And she speaks a lot about mental health, and she is a best selling author. She's a speaker, she's a mental health advocate. You can hear her own podcast at Dear Brittany podcast, which is really cool. Her instagram. Instagram is @brittkrystantos She spells it for you on the pod. And, yeah, if you're struggling with mental health, like, I think a lot of us are in this mental health crisis, she's a really important person to kind of get in touch with. Hey, babes.

Speaker B: Hello, darling.

Speaker A: How are you?

Speaker B: I'm fine. I'm all good.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah. So we've done this interview. Obviously, mental health is, I think, something that's very misunderstood. And we, too, talk about it a lot more today than we did, you know, 2030 years ago, when I was young, which is great. I mean, obviously, that's very positive. And we live in Canada, and Brittany is in Canada, too. And Canada really is a place where this is a very progressive country, and this is somewhere where you can get help, obviously, universal healthcare, but you can get help. You can speak to people. There are resources. They may not be perfect before anybody tells me off for that, but they really. It really is, you know, we're very lucky because that doesn't exist in a lot of other countries. Yeah, but she's an advocate. That is very important for people to talk about it. To talk about when they were in a dark place, how they went from the dark place to the light place, as it were. And for particularly anybody struggling, and probably in her case, because she's Gen Z, anybody who's young, who's struggling. And there really is an epidemic of that. I mean, I have two, as we know, I've said many times, two teenagers. Thankfully, that's not something I've had to deal with with my children, but with many of their friends. I've seen so many issues. Anxiety, depression, adhd, panic attacks, all sorts of, you know, very serious stuff. Obviously, very tragically, you know, suicides, particularly in the pandemic, that was really all too prevalent it was really horrible. Both my kids, I think they knew about five kids. Wow. And that, you know, just. I mean, there are no words for how horrendous that is. And I think, obviously, you need to find somebody if you are struggling. And that is the one probably good thing about social media is that you can find somebody who you can identify with, who you can inspire you, who maybe was in a tricky place, in a dark place, and managed to overcome their struggles and get help. And that actually could be very helpful. And she's obviously doing this as Gen Z. She's 25, so could obviously speak to younger people about that. And I know she does a lot of work about that, and she does speaking events and so on. And it is obviously very important because we're still not very clear as to what that is. What it is. Mental health.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: I think we bandy the word around and we talk about it incessantly. And, you know, I spoke to Brittany from my own point of view, as somebody who. My mother is mentally ill, has a mental illness. She's bipolar. And I've lived my whole life with that. And it's. It's very, very difficult for the family members. It's incredibly hard. And there is an enormous difference between that, which is sometimes not survivable, sometimes not very manageable in my mother's case, and mental health. And this idea of what does mental health actually mean? And there are levels of it. There's mental health that is, you are struggling. And as we all know, different people in our lives who, you know, like, let's say, will deal. I'll deal with stress in one way, and they'll deal with it. They'll just get very stressed out about something that just, to me, will be nothing. Like, for example, if I use you as an example, Suzy, you're somebody who's very, very good, very good at staying cool, calm, collected. In stressful situations. You seem to have a real ability to just not let it affect you, which is amazing.

Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know how I do it, to be honest. I don't know why.

Speaker B: I mean, I know you saw you once, you'd lost your phone, and I was like, holy ****, if I'd lost my phone, I'd be going nuts. You were like, yeah, it's okay. I was in an Uber, and you just very calmly, and the guy came back, and the car. Sorry, the phone was in the. The car had fallen out of a bag or whatever, but you were like, it's okay. You had it completely in your mind under control. Whereas the next person, the same thing could have happened, and they'd be going ******* apeshit. They'd be thinking, oh, my God, am I passwords and my credit card? Am I secure? You know, like, everything would be going in your head going. And, you know. So for one person, what something is, like, what's the big deal? Another person is a huge thing. Yeah, the same with depression. Like, you know, one person is depressed about or gets more, gets the blues or gets low very easily, and another person doesn't. So we all have a predisposition or gets anxious or nervous, and we all have a predisposition for something, but that's the state of being human, and I don't think we talk about that enough. And then the to understand that, that, I'm afraid, is being human. You are going to have moments in your life which are unbelievably stressful, and you're gonna have moments in your life where ******* everything is gonna happen at the same time. You know, something awful is gonna happen in your family. You're gonna have a financial problem. You're gonna have. It's all gonna. The **** is gonna rain down. And you just think, how the hell do I get through this? And you do, and that is unfortunately part of life. And obviously, some people are able to cope through those situations and others aren't. But even just this idea that you have days where you're blue, you're depressed, or you're low, and particularly women can be very affected because of hormonal changes. And to understand that that is life.

Speaker A: Yeah, I totally agree. It's a very hard. If you don't have a mental health issue in the way of something that's diagnosed by a psychologist or something, then you don't really fully understand the depth of what can happen with some people. Like, obviously Britney speaks about, and I'm totally with you, Mel. Like, it's. There is a huge mental health crisis, but there's also a huge mental illness crisis, and we should not be. The two can't really be compared, and they shouldn't be not connected, but intertwined in the way of, like, this is not the same thing.

Speaker B: It's not the same thing.

Speaker A: It's not the same thing.

