EPISODE SUMMARY: In this week's episode, Dr. Lucy McBride reads from her newsletter addressing how witnessing collective trauma affects our physical and mental health. Through patient stories, she introduces her "3 A's" framework (Awareness, Acceptance, Agency) for navigating anxiety during turbulent times and offers practical guidance for knowing when distress signals a need for help.

KEY CONCEPTS:

1. EVERYONE HAS MENTAL HEALTH—NOT JUST "THE MENTALLY ILL"

Mental health is not a diagnosis for a small percentage of people; it's a universal aspect of being human.

Mental health has been treated as the "stepchild of physical health"—when in reality, it's ground zero of health.

Physical symptoms (racing heart, jaw tension, abnormal bloodwork) often reflect underlying mental health struggles.

Your genetic predispositions, personal history, and past traumas shape how you respond to crisis.

2. THE 3 A'S: A FRAMEWORK FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health is a lifelong process built on three steps: Awareness → Acceptance → Agency.

Awareness: Understanding the facts of your story and recognizing your mental health patterns.

Acceptance: Making peace with what you cannot control—genetic vulnerabilities, past trauma, current crises.

Agency: Taking action over the thoughts, feelings, habits, and relationships you can change.

3. KNOW YOUR PATTERN: CATASTROPHIZING, INTELLECTUALIZING, OR NUMBING

Catastrophizers imagine worst-case scenarios; they need reality checks.

Intellectualizers can explain every policy failure but can't sleep; they need to feel their feelings.

Numbifiers stop watching entirely because it's overwhelming; they need to stay connected.

Self-awareness about your pattern is more important than having the most resources.

4. WHY WELLNESS AND TRADITIONAL MEDICINE BOTH FALL SHORT

The wellness industry offers oversimplified solutions: meditation apps, "limit news consumption," "practice self-care."

Traditional medicine screens for anxiety disorders and offers prescriptions without addressing complexity.

Both approaches miss what's actually happening and are disempowering to patients.

Medication can quiet anxious thoughts, but there's no pill for insight; therapy builds awareness but can't alone reverse anxiety spirals.

5. PRACTICAL STEPS FOR PROTECTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH NOW

Get honest about your baseline: Are you eating, sleeping, taking medications? Disruption signals something important.

Notice your pattern: Identify whether you catastrophize, intellectualize, or go numb—then compensate accordingly.

Set boundaries: Check news twice daily, call friends instead of doom-scrolling, turn off phones at 9pm, allow yourself to cry.

Awareness of your limits is not weakness—it's wisdom.

6. WHEN TO ASK FOR HELP

The signal: difficulty functioning—not sleeping, not eating, not taking medications, not showing up for work or family.

This isn't about being "mentally ill"; it's recognizing when your mental health needs support right now.

The real questions: How aware are you of your patterns? Where do you live on the continuum of anxiety and resilience?

Call your doctor not because something is "wrong with you," but because mental health sometimes needs professional support.

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For weekly insights on taking charge of your health—beyond the prescription—subscribe to Are You Okay? at https://lucymcbride.substack.com/

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