Speaker 1: That started me on the mission of public education, trying
Speaker 1: to help people understand their minds, how their brains work,
Speaker 1: how why treatment is important, and how it's not mystical, magical,
Speaker 1: or shameful for that matter, that many of the most
Speaker 1: frankly valued and successful people you know today struggle or
Speaker 1: have struggled with a mental health issue, and sometimes it's
Speaker 1: even part and parcel it makes them successful. That is
Speaker 1: psychiatrist Dr Gale Salts a woman on a mission to
Speaker 1: help people everywhere improve their mental health and their lives.
Speaker 1: She's done that for countless women in her private practice,
Speaker 1: through her best selling books, through numerous TV appearances, and
Speaker 1: now through a new podcast that debuts on the Seneca
Speaker 1: Women Podcast Network. I'm Kim Azareli and this is Seneca's
Speaker 1: one hundred Women to Hear. We're bringing you one hundred
Speaker 1: of the world's most inspiring and history making women you
Speaker 1: need to hear. You may recognize Dr Saltz's voice from
Speaker 1: our Here's Something Good podcast, where she's been one of
Speaker 1: our favorite guests and where she's given practical life changing
Speaker 1: advice on everything from election anxiety, to relationship issues to
Speaker 1: COVID fatigue. Doctor Saltz is a clinical Associate Professor of
Speaker 1: psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and she's a
Speaker 1: best selling author whose books include the Power of Different,
Speaker 1: Anatomy of a Secret Life, and Becoming Real. And now
Speaker 1: I'm delighted to say that the Seneca Women Podcast Network
Speaker 1: will be offering even more Doctor Saltz just when we
Speaker 1: need it most. On January, we're launching a new show
Speaker 1: called how Can I Help? With Dr Gayl Saltz. Every Friday,
Speaker 1: Doctor Saltz will answer listener questions with the insight and
Speaker 1: understanding she's famous for. Listen and learn why Dr Gayl
Speaker 1: Saltz is one of Seneca's one hundred Women Into Here. Yail,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for joining us today. It is a
Speaker 1: pleasure to be with you. So these are challenging times,
Speaker 1: to say the least, and you know, people are really
Speaker 1: suffering in all different ways. And we are very grateful
Speaker 1: that you, as a psychiatrist, have really helped us over
Speaker 1: this past year with advice on a variety of topics.
Speaker 1: Why is it so important to focus on our mental
Speaker 1: health right now? This is a difficult time, and being
Speaker 1: a difficult time, it does affect everyone's mental health. So
Speaker 1: we are looking at a pandemic, really, and the a
Speaker 1: p A has made this statement, the NI MH has
Speaker 1: made this statement that we are looking at a pandemic
Speaker 1: of mental health issues and it's important to address them
Speaker 1: because one's mental health effects not only their mental health
Speaker 1: but also their physical health. And that means that when
Speaker 1: you have a mental health issue, you are at risk
Speaker 1: for difficulty and functioning at work, difficulty functioning within relationships,
Speaker 1: um you have a higher likelihood of physically not being
Speaker 1: well and even suffering potentially physical harm from yourself, whether
Speaker 1: that's substance use and abuse or suicide or some other
Speaker 1: self destructive behavior. Those are always concerns when there is
Speaker 1: a mental health issue. Mental health problems affect your uh,
Speaker 1: your memory, they affect your concentration, They affect the health
Speaker 1: and function of your brain in the near term and
Speaker 1: in the long term. It affects immunity. It affects so
Speaker 1: many things, and so it's it's really important that if
Speaker 1: you are struggling with mental health that you figure out
Speaker 1: what it is specifically that's going on and how to
Speaker 1: address it. So you're a psychiatrist, and obviously we really
Speaker 1: need you today and we've been really grateful to have
Speaker 1: you appear on our Here's Something Good show, and now
Speaker 1: so excited that you'll be launching How can I help
Speaker 1: with Dr Gale Saltz on the Seneca Woman Podcast Network.
Speaker 1: Can you just take us back a little bit and
Speaker 1: tell us about your own background and what was it
Speaker 1: that set you on this path to the work you
Speaker 1: do today. You obviously have science in the family. I
Speaker 1: think your brother is a Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist. But
Speaker 1: what about your upbringing made you want to become a psychiatrist?