Speaker B: You having a bad day?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And, you know, being somebody who has serious panic attacks or has serious mental health illness issues, you know, they're bipolar or they're schizophrenic or whatever it is, is not the same thing. It's not even the same conversation.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And even I would say there are sort of three levels. There's mental illness, which may not be curable. It's something you manage.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: And probably isn't curable. Then there's mental health. Like you are. You are somebody who suffers from panic attacks or anxiety, extreme feelings of something or another, and you need some empathy from people. You need some help to come to grips with, some tools to be able to deal with those challenges. And then the third thing is this idea that we all have to manage our mind. We all have dark thoughts, some obviously a lot darker than others. We all have depressive thoughts. We have all kinds of thoughts that go through our head different every day that we have to manage. And stress levels, too. Like, sometimes, like, life is just. It's just like, oh, my God, it's just too much.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: But I'm afraid, you know, what are you gonna do, not deal with it?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And so I think our gen, my generation, the sort of gen x generation where there was nobody who ever said, oh, yeah, just take a mental health day. I mean, I think if you had said that while I was working in my twenties, they would be like, oh, what now? They would've fired you. I mean, I would have got fired if I. I mean, I think I once, once took a day off because I had. My hangover was so bad that I couldn't. But if you'd actually called up and said, you know, you'd actually be worried, saying, if some, some awful tragedy have happened in your family, that would have been difficult to say, look, I need to go to the funeral. I need to go and do this. Okay, in that case, maybe, okay. But it would, it was very difficult to, you know, to say, I'm suffering, or in that absolutely no way would anybody have listened to you. And that isn't good. And there was no empathy. I remember when I was young and I started out sort of working in the private sector, working in sales, and it was always like, don't mix emotions with business. Don't mix personal with business. And people would say to you all the time, this is business. And then I run my own businesses. And my view is completely different. I'm like, I'm sorry, but people make up businesses. Businesses are run by people. So you have to understand people. You have to be empathetic. We're not robots. And, you know, like that sort of eighties Wall Street Gordon gecko kind of, you know, eat people alive. You know, you, you know, you, you don't stop. You keep going. Do you know what I mean by that movie and that, obviously, yeah. Obviously, that's changed a huge amount. We've evolved a huge amount. It's really important. But there's also a level that people have to, some people are taking the ****, quite frankly, and they call up and say, I'm having a mental health day. Just because they can't be asked to get out of bed.

Speaker A: There's people who take advantage of it 100%. And that's the problem with, obviously, one of the problems with this mental health crisis is that it's not a physical problem, right? Even schizophrenia or being bipolar, some of these traits are more obvious than others, right? So it's like when you have, like a mental health problem, like you're stressed or you're like, depressed, it's like people can't see it, really.

Speaker B: Oh, 100%.

Speaker A: And so that's true. And so people find it super hard to understand because they're like, well, everything's okay with you. It looks like everything's fine. So are you really, like, you know, is something really going on? And like, obviously, like, that's a huge part of the problem because we can't, we have to rely on our empathy. And you can't rely on empathy when you're dealing with other people, right. It's like, how can you, if I'm telling you I'm having a bad day, you'll believe me because you know me, but I'm telling my boss I'm having a bad day, he's going to be suspicious. Seems like you were fine yesterday. So what's the problem?

Speaker B: And I agree with that, but I agree with that. But there is still this, this huge difference between, I'm finding it difficult to cope. I'm actually in a position where I'm taking some kind of, I'm having some kind of therapy, I'm taking some kind of drug for managing anxiety or whatever, which is a whole different level. And then there's another level which is actual illness. And what I mean by illness. And I think if people haven't lived this, have not seen it, they don't understand, like, you know, ideal. And again, I'm bringing this back to myself. I'm trying not to experience, I'm just trying to relate this to other people in a way that Britney, like, you know, I do feel that it's, it's important to talk about it, to sort of be a bit of an advocate. You know, my mother, I've, you know, one of the things I've recently dealt with is that is her being sectioned by the government. So that is, you know, Britain. My mom lives in the UK. And in the UK, we obviously also have you universal healthcare. And whatever anybody says about the NHS, it is incredible in dealing with these things. It's a huge organization. It's able to. Well with her. It's been able to pretty much save her life. But there's a point where you get so bad, so bad, that the state can intervene and section you and put you in an institution. And my mom is steps away from that. And I've recently had to deal with that. And, you know, the police get involved and the government, and it's horrible. It's horrible. And people who haven't seen what that is, that is a million bajillion miles away from going, oh, I'm having a bad day.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I think by the conversation about mental health, which is very important.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: And I've actually, even my own personal ways, have done some advocacy and spoken to friends of mine who've have issues with their children who are suffering from mental health issues or in some cases, mental illness. And they've agreed with me that we need to have more conversation about how serious this is, but that it's not all the same thing. No. And that we've, in a way, by. It's not the fact that we've talked about it so much. It's the fact that we don't talk about the differences totally, that we've trivialized a part of mental health to the point that somebody who just thinks, oh, opens the window, oh, it's raining today, can't be asked, goes back to bed, and they call that a mental health day. And, you know, people can come and say, oh, you ******* Gen X. So you've got that. But, I mean, it's true.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, there's also the other thing where it's like, we're looking at a lot of these things as weaknesses when a lot of these things, like, a lot of our differences, and especially, like, when you get through a dark period in your life, that actually makes you stronger as a person, 100%. And so it's like, I think a lot of us who have lived a bit of life, and obviously, I haven't lived as much life as you, Brittany hasn't lived as much life as me. There's just things that we've gone through that make us a better person in society or just more understanding, and just these differences and these problems actually make us stronger in the way of, you know, how to get through these things instead of just stay dark 100%.

