Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Hello,
I am Dr. Marie Beatrice Hyppolite. I hold a doctorate in Health Science with emphasis on Global Health and master’s degree in social work. I have over 14 years of experience in the field of health and human services.
This podcast is primarily focused on mental health and the quality-of-life elements that affect it such as divorce, death, domestic violence, trauma, toxic relationships, and single parenthood to name a few. It is no secret that mental health challenges continue to profoundly impact modern society although not enough discussion is given due to stigma. Research has shown an increase of 25 % in mental health crises after COVID-19. It is important to have honest, uncomfortable conversations about mental health while being supportive. Although we are interdependent, change begins with the individual, hence “your world.”
I welcome you to join me on my journey and look forward to your responses.
Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Unmasking Mental Health Stigma
The silent struggles of maternal mental health take center stage as Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite and Nurse Becca tackle the complex web of barriers preventing women from receiving proper care during pregnancy and postpartum periods.
Mental health stigma creates dangerous misconceptions that individuals with psychological conditions are unpredictable or violent. This harmful stereotype particularly affects new mothers, who often suffer in silence rather than seeking help for postpartum depression or anxiety. Our discussion reveals how current healthcare systems frequently prioritize the baby's wellbeing while maternal mental health becomes an afterthought, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive screening tools integrated into routine prenatal care.
Cultural factors create profound obstacles to mental healthcare access. We explore how Chinese communities often discourage emotional expression while Spanish-speaking patients encounter linguistic barriers that compromise their ability to communicate needs effectively. The conversation takes an eye-opening turn when examining how male partners sometimes answer questions on behalf of women patients, creating scenarios where women's voices are literally absent from their own healthcare decisions. This power dynamic becomes particularly troubling when addressing sensitive mental health concerns.
The economic reality of mental healthcare presents another formidable challenge. With therapy sessions often costing hundreds per session and insurance coverage frequently limited, financial barriers disproportionately affect those already vulnerable. We discuss potential solutions including community resources, church support networks, and the critical importance of taking that first step toward seeking help – whether through healthcare providers, helplines, or trusted connections.
Ready to continue this important conversation? Subscribe to The Nurse Aspect podcast available on Spotify, Apple, YouTube and all major platforms. Connect on Instagram or email thenurseaspect@gmail.com with your questions and experiences.
Hello everyone. I'm Dr Beatrice Ippolit and this is your World People with mental health issues. They're so unpredictable. Anything can trigger them and when whatever that may trigger them at this moment, they're going to act on it right away, and it doesn't matter if it is like to kill you, right? So it's like they will understand later when they kill somebody, but the moment that they were doing it, they didn't see it that way. They didn't see that they were doing something wrong until after it's actually happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so so incredibly true, incredibly true. But if I could say, maybe, what I would suggest in terms of how to get things maybe on a better track or even to even just try to prevent. I think that mental health should be, it should be a better screening process and it should really start as part of your care. It should be something that is addressed in terms of whether you're in a clinic, because I feel like a lot of times when you go to a clinic you might not receive the best care you know, versus someone as a private doctor that you see. But I think there should be a better screening tool and I think that programs should be made available or communities should be made available, just even just in case we hand out so many things.
Speaker 2:And when you um in postpartum, after you deliver baby you had, you get so many things a packet of a billion papers. You have your birth certificate, you have your pediatric forms, you have all of these things. But if I think that it's something that is started earlier, that you know you do have this community available, because maybe by the time you're in after you deliver maybe could be too late, you know, or maybe I don't even have time to deal with this now, because now I have a newborn and or maybe I have a two-year-old and a newborn. Now, you know, I don't have time to to deal with this um. So I think that maybe that should be something that could help in terms of decreasing the incidence or the disparity, closing that gap of postpartum depression.
Speaker 1:During pregnancy, often women go to do their checkup.
Speaker 2:So in the first trimester it's a little far apart. As you get closer to delivery you can be there every week. Unless if you're high risk you might be there every week. Unless if you're high risk, you might be there every couple of days.