Speaker 1: So it's interesting. I really originally thought that I wanted
Speaker 1: to be an interness. I definitely wanted to be a physician,
Speaker 1: no question about that. I always had uh from really,
Speaker 1: I would say middle school on a pretty burning interest
Speaker 1: in science. Um, I guess I would say, you know,
Speaker 1: I come from a family that highly valued education and
Speaker 1: highly valued curiosity. That's a biggie to me. And the
Speaker 1: sciences really lend themselves to kids and adults who are curious,
Speaker 1: really intensely curious about the world and how things work.
Speaker 1: That is a big feature for me. Um, And actually
Speaker 1: my whole family of origin and pursuing that led me
Speaker 1: to be interested frankly in all sciences. But I also
Speaker 1: really had an early interest in science that could be applied,
Speaker 1: applied science that could help people, and so I became
Speaker 1: very interested in medicine and that was that was my
Speaker 1: path from the get go. When I finished medical school
Speaker 1: and went on to do an internship in residency and
Speaker 1: internal medicine, which was my plan, I found along the
Speaker 1: way that even though it was interesting to me, it
Speaker 1: was not as interesting to me as the once a
Speaker 1: week that are really fabulous attending would take us on
Speaker 1: rounds and talk. He was a psychiatrist, and he said,
Speaker 1: this is important for interness to understand what is your
Speaker 1: patient's life narrative, what is our life story, and how
Speaker 1: might that be affecting their mental health, which is subsequently
Speaker 1: affecting their physical health. And we should be curious and
Speaker 1: understand that as physicians of the whole person. And I
Speaker 1: was like kind of blown away and said, wow, this
Speaker 1: is this is even more interesting to me. And you
Speaker 1: have to also understand at that time even less was
Speaker 1: known about the mind than we know today. I mean today,
Speaker 1: you know, we're in a big growth phase in terms
Speaker 1: of understanding the brain and the neuroscience that informs how
Speaker 1: we think and feel, but that's relatively new, and then
Speaker 1: there was it was still a pretty big black box.
Speaker 1: And my curiosity made me fascinated with that black box
Speaker 1: and what really made people tick. So after I finished
Speaker 1: internal medicine, I decided, I'm I'm going to psychiatry, and
Speaker 1: I did that internship and residency and and then I
Speaker 1: did my psychoanalytic training. I did a fellowship and treating
Speaker 1: sexual dysfunction because that's an important person art of people
Speaker 1: and what makes them happy and what makes them fulfilled
Speaker 1: and um and all Stimately, as I was out there practicing,
Speaker 1: I felt that one of the biggest impediments to my
Speaker 1: treating people, or any of us treating people in mental
Speaker 1: health had to do with stigma and people being ashamed
Speaker 1: and psychiatry being stigmatized, and that meant people would not
Speaker 1: come into my office or any office. And so that
Speaker 1: started me on the mission of public education, trying to
Speaker 1: help people understand their minds, how their brains work, how
Speaker 1: why treatment is important, and how it's not mystical, magical,
Speaker 1: or shameful for that matter, that many of the most
Speaker 1: frankly valued and successful people you know today struggle or
Speaker 1: have struggled with a mental health issue, and sometimes it's
Speaker 1: even part and parcel what makes them successful. So helping
Speaker 1: people understand that and demystifying all of it, I feel
Speaker 1: has become, you know, a really important part of my
Speaker 1: work and it's why I'm very excited about out this
Speaker 1: new podcast with you. Um, How can I help? Because
Speaker 1: I think it's a hard time and people are really
Speaker 1: looking for information and that information helps them know how
Speaker 1: accessible and important and frankly normal it is to struggle
Speaker 1: with some of these things and get help for them.
Speaker 1: You're doing such a service obviously in your practice, but
Speaker 1: then in this time in particular, there are just so
Speaker 1: many issues we're all facing daily, um, and and getting
Speaker 1: advice from you on how to cope with some of those.
Speaker 1: I know you've given us a lot of practical advice
Speaker 1: over this past year since we've been working together. Now.
Speaker 1: You're also a best selling author, and one of your
Speaker 1: books is The Power of Different and it kind of
Speaker 1: speaks to what you're just saying about people understanding themselves.