Speaker B: I'd sort of add something to also what I said before. And what I mean is that people who are looking out the window going, oh, I can't be bothered to go to work and saying they want a mental health date. They are not helping the people. Millions and millions of people who really need some ******* help and don't know where to go. Even in countries like Canada and Britain, where it's very, or France or western Europe, where it's much easier to get to that because it's provided by the state. They are alone and they're frightened, and they're frightened of themselves, they're frightened of their thoughts, and it's very difficult to reach out to people. And I think another thing, if I think of my life where I've had some real instances of real darkness, and while you're going through the darkness, people like, oh, you know, can you help? And you're like, well, what are you gonna do? How are you going to resolve the situation which is caused by, you know, something, some tragedy that's happened to me? How, how are you gonna help me? And I, I think that's another thing we don't understand, and that when you get through it, I've certainly found then you can talk about it, but when you're in it, it's very, very difficult. You are literally, like, knee deep or up to your neck in mud. Yeah. And you can't talk to anyone because how's it going to help? It's not gonna stop anything. But I'm empathizing with people. That's what I'm trying to. I've lived that. I understand that. But what we need to try and have a conversation is that while you are neck deep in the mud is where do you go for help? Who can you reach out to? How can you get some support from somebody who is not going to judge you? Because the problem is if you talk to your family generally or your friend, they will judge you. They can be the nicest people in the world. But we all have pretty conceived ideas about a person, and especially if we know them, we've kind of put them in a little box and we're going to make a judgment. And you need to go and talk to somebody, and I will. I've told you, I've told many people when I have, at various points in my life, sought help, and it was incredibly beneficial. It didn't help me resolve the problem, but it helped me see through the problem. It helped me step back and go, okay, I can do this. Yeah, I can get through this. I can get through this minefield of absolute ****. And that's what the help was there for, was to go to somebody who didn't judge me, who didn't have any idea of really who I was, just saw the thing I was telling them. Right. But again, I would like to say, and Brittany mentioned this in the interview, even in a country like Canada, that you have to often go and pay for that. And it is hugely costly. It's so expensive. And, you know, it's just a never ending thing. And so from that point of view, that's what I say with, for those millions, thousands of people who are suffering, who don't know, what do I do? How do I stop this? How do I move on? It's incredibly difficult. But if you can find, at the very least, some kind of inspiring people to say, okay, they have seen darkness and they've been able to come through it. And maybe, and I'm not entirely sure how many resources, but there are resources, you know, out there. And maybe Britney has some on her page.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, there's a number that if you do live in Canada, you can call 988, I believe that's what she says, 988. And you can talk to someone. There's also the kids help phone if you're underage for the youth. But, yeah, I think there are resources. I don't think they're hard to find, but I think they're as, when we talk about this on the interview, it's just like, they're hard to, if you're trying to go in person, it's hard to get a hold of. It's expensive. And there's also wait lists. So trying to find a friend you trust who you don't think will judge you, trying to find a teacher or a mentor or something like that, who, you know, you know, it's not gonna, you know, be, like, in quotes, like, not a big deal to them. Like, you know, just like I. Them wanting to help you, them wanting to be with you, that, like, for that. For you. For that. So trying to find that person in your life, it's just one person. Like, that's all you need, 100%, even.

Speaker B: A relative who perhaps is not like a mother or father, that you have a kind of an easier relationship, that you can say things. Because I think, like, she, you know, you're talking about the phone number. That's part of the problem. People can't even pick up the phone, even though.

Speaker C: Oh, exactly.

Speaker B: To get the words out of your mouth, to get from your brain to your mouth to express what's going on is an enormous challenge because the other thing that I don't think people understand, that if you say it, it's real. And if you don't say it and you keep it in your head and it drives, goes around and around and around, somehow maybe it's not as real, it's not as bad. It's a bit like anything in life. You have relationship troubles, money troubles, whatever. If you don't say it somehow, it's not real. The minute you say it and you discuss it, you're like, ****, I've got to deal with it and it's real. And that's incredibly difficult. But I think both you and I are saying we come from a place of real empathy, real understanding. I personally believe the conversation is very important. I just wish we'd shift the narrative a bit and be a little bit more kind of inclusive. Would explain a little bit, like, what does this mean, mental health, and talk about the different levels. And I think that would help people. And also, like I said, I see a lot of young kids, a lot of teenagers, and there's an enormous amount of teenagers struggling and, you know, and taking all kinds of medications, which scares the **** out of me, quite frankly. I find it really terrifying the amount of teenagers and sort of tweens taking medication for, you know, anxiety, adhd, depression, stress, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker A: And even like, not just those medications, but also like weed and stuff like that, like, way too early. Like, it's just like, it's just the fact that of you being just. What is it? Like, pre. You're like, yeah, what is that? What am I trying to say?

Speaker B: Well, you mean before your brain, like, fully formed?

Speaker A: Exactly like your pre.

Speaker B: Yeah, there is a word, but I can't think.

Speaker A: But yeah.

Speaker B: So, like, you all know what we.

Speaker A: You all know what we ******* mean. So, like, yeah, you're just like, you're holding on to this thing to kind of, you know, make you fall asleep.

Speaker B: Like, dampen your feelings.

Speaker A: Yes, exactly like, it's like, well, no, you need to know how to regulate your own emotions. That's also what I'm trying to say. It's like, regulate your own emotions. Try to fall asleep on your own. If you are taking all these pills, if you're doing all these, even if they're in quotes, natural medication, it's not. You still have to let your brain develop and agree, try to find your own way through things. And, yeah, medication is scary. That's why I don't even take birth control. We've already talked about that.

Speaker B: It's terrifying. It's absolutely terrifying at such a young age. But on the other hand, you see parents, and they just don't know what. They just don't know. What do you do? You just know what to do. And I think because it's so available. It's so available. I think there's so much talk. There's obviously the element of social media of, what do they call it? Suicide? Alliteration? Ideation. Ideation, what's the word? Is, like thoughts of it. And we talk about it. And I think a lot of parents are absolutely terrified. Oh, my God. Like, you just don't know where this is going or what information that you can find. And that is something that obviously in my generation, you weren't finding. You couldn't go online and find some crazy website about something completely nuts. And, you know, whatever you're feeling, whatever you're going through in a positive way. Yes. You can find a community online. The big problem is that whatever you're going through, you can find a negative community online. You can find any number of just complete and I utter ******** who want to scam you. And, you know, so that's the problem. Yeah. You know, and be very, very, very careful of that.

Speaker A: All right. Should we start the pod then?

Speaker B: Yeah, should we listen to the ******* interview?

Speaker A: Well, thank you so much again for Britney to come onto our pod and talk about it. I know it's not easy to talk about her own mental health struggles and issues. And so, yeah, we hope you enjoy the interview. We'd also love for you guys to, you know, if you guys have an opinion or you have your own story, if you want to share that with us at sharemytruthpod on the socials or go to sharemytruth.com and you can send us a little email or voicemail there. Love you.

Speaker C: Hello, Britney.

Speaker A: Thank you so much for joining us at sharemytruthpod. I know our listeners are very excited to hear what you have to say, and we're just so happy that you are, you know, spend the time to come on our pod today. Thank you.

Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to speak our truths today.

Speaker A: I love that. I just want to start the podcast just with you, just giving our audience just a brief rundown of who you are and where they can find more information on you.

