Deputy Minister's Vlog – Mental Health Week 2021
Video / May 04, 2021
Transcript
(JT) Hello everyone, I’m here with Lieutenant-General Mike Rouleau.
The two of us together with our colleague down East, Jerry Ryan, are your Defence Team Mental Health co-champions. This is Mental Health Week 2021 and we wanted to reach out to all of you and get real about mental health. It's difficult these days. We know people are feeling the strain.
Clearly, there is a lot happening within the Defence Team and it is all difficult and complicated.
What we're saying to you is that the first thing all of you need to do is take care of yourselves. Work is busy and it's gonna get busier. So, the question we're asked all the time is: "Well, if I have to be at my job, how do I take care of myself? Which comes first: me or the job?" The answer is very simple, it's you. We want you to take care of yourselves so that you can be your entire person at work. You need to take care of yourselves, you need to take care of your families. And we know the strain on families right now with COVID is significant.
So, let's get real about mental health. Let's take care of yourselves, let's focus on what needs to get done when you're able to do it, get help, see a doctor, get rest as you need to and we support you 100%. I know Lieutenant-General Rouleau absolutely agrees with me on that front. Over to you, Lieutenant-General Rouleau.
(MR) Thank you, Deputy Minister. I am pleased to be here with our Chief of the Defence Staff, Lieutenant-General Eyre, in the company of the Deputy Minister and Jerry Ryan.
COVID's effect on us has been very real this last 18 months. I know we're all at our wits' end. And that is just exasperated by life's other challenges, the normal difficulties that we face without a pandemic.
I’d like to tell you right now that you are not alone. If you’re feeling a wide range of emotions throughout the day, from very bad to very good, it may not be a bad thing.
We should be feeling a wide range of emotions both good and bad. I think if you start to feel numb or a little bit detached, that's when you really need to get help. And there are a lot of resources out there. And I say that from personal experience. Just this past Monday, I had my recent check-in with my own psychologist, we're becoming best friends through the pandemic. So there's no stigma in reaching out and getting help. Be compassionate to yourself.
Give yourself permission to have a bad day, a bad meeting. It happens. If you are a leader listening to this, I’d like to tell you that the task is even more difficult because, as leaders, we are responsible for others.
But know that you're never alone. We, the organization, have your back and I can assure you that when push comes to shove, if you need time, we will give you time. We appreciate all the work that you do. Thank you.