Speaker 1:It depends um, but the first trimester, second trimester is not as often okay towards the end that so the point that I wanted to make so when you go to see your gyn, you know for the for that routine checkup. So I know they check baby whether the baby is healthy or what have you. But at the same way they do that for the baby, they should have check on the mother too. I understand that you want the mother to be healthy for the baby, but there must be some checkup going on to know whether the mother is healthy both physically and emotionally.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes so they should be.
Speaker 2:There should definitely be um some sort of maybe screening tool. You know I was I was actually talking to a uh provider, of a mental health provider, um, that does have an uh, that works in um ob like has an ob background, and she was saying that she wanted to. I believe that she is trying to work on a tool to have like a screening tool to better assist with that. Her name is Val. She works at Mind Psychiatry. I was talking to her the other day and she was saying that she is actually working on a tool to help in terms of better screening for anxiety and maybe undiagnosed anxiety. Postpartum depression.
Speaker 1:During pregnancy or after? Okay.
Speaker 2:I believe she's working. Maybe it could be something that's intrapartum and postpartum.
Speaker 1:I'm not too sure, but I was talking to her about.
Speaker 2:She was saying that that was something that she was looking to do.
Speaker 1:Okay, Earlier you mentioned the cultural impact that the Chinese people sometimes you know are facing or dealing with, you know, for not being able to express their feelings or their pain. But Spanish people or Spanish women, you know they are facing with serious issue culturally as well, due to language barrier. Yes, Because many of them, you know, cannot really express themselves in English and they may be of assistance or have a great need to receive help, but because they are incapable of expressing themselves, it will be hard for them to get that service.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, I think in the hospital. I mean I can't speak for every hospital, but I will say most hospitals do have like a language line, phone where you can communicate, Even though you can't say certain things, not everything. You know everybody wants to say to someone that they don't know. It's hard to almost build a rapport with your nurse A lot of times. You know everybody wants to say to someone that they don't know. It's hard to almost build a rapport with your nurse A lot of times. You know I'm there for 12 hours so it's easy for me to maybe like joke around with you. You get a sense of my personality. I get a sense of your personality because I'm speaking in English to you. You're speaking English back to me, Whereas now, if I have a language line and I'm communicating with a third party, even though it's right there, it kind of almost takes that personal aspect away from it and that might not be as easy for someone to express.
Speaker 2:Some people are completely open and some people are not and again, even with that, culturally likely is not accepted. You're still a stranger to me. Why do I need to divulge information? Or it could be your partner that's there. That's maybe answering the questions for you. I'm asking you how's your pain, How's this, How's that? And your partner's answering, or your husband's answering and telling me she's fine, she doesn't need anything, you know. So in that it's a little harder for you know, even if I have a phone to communicate with you, for me to even understand it, because culturally it might be accepted for the man to speak for you and you're not able to really express how you're feeling yeah.
Speaker 1:Let's say, for example, if my husband isn't serving for me when you ask the question, will he ask me? No, I've had so many. So you ask the question and it just gives you the answer, without asking me in our own language.
Speaker 2:Yes, for example, I have so many times I've had patients that come in and I see that they're in pain and I say, okay, you know, whenever you're ready, it's totally up to you. You can have an epidural that at least will help to take care of the pain from the contraction, and the husband will say she's not in pain, not even forget the translation part she's not in pain. I could physically see you're in pain. I can clinically see you're in pain because your blood pressure's up, your heart rate's up. I can see all these signs and symptoms that you're in pain, but one he's not A communicating with you and even if I, let's say I take a language on and I have someone communicating, but they may be afraid, and not maybe necessarily afraid, because maybe not that the husband is physically hurting them, but just afraid to even say, yes, I'm in pain and I want them, I want pain relief because the husband has already answered and spoken for you.
Speaker 2:That's a serious issue. Why is it? And so I can imagine if I'm asking you, do you have any history of anxiety? First of all, who's answering, and then, even if the husband does translate, are you really telling me the truth, and then it's so hard to even try to get the family member out, then in that way, god, we need more people you know like who speak the same language.