Speaker C: Yeah, I'm Brittany, and a little bit about me is I'm a mental health advocate, but I'd like to really break it down to why a mental health advocate and who I am as a person. So I can share, you know, a significant moment in my life that made me who I am. I struggled as a teenager with depression and anxiety at 15 years old, and all the struggles that I've gone through as a teenager led me to where I am today. I wrote a book when I was 15 years old called Unmut, your average teen, and fast forward to over ten years later. I am advocating and trying to fight for mental health because so many lives are being affected by mental health. And, you know, our generation today is going through so many struggles. I believe mental health is something that's so important to me, and I'm really excited, you know, to talk more about that and talk about, you know, more about my journey. But really all started with me going.

Speaker A: Through my struggles and overcoming those that's so empowering. I think I was actually just talking about it with another friend of mine today. And it is really crazy to think about everyone is having mental health issues. And I don't want to say, oh, this is a new thing. Oh, this is just coming about. Maybe it's just we're actually bringing awareness to it now. But why do you think it is that everyone in quotations is having mental health problems or challenges these days? Is it social media? What is it?

Speaker C: I think, for one, we've all gone through so much. Like, we can't deny the fact that we went through a pandemic. We went through, what, like four years of staying inside or three years of a struggle that we all went through. But really, we all go through mental health. And, you know, there's a stat that says one in four people have a mental health struggle. That is a lot of people. Like, if you are, if you add two more people to your room right now, one of you is going to go through something very severe. And so, you know, this mental health crisis is really doubling. But I think the problem, to answer your question, is that no one got the help that they needed. Like, mental health was something that we never spoke about when I was little or when I was a teenager, only recently, we're talking about it. But I believe that's really a big reason why people are struggling is because we never got the awareness or the education or even the resources to talk about mental health back in the day. And so now we're all facing struggles, big or small, we're all going through something.

Speaker B: And what is the thing? Can I ask you, are you Gen Z? You're in your sort of mid twenties? Yeah. So what is the thing that helped you navigate, obviously, a big struggle, like, what's brought you to the place you are today? What's the thing?

Speaker C: For one, for me, I was in a place where I was in so much darkness and so much anxiety, and I was in a place where I didn't want to live anymore. To be totally truthful with you, I was 15 years old, and I was having these suicidal thoughts, like, even almost attempted my life. And in that moment, I didn't see any light, I didn't see any joy. But then for me, it was that moment of darkness where I realized, you know, I need to live for something, and I needed to change my life around. And I became obsessed with the idea of changing my life around. So I started to read self help books. I went to the bookstore with my grandfather and bought whole stacks of books and started becoming obsessed with the idea of happiness. But for so many others, we can't rely on the fact of, oh, maybe they will find hope, or maybe they will think last minute, oh, I don't want to do this, because we can't obviously think like that. Not everyone's going to have a glimpse of hope or see the light like I did. So for me, it was more like in those dark moments or dark thoughts, I was thinking, you know, I can't do this. I have so much more to look forward to. But getting the help, you know, asking the help was something that was really big. I reached out to a local therapist and then a local life coach, and then I did all these things at 15 on my own without my parents even knowing. But that's not normal. That's not okay. Like, you could. You should go to your parents. You should speak up and talk about the mental health struggles you're going through. Like, you shouldn't have to go through it alone. And so, yeah, I got help, and, yeah, I'm here today and doing things, but it wasn't the normal way of doing it. And if I were to go back, I would have said no. I should have gone to talk to my parents and said, hey, I'm having these thoughts. Taking me to a therapist who helped.

Speaker B: Was it shame stopping you from going to your parent? What was stopping is, if you don't mind me asking, was it the lack of openness with your parents, or is it something in you that you were just like, I don't want to admit this. If I go to them, then I'm admitting there's an issue.

Speaker C: Yeah, it was more. It was more shame because at the time, over ten years ago, when I was 15, there was no awareness. There was no, hey, mental health is okay to talk about it. So. For sure, I was, you know, nervous about talking about it to my parents because. Worried they were gonna judge me. I'm worried that if people found out, they would start, like, calling me names. Oh, she's weird. Or she's this. So definitely with shame. But I believe ten years later, we are. We are evolving, and there is no shame in that.

Speaker B: 100%. Yeah. I mean, it certainly come on a very long way, and certainly from when I was 15, a million years ago, it's. There was no. There was nothing. There was no discussion. I mean, there was no even. It didn't even enter anybody's thought process that this. This is. This is serious. Everyone has to figure out how to manage their mind, and it's very difficult.

Speaker C: Very difficult.

Speaker B: Extremely difficult thing to do. Yeah.

Speaker A: So how are you still. I know you said you. You read all these incredible books that really changed your life. Was there one book that you. And then obviously, you wrote a book, but was there one book that you read or two or three books that really kind of turn it around for you?

Speaker C: Yeah, there's this one book called how to heal your life by Louise Hay. She talked about how you can change your life by doing certain things, like positive thinking and energy and, you know, the thoughts that you think can become certain things in your life. And so I loved reading that book because it was like, this. This big idea for me is, like, how can I change my life, being that I'm still in high school all the time and dealing with high school problems, obviously. And that book was really motivating for me to realize that, hey, I can change my life. And it's about little steps and little, you know, little actions in your life that can really change it for you.

Speaker B: Like, manifesting positive energy. Positive thoughts.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah. I think that there's a lot of truth to that.

Speaker A: Yeah. I find it so hard. Like, I mean, I'm definitely not in high school. I freaking wish. But I do find my day to day, like, obviously, like, working. Like, working now, like, just my everyday company. Like, you know, you have to find the reason why you're doing everything day to day. And it's like you start. You start getting into these negative thoughts, and I think a lot of people get chart. Start just getting into these negative thoughts because they're rounding out of people or not even that, but they're just, like. They're dealing with stuff that they don't know how to and they're afraid and there's, like, all these things going on and they feel like they're losing control a bit. And I feel like I have that feeling a lot because I sometimes I have the tendency to put too much on my plate and I don't know how to take stuff off because I don't know how to say no. And that's another problem. Yeah, there's just. There's these things, and I'll catch myself having these horrible negative thoughts about myself or just about my situation. And I'm like, I literally have to go back and think about, oh, my God, Suzy, you should be so. Not should be, but I am so grateful. I can't believe this is my life. If I was looking at my life ten years ago now, I would be like, holy ****, you are amazing. I'm sure that's what you think about yourself. Do you catch yourself going back into that area of, like, darkness and, like, what do you do to kind of get yourself out of that?

