Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in En Route- Mental Health Priorities

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Leah Hart (Nurse Practitioner/Counseling) in En Route- Mental Health Priorities

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in En Route- Mental Health Priorities
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Now Roman looked really uncomfortable. “I have had… some issues sleeping.” That was.... Putting it lightly, to say the least. He’d been dangerously sleep deprived when he finally agreed to a medication to help.

~ Roman

She nodded, her expression softening. [o]Say more…[o]

~Leah Hart, NP

Roman sat quietly for several moments, studying her and saying nothing. “I would sleep.... two or three hours out of the night. And then I would wake up and not be able to fall asleep again.”

~ Roman

More scribbling on her PADD ensued. [o[What wakes you up?[o] she asked. It didn’t matter what had been noted by other practitioners so much as how they navigated this topic together.

~Leah Hart, NP

“I’m sure you have that there as well,” Roman said, not wanting to talk about it. Initially, he’d wanted to do everything off the books. In the end, he’d agreed to do it right. But he would not talk about his nightmares willingly.

~ Roman

Leah set her stylus down and silently took in Alden for several long moments. [o]Alright, we’re going to pause for a moment and I’m going to do a bit of talking and I would appreciate you truly listening and not tuning me out, because this is important.[o]

She inhaled deeply, a pensive expression sweeping over her face. [o]I started out as a registered nurse working the emergency room at a hospital on Aldebaran. I saw all kinds of patients, with all kinds of injuries and illnesses, and the ones that always got me the most were the ones that were avoidable. And this became no less true after I joined Starfleet. I’ve spent the last eight years primarily working with patients who for a variety of reasons aren’t able to stay on their duty assignments in order to receive treatment. Some had milder issues that they just needed a bit of guidance through, and other were quite severe to the point of debilitation. And the one thing they all had in common was that they had hit hurdles that they couldn’t get past on their own. And rare is a cognizant patient who ends up in those more severe situations who isn’t embarrassed to be there, or in fear of judgement. It’s normal.

[o]My job is to help each person evaluate that hurdle and figure out what to do. Sometimes just trying to leap over it doesn’t work, so we come up with different strategies to go around, under or even through. Whatever that looks like is unique to each person and their situation. And the one thing you have to understand about me is that I don’t believe that mental health struggles are an automatic boot from service, or removal from duty. Much depends on the exact issues, the severity of symptoms, and the willingness of the patient to be helped.[o]

Leah paused and considered him. [o]I get it, more than you might believe. This eval has been forced upon you and it might even feeling like I’m holding a weapon to you head while asking you all sorts of things you believe will take away something you love. It’s not a negligible fear, but nor do I make snap judgements with such high stakes involved. I’m used to patients withholding information or outright lying. It’s a part of the job. But while this eval is about you, this situation is about more than just you, Commander. You are the first officer of a starship with a hundred some-odd people you are responsible for. If I turn in a report with a ton of holes, or am not as thorough as I should have been, I would be negligent. Because let’s consider the hypothetical situation where I clear a patient for duty when they were struggling with something they were avoiding talking about and I didn’t push hard enough. They keep going until something triggers them badly. What if that happens in a crisis, or when there is a situation with high stakes? What if lives are lost as a result? That’s on me, because I didn’t fulfill my duty-of-care to the patient, their shipmates, and Starfleet.

[o]I refuse to let that happen here![o] she said adamantly, her accent thickening as she infused more emotion into her words. [o]I told you we can play games if you want to, but if you stop fighting me so hard, I actually might be able to keep you in your job on the Sentinel. But I’m going to be really frank here, Commander Alden, that if things are so bad that I can’t get more than a few words out of you at a time over some fairly basic questions, then you shouldn’t be there. But if we can show the powers that be that whatever you are dealing with is something you are willing to work on and be an active participant in finding the way around your hurdles, then I can help you and make things happen. I’m not out to get you, truly. I want you to be the best officer you can be, whatever that looks like. And if you’re having mental health struggles and need support? What of it? It says nothing about you as a person. You’re just dealing with an issue the same way you’d deal with a broken arm or a bout of the flu. But this is up to you. I can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.[o]

~Leah Hart, NP