Speaker 1:We need more people you know like who speak the same language. We need more of your, of your kind, you know, because, it's like you said, the person will feel more comfortable. It's like many times when I have asian clients. So the minute that they come, they're like, oh, you, asian, and I always say, yes, born and raised, so you can see, the demeanor will change right away Because they feel that, hey, I'm home, it's my people, that's the way they know. They will refer to you, oh, you're my people, and so they'll feel comfortable.
Speaker 1:All the nuances and what have you so you can address, you can tackle them. But when you have somebody come with her husband or you know a partner, while that person doesn't speak the language, and you have to have that partner answering all your questions and whatnot, knowing that, whether that you know you, you really being of assistance to that patient, or the person who the patient is, the person who really has the need, yes, you know to be assisted and you don't know whether, whatever that you do, you are doing the right thing or not. The husband said, no, she's not in pain. Well, she could have benefit from some pain medication All right.
Speaker 2:So, like I said, just to tie it back in, it's just. You can imagine how, if I'm asking you about anxiety, if I'm trying to speak to you about postpartum depression, how things might feel, how you know the importance of recognizing there's something wrong and being able to seek help. It's even harder to communicate Even if I have, you know, a language barrier phone, even if I have all of those things, because there's still something culturally that's blocking that I'm not even able to really communicate, or even you're not really even allowed to express yourself and say I need help.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's a very serious problem. But what about the economic factors? If you were to address that, what would be your point of view Economically?
Speaker 2:I mean, the thing is, you know, unfortunately, that comes down to a lot of times, insurance, right, if I have, do I have health care? A lot of times, if you're coming in on Medicaid, medicare, something like that, you know you may not even have access to even being able to speak to a therapist, okay. And then the other thing is, too, is therapy is not cheap. You know, we need more programs where you know it's more, either affordable or even free, to be able to receive that type of care. Right, there's SNAP, wic, all of these things that you qualify for because maybe you're not making as much money, you have no job and everything like that. But then where's the mental part of it that can be addressed for free or, you know, a deep discount?
Speaker 1:for most parts. You know, like you know many people who have Medicaid, if they have a mental health issues going on, medicaid will pay for it.
Speaker 2:Medicaid will pay for it, but I think that in terms of postpartum, it's not. Not that it's Medicaid is a little, a little funny's not?
Speaker 1:Even if you are being diagnosed Even if you're diagnosed it's not.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say it's not as easy to get, but are you devoting the time for it? I think that people who pay for therapy will have an easier time to maybe deal with it versus someone that you say pay out of pocket, Out of pocket right, but therapy is so expensive.
Speaker 2:It's so expensive If you're sitting down one, you have to find the right therapist. Um, cause, not every therapist is going to work with you too. When you do find the right therapist, I'm sure it's not it's not covered by insurance most of the times. And then you're paying, you know. And now you're paying out of, out of pocket. And now imagine if you're on a lower socioeconomical level, um, you may not be able to even afford it.
Speaker 2:So now, which care am I receiving? Tiktok community, and I might. What if I need medication? I can't get that from tiktok, you know. Maybe now I have to resort to other things, and maybe that could lead to other problems alcoholism, drugs, or harming yourself, harming your child, you know, like sleep deprivation, all these things come into play. But I think that there should be more programs available, not only just for people who maybe, let's say it's not Medicaid. But what if I am working? Okay, I'm a nurse, and let's say, you know, god forbid I fall into this pattern where I need mental health addressed, whether it's in pregnancy or what have you. Most nurses don't have the best insurance, right? Let's say, I'm supporting my family, or maybe it's just me and my husband, or something like that, and we don't have the money. Mortgages are expensive. So let's say I, I own a home, I have a mortgage to take care of, maybe I have a car note, and now the money that I have to spend freely on stuff is not a zillion of all the bills exactly.
Speaker 2:I have student loans, you know. So all of these things come into play and again therapies needed, but it's so expensive. It's so expensive and I wouldn't say to a therapist you need to decrease your rates because it's important, but where's the give?
Speaker 1:Because I may be in need, so I may want that place where I go to therapy to kind of decrease their weight. But at the same talking, they also have responsibilities to taking care of you know whether you know the place you know have a mortgage on or they are paying rent electricity bill guys you all have bills all the bills plus employees so they have to pay. So it's like it's a struggle everywhere that you go, so it's not going to be easy.