Speaker C: So, obviously, I'm human. I'm 26 years old. I'm going to struggle. I'm going to go through darkness. We all do. We go through heartbreak, we go through stress in my career, of course, we all struggle. But what I call it, darkness. No, because I know I am so grateful for the life I have and for the things I get to do and the people I get to meet and, you know, the life I created for myself. So I don't go into darkness. But, yes, of course I'm human. I'm a woman. I get my period sometimes and I'm a fan. And I'm sorry for swearing.

Speaker B: No, please. Get it out. Get it out.

Speaker C: I have moments of, you know, moments of bad days, good days. Like any human out there, any Gen Z, any young adult out there is gonna have a moment of low moment. But I wouldn't call it darkness. I would just call it being human, for one.

Speaker B: Yeah. I have a question for you that. What do you think? Like, we live in Canada, you're in Canada. A lot of our audience is actually in the US and other places like the UK and also Canada. But, you know, you're in Canada, we're in Canada. And I would say Canada is a very, very progressive country and takes, compared to other countries, takes mental health very seriously and certainly has evolved a huge amount. And a lot of other countries do not take it seriously. But what do you. I know that you live at this personally and also professionally, and I know you've done a lot of speaking and so on. With some very influential people. So what do you think about the state of where we are in this conversation about national mental health in this country? What do you think about that? What are your thoughts?

Speaker C: I think, for one, what you said there is powerful. I'm grateful to live in a country I really am, to live in a country where they really. They really take mental health seriously. There's other countries out there, like you said, that don't, or they don't do what our country does. I mean, Canada, we're a country that's evolving. And as Canadians, our superpower, I believe, is stepping up and helping people. And so, you know, Canada has departments for mental health now, both provincial and government, federal. I believe they're really taking mental health really seriously. But, of course, as any country or anything, we can do better. But I'm really grateful to be in a country where mental health is something that is accessible and is reachable. And for Canadians who are struggling, I mean, there is help. You know, there's now a hotline that we didn't have back then. It's called 988, and any Canadian going through mental health struggles can just call that hotline. And there's help available. And I know other countries don't have that. So I feel horrible for other people out there who don't have help that I wish they did. But I think I'm really grateful to be living in a country that takes. It takes mental health seriously. Of course, like anything, there is times where we need to evolve and do better and. Or create more opportunities and more resources. But for. For the first start, I think it's. It's really, really great, and they're doing really great stuff.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: I mean, it's so interesting. Like, I feel like. And I want to go back to something you said at the very beginning of just like, you know, like, we didn't have all these, like. And we, like, in quotations, like, we didn't have these mental health struggles, like, earlier, obviously. Like, in previous years, obviously, we've always had mental health struggles. There's no names for it or just the research wasn't being done. And I think that brings it to where we're also having a lot of this generational trauma seeping through. And it's like, that's a real medical thing where it's like, you have generational trauma, which actually goes into not only your mental health issues, but also your physical health issues because you're carrying this weight of stress. Right. So, like, obviously, in Canada, we have these problems with a lot of, you know, native communities, like indigenous communities and everything like that. And also, you know, obviously grateful in Canada that we have these. The 988. Is that what you said?

Speaker C: 988?

Speaker A: I mean, I remember when there was like, like a kid's help phone line. I never called it, but, like, I probably should have, but, like, you know, I mean, I just can't even think what we would do without kind of these mental health things right now. And is there something that you think there could be done better? Like, what would you think? Because you're actually in this space, right? So it's like, what could there be done better within Canada or even just like, to help as a global. With the global issue?

Speaker C: Well, I think so. With Canada, if we break it down like this, you know, we have covered healthcare, universal healthcare, and so the treatments like therapy and everything is covered, of course, and it's free and people can go and get help if they need it. But the problem is, is that really intense therapy, like treatments and treatment centers and people. People who are having suicide attempts need to go to these centers to get the proper help they need to be on suicide watch is actually six months to over a year wait list. It's really bad, the wait list. And so by then help maybe too late. And so for that, it's not okay. And so then people are relying on private health care, a private mental health services, like therapy and counseling, which could be like a very expensive.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's why I'm not in therapy. It's like. It's ridiculous.

Speaker B: But then you can go to, like.