Speaker 1: In that book, you talk about how differences can be
Speaker 1: our strengths. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: this was like a passion project that I researched and
Speaker 1: um and put together about understanding the neuroscience the brain,
Speaker 1: the connection in brain differences that might cause a collection
Speaker 1: of symptoms like depression or anxiety, and that neurological connection
Speaker 1: to potential strengths. And the data really support these very
Speaker 1: particular connections such that, for example, uh, it turns out
Speaker 1: that people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also have an
Speaker 1: unusual potential for originality innovative thinking. It's why so many
Speaker 1: CEOs of companies actually do have a d H D
Speaker 1: UM that people, for example, with who have had major
Speaker 1: depression or experiencing major depression have unusual amounts of empathy,
Speaker 1: ability to stand in other people's shoes and recognize suffering
Speaker 1: and react to it, unusual amounts of realism that might
Speaker 1: help them see strategically what's on the horizon and react
Speaker 1: in such a way that actually is more helpful in
Speaker 1: problem solve a thing than somebody who hasn't had depression
Speaker 1: and maybe has a more rosy colored view of things
Speaker 1: that's not realistic. Um. There there's just a whole I
Speaker 1: go through the whole panoply of of connections between different
Speaker 1: brain differences of mental health issues and learning differences and
Speaker 1: these potential strengths and the huge number of people in history,
Speaker 1: um iconic people that turnout are very have been successful
Speaker 1: and have contributed usually to society. You know, we could
Speaker 1: be talking about Abraham Lincoln or or Albert Einstein or um.
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking of people that I've talked to for
Speaker 1: this book. Uh, you know, Uh, we can be talking
Speaker 1: about Richard Branson or you know, so many people who
Speaker 1: we see as highly successful game changers but that also struggled.
Speaker 1: And it's not just a coincidence. These things were connected.
Speaker 1: Senecas one hundred women to hear will be back after
Speaker 1: this short break. What are you seeing these days? What
Speaker 1: are you seeing are the sort of biggest issues that
Speaker 1: people seem to be facing. I feel like we've talked
Speaker 1: about this before, that we're all going through this collective
Speaker 1: experience and you've really helped normalize a lot of what
Speaker 1: we're feeling. But what have you seen it late? I mean,
Speaker 1: what are what are people feeling going into one? Well?
Speaker 1: I think I think that people are feeling beleaguered and fatigued.
Speaker 1: You know, you hear the term COVID fatigue throwing around
Speaker 1: a lot. But I think it's true that people are
Speaker 1: tired of exerting the willpower to do the things that
Speaker 1: we are telling people you need to do to stay safe,
Speaker 1: and to keep experiencing the losses as time goes by,
Speaker 1: that they're experiencing losses in terms of the normal milestones
Speaker 1: that you would anticipate and supposed to be having, UM,
Speaker 1: that you can't have. So the the economic strain that
Speaker 1: this is placed on so many people UM compiled with
Speaker 1: for some for many people, the systemic racism that has
Speaker 1: pervaded and been pervading for a long period of time.
Speaker 1: Kids having to be remote in school, everybody having to
Speaker 1: work in the same space, UM, fears about getting sick
Speaker 1: or having been sick, or somebody you love is sick.
Speaker 1: About what you're not going to be able to do,
Speaker 1: you know, still until this is resolved, which even though
Speaker 1: it's hopeful that vaccines are rolling out and maybe there
Speaker 1: will be an end in sight, it's not here yet,
Speaker 1: and so the uncertainties are driving a lot of continued
Speaker 1: exhaustion and anxiety. So that plays out in so many ways.
Speaker 1: People having difficulty sleeping, people feeling just generally not good
Speaker 1: during the day, UM, feeling lonely, feeling socially distanced truly
Speaker 1: because they are from people, and that loneliness taking a toll,
Speaker 1: but feeling sad. All these things just I'm hearing about
Speaker 1: every day all day I I. You know, they're normal
Speaker 1: in the sense that everybody is experiencing them. They're not
Speaker 1: normal in the sense that you know, over time it
Speaker 1: does really take a toll on your mental health, and
Speaker 1: you do want to try to help yourself in that regard. Well,
Speaker 1: this is again why we need your podcast. We learned
Speaker 1: so much from you this past year about going through
Speaker 1: those different phases and what you can do to incorporate
Speaker 1: self care into life right now when we need it most.