Speaker 2:I will say a lot of jobs do have some sort of mental health program where you can take part of it, maybe get a couple of sessions free here and there, but it's usually not the greatest either, you know. So again, coming down to pay, I guess in that sense Because I've had people that have taken part like that I know have taken part in their jobs mental health program, but the therapist maybe it helped out for a moment, but it doesn't address a long-term issue. And then I'm back to can I afford to seek therapy? It's serious?
Speaker 1:Yes, it's serious. But you know one thing there is always gonna be help around. Yes, so I may, you know, go to this place and I may not be able to get the assistant over there, but I cannot just say you know what, so it's like I'm not going to get it. So there are help lines that we can call to get the information. There are 311 that we can call that can lead us to the direct direction, because, at the end of the day so I understand, you know like, medicaid may not cover this fully, but they may cover it partially, you know. So this insurance may not cover this.
Speaker 1:So, and hey, you may find a place that can you know, in order to really assist you, that can decide to bring the fee down, just to assist you. Yeah, let's say, if you were to pay 100 per week, so they're like you know what, can you afford fifty dollars per week and before even know it, you may get the assistance. Yeah, that's what at the end of the day, so what? I will recommend people not to do it, not to sit on it, right?
Speaker 2:the first, the, the best thing you can do for yourself is to take the first step. The first step is what you have to take in order to make any change and make any progress in addressing anything in your life, whether it's losing weight, your mental health, your job. It's not gonna come to you like that. You have to take a step. That's very true, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, and oftentimes you may have family members and friends who would like to support you too. So don't feel ashamed, because if Ihmm, because if I have a need, I have a need. Yeah, so if you're my friend, I'll come to you, mm-hmm, so you may not have the financial means to help me, but at the end of the day, you can refer me to somebody else. Don't sit on it. Ask, mm-hmm, you know, because you know you will always find help somewhere. Yeah, you know, if you go that way, you know you don't find help. So keep on, keep on asking, keep on looking, keep on searching, right, you know, and plug yourself to people.
Speaker 1:Go to those churches, you know, and it doesn't matter if it is protestant or catholic, because they are very. Churches tend to be great resources, believe it or not. Yes, you know. So it's like, whatever that you need you may not be able to find it, you know. You go to that church presbytery and you ask for the information. They may not have it, but they will know where to send you. Do something about it, yes, so anything else that you want to add to that about it?
Speaker 2:yes. So anything else that you want to add to that? Um, no, I think that, as you know, time passes by and that things become more openly accepted. I I hope that the disparity and the gap in terms of addressing and dealing with anxiety, post postpartum depression, that that does close. But just like we you know we just talked about it all requires you to take a step, and then we listen and we don't judge right.
Speaker 1:Exactly. But one thing, nurse Baker, with that situation according to research, women who have pre-existing condition mental health condition they are more prone to be affected by this situation that you just mentioned. So in that situation, if I go to the doctor, you know, knowing that I am carrying a child now I'm pregnant, right, so that will be very important to address or to bring to my doctor's attention, to say you know what I was diagnosed with, this and that, so my doctor will know that because I have a past history, then you know, carrying a baby can put me more at risk while I'm pregnant and even after I give birth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think that a lot of times in medically, in terms of addressing that there are medications that are safe for pregnant moms to take, that that are teratogenic, so that they don't affect the baby or cross the blood-brain barrier, which is a concern, there are certain ones that do, and so maybe a lot of therapists or providers will not prescribe certain medications if you are of childbearing age, or if you maybe were on those medications before, they will start to taper them down so that it decreases the chance of affecting the baby, but they are medications that are safe to take. So, in terms of if you had a pre-existing condition, yes, you are at higher risk and maybe you do need to be looked at more, maybe you need to follow up more. A lot of times therapists are involved in that type of care, but again, did you have access to it before you know? Is the issue I think the bigger issue, I would say in that situation.
Speaker 1:But in that environment, the doctor that I'm seeing, the hospital that I'm going to, knowing that I have a past history, should kind of, like you know, set things for me in a way to be well equipped upon giving birth, not to fall into deeper problems.
