Firearms and Mental Health

Trigger warning: discussion on firearms, suicide, and violence.

As the discussion around firearm ownership and accessibility becomes more and more heated in America, the conversation around mental health can be overshadowed. Politics and passion aside; focusing on having accessible mental health care without judgment for everyone (including those who own firearms) is critical.

We recorded this episode a few months ago, however, I did not publish it when I planned due to multiple suicides by firearm deaths that happened in our community at the time. I felt the timing was not appropriate at that moment with these incidents still fresh. The more I held on to release, the more incidents kept happening around the country. I realized there would never be a "right" time to talk about it. The right time is now.

In this episode, I talk to Jake Wiskerchen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zephyr Wellness, and Michael Sodini, Founder of the non-profit Walk the Talk America. They have partnered to make mental health resources more accessible to firearm owners, as well as delivering training to mental health professionals to be more culturally competent when treating people in crisis who own firearms (are afraid of the ramifications of disclosing that information).

It was an eye-opening conversation and I learned so much more about the importance of treating the source of the problem and not just the symptom.

To learn more about their programs:

• Jake Wiskerchen: https://www.zephyrwellness.org/
• Michael Sodini : https://walkthetalkamerica.org/

--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/youroxygenmaskfirst/support