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