Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. It’s been six months since we kicked off our monthly mental health series, Wake Up Well, alongside our community partner, Pure Spark. In that time, we’ve discussed everything from loneliness and financial health to climate anxiety and the mental health of activists. We have more of these discussions coming your way, but in the meantime, we wanted to take a moment to hear from you at the mid-point of the series and to check in on how everything is going with Nieisha Deed, who is the founder of Pure Spark? She’s here with us now. Good morning Nieisha.

Nieisha Deed: Good morning.

Alston: Also here is morning edition digital producer Gal Tziperman Lotan. Good morning Gal.

Gal Tziperman Lotan: Hi. Good morning.

Alston: So Gal is going to share with us some things that we’ve been hearing from our listeners and our newsletter subscribers throughout this series. But first, Nieisha, how would you summarize how it’s been and what we’ve learned so far?

Deed: First of all, it’s so exciting to have this series. We’re at a crossroads in our country. We see that the mental health of our youth is compromised. We see the mental health of certain populations is compromised. And we’re really in an interesting time point in our country, both economically and with our presidential election. So I’m just really, really happy that we can really start to shine the light on this topic and talk about it from different angles.

Alston: And I remember at the beginning you mentioning how important it is for organizations like GBH News, right, to be part of this conversation. You have even come here to GBH and spoken to our employees here about wellness. And so we really appreciate being able to keep that momentum up. And Gal, what have we been hearing from folks who’ve been engaging with this?

Tziperman Lotan: Yeah. So I’ve been really interested in what people are saying they do to take care of their own mental well-being. And we’ve gotten a great range of activities and responses around that. I’ll give you a few examples, and I’d love to hear some of your favorites as well if you want to jump in. J. said they read, take walks and sing in a community chorus.

Alston: I definitely love singing a little tune to release some stress.

Deed: Art therapy is real.

Tziperman Lotan: Lanham said they also turn to walking, as well as music, health care and staying in touch with the people they value. Justin sees a psychotherapist for meds and a therapist for talk therapy. Those two things can be really useful for people. Diane says, limit news watching, right? I know that’s something we think and talk about a lot, Paris.

Alston: You know Gal —

Deed: It’s though, being in the news.

Tziperman Lotan: Yes.

Alston: It is tough. But when I’m not at work, I do try to curb my news consumption.

Deed: But it’s also, yeah, you curate what you want to see and what you want to hear. And I think similar to that, social media, right? Like, what are we watching, what are we seeing, what are we consuming?

Tziperman Lotan: And Ron says, I try to be grateful, humble and forgive myself and others as I noticed them in distress. Some situations are really beyond the pale and then I picket, protest, send money and/or prayers and look for folks like you who work to find some solutions in 2024.

Alston: Oh, I love that. And it really reminds me of that conversation we had recently with Craig Andrade about the mental health of activists. Nieisha, you mentioned the art therapy. Jeremy and I recently had a conversation with, the CEO of Art pharmacy, Chris Appleton, about these social prescriptions that they’re doing to get people into the arts to help improve their mental and physical health. So all great things to hear. And we want to continue hearing from listeners. You can always text your comments or questions to us at (617) 300-2008 or email thewakeup@wgbh.org. And another thing you can do to join this conversation is join me and Nieisha and a wonderful panel of folks who have amazing lived experiences related to mental health at the Boston Public Library. That’s going to be tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. And this is for a panel that Nieisha has organized called Sparking the Conversation for National BIPOC Mental Health Month. Nieisha, What can folks expect from this?

Deed: We’re having three different people from three different angles talk about how they became mentally unwell. They’ll also share their experience of how they’ve been able to cope, heal, and also how they’ve been able to turn their pain into their passion. So it’s going to be a really inspirational panel. We’d love to see you there and bring some questions.

Alston: All right. Well, that is Nieisha Deed, who is the founder of PureSpark, also our community partner for the Wake Up Well series. Nieisha, thank you so much.

Deed: Thank you for having me.

Alston: We were also here with our digital producer for Morning Edition Gal Tziperman Lotan. Thank you.

Tziperman Lotan: Great to be here.

Alston: To find out more about Wake Up Well and engage with us around it, as well as for a list of mental health resources, you can visit GBHNews.org/WakeUpWell. You’re listening to GBH news.

It’s been six months since we kicked off our monthly mental health series, Wake Up Well.

In that time, we’ve discussed everything from loneliness and financial health to climate anxiety and the mental health of activists.

“It’s so exciting to have this series,” said Nieisha Deed, founder of mental wellness directory PureSpark, GBH’s community partner in the series. “We’re at a crossroads in our country. We see that the mental health of our youth is compromised. We see the mental health of certain populations is compromised. And we’re really in an interesting time point in our country, both economically and with our presidential election. So I’m just really, really happy that we can really start to shine the light on this topic and talk about it from different angles.”

On Thursday, PureSpark is hosting a panel discussion called Sparking the Conversation: Lived Experiences of Black Mental Health. GBH’s Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston will moderate. It starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Boston Public Library’s main branch, 700 Boylston St. The event is free but requires registration.

“We’re having three different people from three different angles talk about how they became mentally unwell,” Deed said. “They’ll also share their experience of how they’ve been able to cope, heal, and also how they’ve been able to turn their pain into their passion. So it’s going to be a really inspirational panel. We’d love to see you there and bring some questions.”

We have more of these discussions coming your way, but in the meantime, we wanted to take a moment to hear from you: How do you care for your mental well-being? Lots of listeners and readers have already responded to our Wake Up Well survey.

J. wrote: “Read, take walks, sing in a community chorus.”

Lanham said they turn to walking, as well as music, health care, and staying in touch with the people they value.

Justin sees a psychiatrist for medication and a therapist for talk therapy.

Dianne limits news watching.

Jeanne paints, prays, and focuses on outings and activities.

Ron said: “I try to be grateful, humble and forgive myself and others as i notice them in distress. … Some situations are really beyond the pale, and then I picket, protest, send money and or prayers and look for folks like you who work to find some solutions in 2024.”

If you want to tell us what you’d like to hear more about and share how you care for your mental health, please fill out the survey below. Your responses will shape the our coverage for the rest of the year.