MonkeyBrains: JCCC4 Mental Health meetup/discussion followup
Thanks to everyone who attended the Mental Health meetup! Despite the lack of agenda or my inexperience in running any type of discussion group it turned out to be pretty productive!
First off, as promised I have created a private email list (in Google Groups) and Facebook group for any interested SeaMonkeys to discuss any and all mental health related topics. Please comment here or contact me privately via [email protected] if you are interested in joining either group. Also pass the word along to others you know who attended the meetup since I don't have any sort of list of who did.
Secondly I wanted to share a quick list of ideas that came up during and after the meetup that could help improve the cruise experience. This is just what I happened to remember, let me know if I missed any other ideas.
First off, as promised I have created a private email list (in Google Groups) and Facebook group for any interested SeaMonkeys to discuss any and all mental health related topics. Please comment here or contact me privately via [email protected] if you are interested in joining either group. Also pass the word along to others you know who attended the meetup since I don't have any sort of list of who did.
Secondly I wanted to share a quick list of ideas that came up during and after the meetup that could help improve the cruise experience. This is just what I happened to remember, let me know if I missed any other ideas.
- Buddies: A more one-on-one version of the ambassador program. Instead of just looking for people wearing pins, monkeys who have trouble joining conversations/groups/etc could be paired with a single person who can help them out. What this pairing looks like would probably very greatly depending on the people involved.
- More meetups: There was a strong consensus that the meetup happened too late in the cruise and that its size (I think over 20 people attended) was getting too big for many folks except the most outgoing to feel comfortable discussing much of anything. A consistent time/location for meetups would also be important. Having two meetups daily, one in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening, sounded like a good way to arrange this.
- Quiet monkey spaces: Many people need time away from the noise/chaos of the organized events and cruise ship in general to recover or recharge. Often the most obvious or only good choice is their state room. It would be good to make sure everyone has other options for quiet time that don't require isolating themselves completely from others. The best option would be a dedicated SeaMonkey quiet area where people can read, knit, or just sit while maintaining some sense of the SeaMonkey community.
- Quiet general spaces: Since space on the ship is limited it may not be practical to always have such a dedicated space so a published list of known-to-be-quiet areas around the ship would be useful. Suggestions for this list included: the library, helipad, deck for outside lounge areas, and St. Topaz (the highest outside lounge above the bow).
- Official event video broadcast: This came up in a discussion after the meetup. For a wide variety of reasons (including depression/anxiety, lack of sleep, seasick, hangover, or sick w/ cruise-crud) there are always monkeys who miss big performances because they are stuck in their room. This is a damn shame because missing events makes feeling crappy even worse and not knowing about *awesome thing that happened* or *weird inside joke* becomes a constant reminder about missing the event as it keeps coming up in conversations for the rest of the cruse. The ship seems to have the capability to film/broadcast performances on TV and it would double plus uber awesome if we had a TV channel to broadcast JoCo performances live on.
Sorry if I missed something or if you weren't able to voice your concern or idea during the meetup, but now is your chance! Post concerns/ideas here or send them to me privately. Lets figure out what can be done so all monkeys have the awesome time they deserve! :-D
Comments
Missed/additional items:
Identification: People willing to spend time with people in need/crisis should have some form of identification, be it a bracelet, a sticker on their badge, or what-not because "buddies" might not always be around.
Help from Home Office, either officially (resources, planning, polls, etc) or unofficially (just making sure the word gets out). I should have an in or two to bring this to their attention if they avoid commenting themselves, but I'll give it some time for the thread to marinate.
Nate
Mindfulness techniques have really helped me, I would be interested in a group-like meditation session.
If you'd like to book a room and/or be on the shadow cruise schedule, there is a form to fill out a few weeks before the cruise starts. Failing that, once on the cruise there are sign-up forms for each room that has available time slots. There was also a way to sign up to get your event mentioned in the Sea Monkey, but I didn't actually try it—I assume it was a form at the info desk.
No one was around and so I walked the whole course really paying attention to the sound of the wind and the ocean, glancing at the stars above, just being in that moment with as much intent as possible.
I found it to be immensely de-stressing.
Not to mention it have me a really calm, pleasant memory to recall when stressing out going forward.
I think there are other places on the ship we could find too.
If there are any days that the Labyrinth is empty, it has nice low lighting and comfy alcoves that would be good for getting away from everything else.
I am sure other people will have other places in mind, too.
I didnt make the meeting, as I was pace-y and couldnt settle down. Started a new med right before the trip, which seems to be miraculous other than the energy to burn. (Lamictal, if you want to know. )
but on the other hand, I only gained 3 pound on the cruise, as I was constantly walking from one end of the ship to the other.
My personal thoughts:
I like using wristbands to identify folks willing to be dragged aside to help mitigate crises.
Daily gatherings, possibly utilizing multiple rooms or areas to keep group size down since 20 person groups tend to be overwhelming for some people.
A list of quiet spaces and useful mental health information should be given out in the on-boarding paper pile if we can get the Home Office to play along.