Speaker C: A hospital or like a government funded a place where there is therapy, but the waitlist may be really long or you may not get the best treatments, you know? So, like, for me, I went to private, a private therapist because I needed help soon, sooner than later. And that's really expensive. If you don't have your family that can provide for you or you're a Gen Z and you don't have the money because you're figuring out your life, then what are you going to do, right? So, yeah, I think, for one, Canada has to create more opportunities where, you know, maybe it's more hospitals for mental health or whatever it is, but. But more opportunities. So the wait list isn't so long. More doctors, more therapists, so that these places where it's covered and Canadians can go and get the help they need for free can be accessible for these Canadians. And I think on a global scale, I think every country is responsible for mental health. It's really sad, but every 40 seconds. The stat says that one person actually commits suicide every 40 seconds worldwide. And so over a course of a year, it's about over 800,000 people worldwide have committed suicides, a lot of people. And so every country is responsible for mental health. And so I think if anyone's listening to this and you're part of a government or you're part of some way, you know, you're responsible for the mental health crisis. So I think everyone worldwide needs to be talking about it and figure a way to help this and create a solution for it on a global scale. Not just Canada, not just the United States, but every country, because everyone's struggling. And, you know, the world Health Organization have created, put out the stat of every 40 seconds. You know, someone commits suicide. And it's really hard. It's really sad to even think about it. It's been 40 seconds probably already, and someone in the world has committed, you know, suicide. And it's something that needs to be addressed, I believe. And people need to do better. You know, countries need to do better.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I have a question for you, and it's sort of part of the question for me comes from a personal place. So I think that the conversation about mental health is very important. I didn't grow up in a time when anybody talked about it, but I think my one criticism about it seems quite endless conversation about mental health, there's a lot of it all the time, is that I think for me, I am the daughter of somebody, my mother is bipolar, so I live with somebody with mental, serious, extremely chronic mental illness that has effectively destroyed her life. And the people had a huge impact, as mental illness does on the people around her. So I experience this as a child, as an adult. What I'm saying is that I feel when I listen to the conversation and narrative, as important as it is to talk about mental health and getting young people, particularly, to understand that managing your mind is a lifelong commitment. But there does need to be a discussion, I think, and that's why I said, I prefaced the question by saying it's personal for me. There needs to be more of a distinction, more of an understanding between mental health, which is part of everybody's life. Every day you're going to have ups and downs, you're going to be stressed. Some people deal with stress better, some people are more depressive than others, and so on. And there are different levels, as, of course, you know, and mental illness, which is something that has to be treated with medication, with care, which may never go away, and they are completely different things. And I do feel a little bit, as I said, again, this is personal before anybody comes for me is that they get conflated. And I don't think that helps people. Like you're talking about, you know, you were in a dark place and suicidal, you know, thoughts and so on. That's very different from somebody being stressed. And I feel a mental illness and I feel that some people maybe don't take it seriously enough or there's not even an understanding of distinction. This is a really important issue and we need to understand what it means to be ill for your mind to be ill and to be suffering mental health issues like you did. And then everyday mental health management, I don't know what your thoughts about that are. And again, that's very personal to me.

Speaker C: That makes sense. And you have someone in your life that is affected by mental illness, so it makes total sense. I think, of course, there's a difference of people being like, oh, my God, I can't go to work today because I'm like, having a mental health day, or you need to manage your stress and they're just too much. And of course there's a difference of mental illness. Someone that, you know, is diagnosed with bipolar, schizophrenic, anxiety, depression. But then another thing is like, you know, sometimes if someone is really stressed in their life, you know, is it, are they stressed because they're, they're going through a mental health breakdown, or are they stressed to the point where something could happen or, you know, they're so stressed, you know, they can't pay their bills. And let's say, for example, Tom can't pay his bills and he's working five jobs to figure things out and he's really stressed. And then that's the part where you should worry, okay, is Tom getting the mental health, the mental health treatment or the mental health understanding of what to do? Because that situation, like, for example, this Tom guy just created, could be affected by mental illness if things keep going the way it is, because we don't know what's going on in his head or what's going on in his life. And so I think for that reason, mental health needs to be educated for everyone because we never know when someone can get it. People can get triggered and then have a mental health illness. People can, you know, have something happen in their life, lose a parent, they're going to grieve, and now they're having depression and then maybe potential bad thoughts. So I think, yes, of course there's difference with mental health management. Like, oh, my God, my boyfriend broke up with me. I'm so sad. Or like, you know, oh, my job is so stressful today. Like, that girl at my work is so annoying. I'm so stressed, I want to stay home. Or there's difference with someone that maybe not have mental illness growing up or, but they're stressed in their life and they need to know the right tools or resources and be educated so that if anything, God forbid, happens where they start escalating, then they have mental illness and they have to, you know, get the help they need.

Speaker B: Yeah, okay. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. I think there needs to be more discussion, in all honesty, because I think your, your stories, you've pointed it out. Your stories are serious. And like I said, you know, my experience with mental illness, not my mental illness, my mother's mental illness, but there are a lot of, and this is a generational thing is there are a lot of people saying, like you said, oh, I'm having a mental health day. Well, what does that mean? I mean, like, I understand that the day can be stressful, but what is the level? Where are we measuring this? And it's not helpful in many ways.

Speaker A: I think it's just because it's easier to take it for people. I'm not saying people do this. It can be taken advantage of. Like, what I'm trying to say by people who are just like, well, I'm not feeling great. I want to go to the beach. I'm going to take a mental health.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Which I'm actually saying. That's not. That. Like, that is important because we do need those days to make. Yes, but there is, like, there are people who are like, well, everyone cares about mental health now. Now I'm just going to have a day for myself because I'm going to pretend, and then it makes everyone else look bad. Who actually does need this kind of help.

Speaker B: That's it. The people who actually need help, you actually need the day to go and do something, are bunched in with everyone else who's like, just quite frankly, you.

Speaker A: Know, I just want the data.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And it's not helpful, is it? Because everyone has a stressful day, you still have to get up and go to work. I mean, but I do think the bosses today, I don't know what you think, but, like, companies today, they are much more understanding if something happens. And I do think that's also after the pandemic, like, if you have a death in the family or something awful that happens. Or whatever it is, people actually go, okay, yes, you're a human being. And I think before the pandemic or years before, it was like, well, tough. You got to come to work. You got to come to work. I do think that has progressed and that is really important. So I don't know what your thoughts are on about that.

Speaker C: I think it is really important. Like you said, like, I think the workplace, of course, and everyone around has to be involved in mental health. And I think obviously, like you said, like the pandemic happened and it was really, it was really hard on people, especially going back to work was hard. But I think that everyone needs to stay involved and educated on mental health to help people out, whether it's work or friends or family. I think it's really important to, to be educated.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, I mean, I 100% agree. I mean, I, I think it's an ongoing thing.

Speaker A: Do you think there's like one specific? I mean, I'm sure there's not one specific, but like, there's like one or three problems that, like Gen Z, because I feel like Gen Z is the one who's lifted this issue, which it is an issue up, right? Like, us millennials, we're just like, yeah, we're having a bad day. Our parents still made us go to school, to work, to all these things, to soccer practice, even though we're absolutely feeling like garbage or we are literally having a mental health crisis. They're just like, you better suck it up. And like, I know I heard that a lot when I was younger, but I think Gen Z, which is amazing, which is what you guys are doing, is actually lifting this issue where it needs to be supported. But what are the maybe biggest things that I think us millennials and Gen X and like older, you know, boomers even are even older than you, Mel, need to kind of realize to be like, okay, well, maybe Gen Z is having harder time because also like, I'm like, social media gets ******, if you don't mind my swearing. Like, it is 100% ruining my mental health. And like, I didn't even like grow up with it in quotations. Like, it wasn't something that I had when I was like a child, it was just a new thing when I was like 16, 1718 and we just started this. But you guys really actually grew up with this thing of like always comparing, always like, be on your phone and like that hasn't stopped, right? So is there something else besides social media that we should be aware of?