Speaker 1: You know, you also, in addition to being a psychiatrist
Speaker 1: and doing all the work you do for public education,
Speaker 1: you're also involved with Physicians for Human Rights. Can you
Speaker 1: tell us about what that is and why you do that? Yes, um,
Speaker 1: it's I'm definitely passionate about I. I serve as a
Speaker 1: medical ex and now a board member actually for Physicians
Speaker 1: for Human Rights, which is a uh nonprofit organization that's
Speaker 1: been around a very very long time. In fact, has
Speaker 1: partaken in the Nobel Peace Prize many years ago, because
Speaker 1: it's been doing good works for such a long time
Speaker 1: in the area of basically collecting medical forensic evidence of
Speaker 1: human rights abuses that occur around the world and using
Speaker 1: that evidence to legally, you know, litigate and and do
Speaker 1: what is necessary to stop those human rights abuses. So
Speaker 1: the work is international, and it's very interesting because I
Speaker 1: would really tell you that for decades now, until recently
Speaker 1: it was exclusively international, But in the past couple of years,
Speaker 1: with what has happened on the border in terms of
Speaker 1: family separation and uh immigration, um, actually, p char we've
Speaker 1: been working here now and have been on the ground
Speaker 1: in Oregon and at the border documenting human rights abuses
Speaker 1: that are occurring in our country and collecting that evidence
Speaker 1: for the purpose of legally trying to prevent the continuation
Speaker 1: of those human rights abuses. It's uh, it's an amazing
Speaker 1: organization doing amazing work and sadly now important here in
Speaker 1: the USA as well as a broad Yeah, it's kind
Speaker 1: of incredible what's happening here right now, and even these
Speaker 1: past few weeks, we're seeing just things that we probably
Speaker 1: couldn't imagine happen. I just want to bring us back
Speaker 1: to the new show, because I keep thinking about the
Speaker 1: different pieces of advice you've given us over this past year,
Speaker 1: and what do you hope to accomplish with this new podcast?
Speaker 1: I mean, I love the title how can I help
Speaker 1: with Dr Gale Salts because I do think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of ways you can help. But what are you
Speaker 1: hoping to accomplish? Really hoping to give people a place
Speaker 1: to come, um, to ask their questions, a question that
Speaker 1: they might go in and ask a psychiatrist or a
Speaker 1: psychologist or um or if they didn't even know, that's
Speaker 1: where they could go ask whoever. They might be asking
Speaker 1: for anything regarding their mood, um, their relationships, their work life,
Speaker 1: their friendship life, their their habits, their sleep, their sex life,
Speaker 1: really parenting, just about anything that kind of fits in
Speaker 1: in in the psychological wheelhouse. I guess I'll say, because
Speaker 1: in fact, um, the demand right now is huge and
Speaker 1: the supply of people like myself is limited. The reality is, um,
Speaker 1: there aren't enough of us to go around. It's costly
Speaker 1: too for some people to go see someone, and they
Speaker 1: might not know exactly where to turn. So I am
Speaker 1: sort of trying to give people like my mini office,
Speaker 1: you know, like a place where you could come ask
Speaker 1: me the question, and I'm going to give you the
Speaker 1: answer that I would give you if you came to
Speaker 1: see me. And knowing that most people can't come to
Speaker 1: see me and or or anybody else, or might not
Speaker 1: feel comfortable going to see someone and um and at
Speaker 1: least this is an entree which I hope will make
Speaker 1: someone who for whom the answer isn't enough, which is
Speaker 1: which is going to be some people feel more comfortable
Speaker 1: about finding and seeing somebody. But you know, some of
Speaker 1: these questions don't require won't require psychiatrists. They would, you know,
Speaker 1: but they do require somebody who has really good psychological
Speaker 1: training and can help them with, like I said, any
Speaker 1: any kind of issue that relates to the relationships in
Speaker 1: their life, the work in their life, and and their
Speaker 1: own mind in their life. Well, I know that we've
Speaker 1: set up in a way for people to ask questions
Speaker 1: at how Can I Help at Seneca Women dot com.
