TIPS030: When Mental Health Meets a Platypus with Betsy Blanks

TIPS029: Being Beautifully Bipolar with Elaina J. Martin
September 11, 2017
TIPS031: Elevatr Going Up with Israel Zyskind
September 12, 2017

TIPS030: When Mental Health Meets a Platypus with Betsy Blanks



Betsy Blanks is the Professional Development Manager, Center for School Behavioral Health for Mental Health America of Greater Houston

Click to tweet: Betsy Blanks shares her incredible journey on the i’Mpossible Project #podcast!

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Time Stamped Notes

  • 7.33 Prior to working for MHA Greater Houston, Betsy was teaching and working 80 hours a week and became burnt out because of it
  • 10.30 Carers and helpers must take care of themselves or they won’t be good to help anyone else
  • 13.20 Betsy works in the field of mental health because many of her family members live with mental illness and because her (older) sister struggles with drug addiction
  • 16.45 Betsy channels a good deal of the feelings she has toward her sister into her work with MHA and mental health
  • 22.28 If someone made a movie of her life, Sandra Bullock would play the title role of Betsy. A platypus is Betsy’s favorite animal and spirit animal (find out more fun facts about Betsy and about platypuses in the Quick Fire Round)

Key Points

  • Balancing one’s physical health/mental health and working on one’s passion project or work is of the utmost importance to prevent burnout
  • We must treat people struggling with addiction with empathy rather than the “tough love” of “get over it”
  • What’s important to any cause or charitable cause is to recruit non-affected (by the cause) allies

Resources or Websites Mentioned

The MHA Houston website: www.Mhahouston.org

Betsy’s email address: bblanks@mhahouston.org