Speaker C: Well, for one, I grew, I believe I grew up with Facebook when I was, like, I don't know, maybe I was, like, 13. Like, I was just getting into high school, too. So, like, my childhood didn't have social media. I remember, like, as a kid, obviously, there was no phones. I remember, like, my parents had, like, the house, like, the, you know, the phones, the old fashioned phones where people.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. The rotary phones.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: And then, obviously, there's the house phones. And then finally, my parents had cell phones. So, like, I've seen definitely the generations change a lot. Like, from, like, Facebook to, like. Or no social media to Facebook. And then, like, when I was in high school, that's when Instagram came out. Snapchat. Now TikTok, which I don't even know how to use TikTok. I'm like, not from a generation of TikTok.

Speaker B: That's okay. I can tell you. I know. Yeah.

Speaker A: Mel knows all about TikTok. That's fine.

Speaker C: Anyway, I think John Z, of course, being that we've seen many different, you know, generations or trends, we've seen a lot of things growing up.

Speaker B: We.

Speaker C: I've been. I don't know, but I don't even know that the age for Gen Z, I'm right now. But for me, personally, I've grown up with social media. I know social media and social media. So I've seen a change and evolving. And then the younger generations now, like, you know, the high school students, where I see through some talks, they're, like, next level. So I think that the generation is learning to be advocates and be a voice in the world. And the really beautiful thing about the Gen Zs and the next generations is that we're learning what kind of world do we want to live in. And so I see a lot of kids standing up for what they want, standing up for their rights, and I see a lot of, you know, young people out there posting things of things they believe in the. And so I think that's really beautiful. I see also a lot of young people involved in careers where they're making a stand, they're advocating for things. And so I think that's honestly so beautiful and incredible that the Gen Z can be so resilient and stand up for things, whereas back then, you didn't see that. And so that's a beautiful thing that's happening. But, of course, there are so many trends, and things keep evolving, and more social media apps keep happening that, like, it's hard to keep track. I feel like I'm old right now where, like, I don't even know how to use TikTok. I use social Instagram. I don't even have Facebook anymore. So it's like, you know, things are evolving and changing.

Speaker B: They are. And I think, like, I have two Gen Z kids, and that you're talking about, they're younger than you, my oldest is younger than you, but they, when they were sort of, you know, not quite tweens or before tweens was the sort of Instagram came about. And even for parents like, you know, Gen X, mostly the parents of Gen X's knowing what to do. And I knew a lot, a lot of my friends who banned who, like, you can't look at any social media and all that sort of stuff, which I personally don't agree with because I think the best thing you can do is give your kids the tools to deal with stuff they see that isn't perhaps what is the greatest, right. You need to give the people the tools to know how to deal with situations, because there's no way in the world today you're going to not come across social media and you're not going to come across something that you don't like. I mean, it's just going to happen. It's in your face all the time, but you need to know how to go, okay, that's just, that's just a load of bullshit. Just ignore it. That's whatever, and just kind of step back from it and not kind of almost be like an avatar living in it, which I think is a. Is a bit of a problem. But I do think social media is, like, it's something obviously my generation didn't have at all. It's hugely problematic. It's super stressful.

Speaker A: It's so stressful.

Speaker C: I mean, you even.

Speaker B: You look at Instagram and all these images of continuously beautiful people with beautiful lives and stressful and that you get.

Speaker C: Like, envious of them. Like, oh, my God, that's a beautiful, beautiful, like, life they're living. It's not real. It's filtered. It's. People are showing their good sides and their good life, but that's not really what's going on and on the end.

Speaker B: So it's curated. They're showing, you know, them with the hair done and in the best possible, not the crappy bits.

Speaker A: And also, like, they probably, like, don't even like their friends, you guys, like, they're probably.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And the other thing about social media, and I do in the mental health thing, and I'm not at all bashing social media, but, like, I know a lot of people who are very, like, like you see on social media, you think they're actually quite lonely. And they've used social media to reach out and create a community, which I think is great. And. But on the other hand, it's. That's not really solving the problem, is it? And maybe. Yeah, but I do think there's a lot of. It's difficult. There's a lot of stress there.

Speaker C: No. Yeah.

Speaker A: And I mean, so, like, obviously, there's a lot of people on social media who are looking for friends who are so lonely. Right? Like, that's a part of the problem. We, we honestly deal with a lot of people like this. But, I mean, I think something that we would like to know from you is just, like, you know, in that time when you were struggling, when you were younger, like, is there something that if there was someone going through that same thing, they couldn't. They don't, they don't have the money for a therapist. Right. Like, they don't have the resources that they probably need. What would be the thing that you would tell them? Like, you know, maybe they can't go buy the books. Like, are they, what would be the one thing to tell them? You know, to hopefully, like, save their lives or just, like, help them to get through the dark time that they're going through?

Speaker C: I think, for one, having a positive support system around you is really important. But of course, I believe, like, I can't say I'm advocate, so I can't really give advice on what to do if someone's in a severe, severe problem in their life to save their life right now. But I think more than anything, there are resources that are around. So definitely, you know, call the. Call your local, local government, and if you're in Canada, you have a local provincial government, federal government, and you have local hospitals and centers are around. Like, camh, I would definitely go to one of those and ask for help. If you are in high school, you asked your principal, your guidance counselor, anyone that can help you. Obviously, there's always resources around you. There's always help available. So you just need to ask you to go to these places, call these places and ask for help. Kids, help. Phone is for the youth, for young people. You know, of course, for me, having a positive people around me was really helpful. Journaling and doing yoga and meditating. But I don't, I can't tell people, oh, that's going to save your life because, you know, that's a big responsibility. But I believe more than anything, if there's anyone struggling, really struggling, having, you know, suicidal thoughts to go to your local government, your local centers, your local anything, and ask for the help, because help is available and there is help.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, and what you're doing by advocating, as you said, you're an advocate. Talking, speaking brings it more into the narrative, and then people think, oh, actually, I can identify with you. I'm not weird. I'm not alone. There's lots of people out there that struggle. And obviously that's really important. It's really critical.

