MOSES LAKE — Sometimes, especially in the health care field, it’s easy for the people who look after others to forget about their own well-being, said nurse educator and mental health activist Bethany Thrasher. 

“When you get on the plane, the flight attendant will go through the safety features on the plane,” Thrasher said. “If the cabin loses pressure, what will happen? The oxygen masks will drop down. You will get your mask, you'll put it on (and) you'll get it safely in place before you begin helping someone next to you that might need assistance with their mask. So how much more true is that in the work that you do every day? I don't care where you work. Please, if the pressure in the cabin changes, put your mask on. Take a couple of big deep breaths of oxygen and then start (dealing with) whatever that crisis is that you need to approach.” 

Thrasher was the keynote speaker at the Mind Matters workshop held at Big Bend Community College on Thursday. The workshop was designed to equip health professionals and community members with the tools to address mental health issues, and to network and share ideas.  

“In Grant County, you don’t need a report to tell you that behavioral health is a real and pressing issue in our communities,” said Rhyanne Berryman, facilitator for the Grant County Coalition for Health Improvement, or CHI. “You’ve seen it in your family, your neighborhoods and the people that you serve at your job. Mental health and substance abuse don’t discriminate, and they show up in every ZIP code, at every income level, in every walk of life.” 

Thrasher’s address was called “Personal Mental Health and Wellness,” and addressed the need for people who deal with the mentally ill to take care of themselves to take care of others. 

Thrasher is an advocate with the North Central Washington affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, she said. She also is a mother and a grandmother and has a family member with a mental illness diagnosis. That gives her experience in both her professional and personal capacities. 

“Prioritizing self-care and wellness is a message that never gets old, and in fact, it's truer today than when it was coined,” Thrasher said. “In the 1950s, (the term), ‘self-care’ was coined by the health care industry  because we wanted our patients to please think about taking care of their health, whether it's their blood pressure or their diabetes or (something else) while they're at home and before they come to the hospital, so that hopefully they don't come to the hospital as often.” 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, self-care includes regular exercise, eating regular, healthy meals, sleeping, and relaxing activities. These are things that people who care for others tell them to do, Thrasher said, but neglect when it comes to themselves. 

“Self-care is how we nurture our well-being, and it's more than just mental,” she said. “It can also go into the emotional and physical health piece, helping us to build resilience, (and) not the kind of resilience that tells you to just plow through, no matter how you're feeling. Perhaps the most powerful thing about self-care is that it's an act of leadership, showing others that you are prioritizing your own well-being. You're modeling what limits look like, how we can value our health and our mental health … We can remind each other that self-care is vital and that it's not separate from serving our community. It's the heart of what we do. (When) we're caring for others, we have to care for ourselves first.” 

    Grant County Coalition for Health Improvement Facilitator Rhyanne Berryman introduces the Mind Matters Workshop at Big Bend Community College Thursday. The workshop was designed to allow mental health professionals and community members to exchange ideas and support.
  

    Attendees listen to a speaker at the Mind Matters Workshop Thursday.