Speaker 1: So if there's any listeners today who would like to
Speaker 1: ask Gail a question, you can reach Dr Soul through
Speaker 1: how Can I Help at Seneca Women dot Com. My
Speaker 1: last question for you is is there one piece of
Speaker 1: advice that you would give us right now as if
Speaker 1: we're starting one. You know, it's winter, at least in
Speaker 1: our part of the world. It's a long haul. We're seeing,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of um, a lot of suffering.
Speaker 1: What piece of advice, what should we be keeping in
Speaker 1: mind as we're looking looking towards this new year. It
Speaker 1: is really hard to boil it down to one thing, because,
Speaker 1: as I said, this is such a challenging time that
Speaker 1: I could have a pretty long list, But I guess
Speaker 1: I'll compile it as saying two things. One is think
Speaker 1: about self care. You know, everybody you know thinking what
Speaker 1: should my resolution for the new year? How should I
Speaker 1: turn over the new leaving? Think about how can you
Speaker 1: care for yourself? Because at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: if there's no water in your well, you cannot water
Speaker 1: anybody else. Um. So I know people feel pulled in
Speaker 1: a million direction by all the people and they want
Speaker 1: to help everybody that around them, But you really have
Speaker 1: to care for yourself first, and that means there are
Speaker 1: lots of coping tools one can learn to do that.
Speaker 1: Um there are lots of social supports one can use
Speaker 1: to do that. But but think about your own self
Speaker 1: care in these coming months because everybody needs some and
Speaker 1: in that vein what you're doing with your self care
Speaker 1: as you cope with what's happening, is you're building resilience.
Speaker 1: And if I could choose one thing for everybody to
Speaker 1: get after this is all done, if you know and
Speaker 1: and and we hopefully are able to to start moving
Speaker 1: around and doing all the things that we want to
Speaker 1: be doing, is that you will have built resilience because
Speaker 1: this is a traumatic time for so many people, and
Speaker 1: trauma can overwhelm you and prevent you from being resilient,
Speaker 1: or it can help you grow resilience. If you build
Speaker 1: coping tools in the form of self care and you
Speaker 1: implement them, they will always be in your toolbox and
Speaker 1: you will have built a more resilient you, which is
Speaker 1: important because you just never know when life is going
Speaker 1: to throw that next curve ball. Well, Dr Saltz, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us today. We love talking
Speaker 1: to you are really looking forward to your show that
Speaker 1: airs every Friday morning on the Seneca Women Podcast Network.
Speaker 1: How can I help with Dr Gayl Saltz Again, thanks
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1: I always learned so much when I talked to Dr
Speaker 1: Gayl Saltz. There are a few takeaways from our conversation today. First,
Speaker 1: Doctor Saltz reminds us that mental health is a crucial
Speaker 1: factor in our overall well being, including our physical health.
Speaker 1: That's why it's so important to identify when things are
Speaker 1: going wrong and get the help you need. Second, it's
Speaker 1: time to shed the stigma around mental health and its treatment.
Speaker 1: Many successful people have struggled with mental health issues, and
Speaker 1: in fact, their difference from what's considered quote normal maybe
Speaker 1: the key to their says Understanding your struggles and focusing
Speaker 1: on your strengths can help you achieve your goals. Finally,
Speaker 1: in these challenging times, Doctor Saltz encourages us all to
Speaker 1: make self care a priority. If you build coping tools
Speaker 1: in the form of self care and you practice them,
Speaker 1: you'll be ready when life throws the next curve wall.
Speaker 1: Starting January, you can get more great advice from Dr
Speaker 1: Saltz on her new podcast how Can I Help with
Speaker 1: Dr Gayl Saltz, and if you want to submit a
Speaker 1: question to her, send it to how Can I Help
Speaker 1: at Seneca women dot Com. All questions will remain anonymous.
Speaker 1: Tune in next Tuesday to hear about our next featured
Speaker 1: woman and discover why she's one of Seneca's one hundred
Speaker 1: Women to Hear. Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear is
Speaker 1: a collaboration between the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, with support from founding partner PNG Have a
Speaker 1: Great Day the Dust type of perf