Speaker C: It's really important. I think, you know, that's why I like to do what I do is because if there's anyone out there listening to this today or may listen to this tomorrow, whatever it is, you know, just know that you're not alone. And we need to normalize this. We don't have these constant conversations about mental health, and we have to do it for the rest of our lives until people understand they're not alone.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So, like, as someone who doesn't really have, like, let's say, like, mental health issues, I think we all have certain kind of levels of mental health issues, but maybe someone who's just less open to, you know, the fact that people do have real mental health struggles, let's say, let's say you're talking to a boomer or anyone else who's kind of finding it hard to wrap their head around this, you know, how do we get them to really try to listen? And, like, what is the thing, like, is it like, just be patient? Or is it, like, you know, do your research? Or, like, is it just, like, listen to what this person's actually trying to tell you? Like, what do we tell the people who really just don't know if they, like, in quotations, believe in this kind of stuff?

Speaker C: I think more than anything, just, you have to be open to people who don't understand it and they should be educated no matter what, because people, people's lives are at stake. And, quote, unquote, if the person doesn't believe in mental health, then, and you're not there for a person that's coming to you and saying, hey, I'm struggling, then that's that person's life on the line. And all they needed was you to just listen and to be there for them. So I think just understanding that, you know, it's all our lives, and whether you believe it or not, to be there for someone who is going through struggles, and until you go, go through the struggles yourself, maybe you won't understand what it's like, to quote unquote, struggle so much. But I think it's really important to understand and to be there for people, no matter what you believe and what you understand yourself, to be there for the person if they're coming to you and saying, hey, I'm struggling. And of course, just staying educated and learning, you know, listen to other people who've gone through struggles. Just be. Have empathy to people that are going through the struggle.

Speaker B: It's removing the judgment. I mean, the layer of judgment. And certainly the older generations, and, I mean, boomers and older than me, is they. There was a level of judgment, and you were judged. If you couldn't basically get up, get on with it, people and, you know, would say to you, get your **** together. What's wrong with you? Get on with it. Get up. What's wrong with you? And you're like, well, that really obviously isn't very helpful if I'm not feeling great. And. But I think it was just society. It was just a way, it was a coping mechanism. It was a coping mechanism for everyone and not a very good one. And things have changed. And we're talking, and certainly what you're doing, continuously talking, continuously bringing a spotlight to this, as you said, normalizing it, making people feel it's okay, I can reach out, I can talk that I won't be punished or I won't be judged. I think that's hugely important. So, you know, well, amazing that you're doing this.

Speaker C: Yeah. Thanks for saying that.

Speaker A: Yeah, because I feel like it's like, even, like, millennials, you know, we have this idea because we were, like, in that generation, just like, get your **** together. What are you doing? Like, even, like, I've had that feeling of just being like, you know, like, why don't you just, you know, can't you. Why can't you just go to work today? It's like, okay, well, no, you have to actually, you have to practice empathy, just like you have to practice everything else. And I think, like, even myself, I've had to learn that. But, yeah, it's just that practice of understanding. And we do have one last lovely question for you, and it's what we ask all of our guests who we have on the pod. And I know you did go through tough times when you were younger, so happy that you're still here with us, but we always ask, what is the one truth that you would share with your younger self if you could?

Speaker C: Yeah, one truth I'd shared my younger self. I think it's really important to tell my younger self that she's amazing, her voice matters, and to know that she's not alone. I think my younger self would really like to hear that and to know that she would do certain things in her life that she never thought she would accomplish.

Speaker B: Mm hmm. So that's really nice. That's. Yeah, I think that's great. And if even just that message could get out, that's amazing.

Speaker A: I think that is amazing. I think we have to really remind ourselves, like, to look back on our lives and be like, God, I've just come so far, and I think we don't do that enough. So I think it's really awesome. And I really appreciate you being so open about this conversation. It obviously takes a long way to come from, you know, what you've been through, and I think we still have a long way to go in our mental health in the world.

Speaker B: Understanding.

Speaker A: Understanding. Exactly. But I think you're doing so much good stuff, and we really, really appreciate it.

Speaker C: Thank you for having me on your podcast.

Speaker B: Can we also ask you before you go so that people, if people do have any questions or how they can reach you? I know you do a lot of events and speaking and stuff like that, but where can they find you, and where could they kind of connect with you or get more information about what you're doing?

Speaker C: Yeah, they can find me on instagram, social media, Brett Kristantos, Britt. And then my last name is Long Krystantos, and they can reach out to me anytime. I also have a podcast I started recently called Dear Britney. So anyone that wants to know cool things about me, they can submit questions, and, you know, I'll have an episode about that. And really, anyone listening to this right now, if you're going through struggles or you just want to talk to someone, just know that my door is open. I'm always open, you know, to chat with anyone and to be there for anyone and to know you're not alone and that your life matters and you matter and to reach out to help if you are going through anything.

Speaker B: That's wonderful. Thank you.

Speaker A: Thank you so much.

Speaker B: Really appreciate that. And we will obviously share that on all our social. Yes. So that people can reach out and learn, understand a little bit more about you. And also, if they're going through something, it will help to see somebody strong and inspiring and help pull them, hopefully, from darkness to light. So that's very. That's great.

Speaker A: Thanks, Brittany.

Speaker B: Thank you so much.

Speaker A: Wonderful to meet you.

Speaker B: Lovely to speak to you. Thanks so much for listening. Please rate and review this podcast and follow us on social at sharingmytruthpod and leave us a voicemail on our website, sharingmytruth.com, to share your stories and experiences with us. We'll see you next time. Bye.