E093 Shayne Corson Finding Mental Health Help
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 93
Date: November 7, 2023
Participants: John Webster, Elise Seifert, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Shayne Corson
Start Times and Segments:
[0:00:15] What’s On Your Mind: We chat about intellectual wellness in the sense of exercising the mind. We found a CBC article called, “Train your brain: 4 exercises that will keep your mind sharp”, posted November 24, 2016. Elise gives them a try.
[0:08:53] Expanding Minds Interview: [Mental Wellness] It’s Part 2 our interview of former NHL player Shayne Corson in the area of Mental Wellness. He captained two NHL clubs in his 19-season professional career. He suffered from anxiety, depression, panic attacks and more. He started to feel better when he reached out for help. Shayne tells us about things that help him to stop his mind from spinning, things like exercise, listening to music and thinking about great memories of time spent with his dad before he passed away. One of the best things that helps Shayne is spending time with his dog, whether in the house or gong for a walk. If he could go back and talk to his younger self, he’d say, “You can’t do this on your own. It’s okay not to be okay. There are days when you’re going to be depressed and down and feeling a little bit anxious, but there are mechanisms and coping skills.” His advice to anybody going through something like this is to go get the professional help they need, without feeling embarrassed or bad about it. It’s not a weakness. Strong people have mental health challenges. There are people who care a lot. Go get that help. Make that first step.
[0:35:22] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron was a guest musician with the group Central Station. They play a style he describes as East Coast Canadian folk with a little bit of Celtic vibe meets bluegrass meets blues – a cool mix. A pre-Halloween costume party made it even more fun to perform at the venue. Central Station put on costumes too.
[0:39:51] Move That Body: We’re back to the theme of being childlike, this time in the context of exercise. We found an article, “For a Better Workout, Think Like a Kid”, on DNYUZ’s website, published August 9, 2023. We drive creativity out of children as they grow up. It feels great in a workout to be free and out of your head. It’s the attitude more than the type of workout. Be playful. Have more fun. For runners, think about your run as a playground. Stop for hopscotch while walking your kids to school. Don’t be embarrassed or worried about making mistakes.
[0:45:05] Running Popup: An analogy – balance is like being in the eye of a hurricane. It’s quiet in the eye even if the world is spinning like crazy a short distance outside of the eye.
[0:48:11] Flipside of the Coin: We don’t always do what we know is the right thing to do. For example, why doesn’t John look forward to eating salad, even though it’s good for you and he likes it if he does eat it? Why does Sheila turn her nose at apples, even though she enjoys it when she eats one? Knowing the good isn’t doing the good.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
John – In my own personal experiences with anxiety or depression, I find that physical exercise is a tremendous help to my mental health.
Shayne – When I work out I feel 100% better. It stops my mind from spinning. Physical exercise definitely helps me. It’s something I’ve done my entire life and try to continue to do because of that.
Shayne – I also like to listen to music. I love music. I work on my breathing when I’m listening to get to a point where I wanted to live a normal life. I was going to need to deal with it day to day, but to be able to look myself in the mirror and say, “You know what, there’s hope and I know I can do this. I don’t want to kill myself. I want to live a long life and have as normal life as I can.
Shayne – If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would say, “You can’t do this on your own. It’s okay not to be okay. There are emotions. There are days when you’re going to be depressed and down and feeling a little bit anxious, but there are mechanisms and coping skills that you can find and have. There are doctors and support groups that can help you with that.” My advice to anybody going through something like this is to go get the professional help you need. Don’t be embarrassed about it. Don’t feel bad about it. It’s not a weakness. Strong people suffer anxiety and panic attacks, and people that care a lot. Go get that help. Make that first step. I will help you a lot just by doing that. Then things will snowball the other way.
Shayne – That’s something I’ve learned. Not every day is going to be great. There’s going to be some bad days and some great days. You need to find a way to navigate through those. The way I do that is using my skills for listening to music, working out, going for walks or spending time with my dog.
Shayne – My dog is one the best coping mechanisms I have. If I’m feeling stressed or down a bit, I just go lay beside him and he makes me feel 100% better and loved unconditionally.
Shayne – If I can help one person to not suffer with anxiety or panic attacks or depression or thoughts of suicide, then all these things are well worth it.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Elise: For whatever reason my brain goes “What!?! What are you doing?!”
Guest Information: Shayne Corson is a National Hockey League player who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars. He captained two NHL clubs during his 19-season professional career. He played for Canada at the Canada Cup, World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, World Cup of Hockey and 1998 Winter Olympics. Over the course of his life, Shayne suffered from anxiety, depression and panic attacks. He kept these conditions to himself. His coaches, general managers and agent didn’t know. During the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Shayne stopped playing for the Maple Leafs in the midst of a playoff series. He had been experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety. They were so severe that he didn’t know what was happening to him. At times he thought he was dying. Shayne started to get help from doctors. He started to feel better when he reached out for help. One of the best ways to break down stigma and make it easier for people to seek help for mental health conditions to hear from people like Shayne, who shares his struggles, experiences and recovery.
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(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle and Julie