Speaker 2:So a lot of hospitals, part of your like admission, when you come into the hospital, we do as nurses, we have to assess you, and so one of the things that we ask is do you have a history of anxiety, a history of postpartum depression, even the history of infertility? There's a lot of things in terms of also, um, socio-economical issues, in terms of where do you live? Is it stable? Do you need legal help? And one of the questions that it ends up asking is does the patient need a social work consult? And you can click off yes, and that's not something I'm going to ask you.
Speaker 2:I'm going to ask you all those other questions, but it's the computers asking me. The system's asking me does this person need a social work consult? And I can choose to say yes or no. I put an hour and you may not check off everything, but I will say yes for something and then a social worker will come and see you during your admission and to address those issues. So I think hospitals do recognize that they're an say yes for something and then a social worker will come and see you during your admission and to address those issues. So I think hospitals do recognize that they're an issue. There is an issue and you know, does things to address that to, you know, to kind of curb that. But also then it comes down to the nurse too. If I have five admissions, am I going to be asking everybody those questions Because I'm just going to keep on clicking no, no, no, no, no, no, because I don't want to input further information.
Speaker 1:So there's a lot of issues that can happen, but that should not be something to take upon you. It shouldn't Not to do. It shouldn't Because you have a large case load it shouldn't but these are things that happen Because every patient should. It's wrong, though, because every patient should have been seen according to their needs.
Speaker 1:It is, but I will say like in terms of like, because now you answer no, no, no, no for me, while all three quarter of those questions could have been yes, yes, yes, yes yeah, but I think that that's something that can happen at hospitals where you may have a lot of patients, especially like someone that is working in an emergency room, for example.
Speaker 2:They're asking all of these questions as well, and maybe if you had, like a trauma that's coming in, I may not have time to ask all of these questions. If there's short staff, if there's all these other things, and so these are things that can be missed, then that's another way that hospital need to, and I'm not saying, and I'm not even saying this as an you know, this is factually happening. I'm just saying, and just as an example, that it can. But this is why, to me, it's so important for you know things like this to be addressed during pregnancy, because if I'm at the doctor's office not to say that those things can happen, but it's, on a less severe case, you know, a less severe situation in terms of maybe I have a lot of things going on in the emergency room, not that say you don't have things going on in the doctor's office, but it's just less severe, so you should be able to ask those questions.
Speaker 2:So if it's addressed earlier, even if I miss it, we already have a history and we already know that I may need to pay attention a little more to what this person is saying or not saying, in that sense.
Speaker 1:Or myself as a pregnant woman. I may not know the type of questions that you should be asking me, but if I know my conditions and I have certain needs that I need to bring to your attention, certain needs that I need to bring to your attention even though you didn't ask me, but I still can bring that to your attention for you to kind of like you know what? Hey, let me take note on that. Yes, you know, as something that need to be considered. Yes, very important. Yes, you know, very important. It's a lot of information. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Now, before we finish, we're not going to finish without you telling us about your podcast.
Speaker 2:Oh sure, Okay, so, um, my podcast is called the nurse aspect. It is available everywhere. You listen to podcasts on Spotify, apple, youtube. Um, I'm on Tik TOK. Tik TOK is a little different just because it's me talking about my real experiences, things that I have like a little series called Relatable or Debatable on my TikTok. So it's just me saying things that you know. Can you relate to this or not?
Speaker 2:And I find that a lot of times, often, nurses can relate to certain things that we go through as nurses. Um, I'm on Instagram. Um, I take all kinds of questions all day, all night. Um, I'm available at the nurse aspect at gmailcom. Um, and yeah, so it's just me talking to different nurses, um, different backgrounds. So there's traditional bedside nurses, there's nurses who maybe started out at the bedside but our real estate investors, and there was nurses I've spoken to that you're a nurse and a firefighter. So it's just me talking to different, different backgrounds in the hopes that one.
Speaker 2:You know, as nurses, we all go through things, I'm sure, as everyone goes through things in their own. You know specific fields, but I just think that it's just a way for people to have a release. You know, um, a lot of times, we all going through the same things and maybe, maybe we're not. Maybe you want to go into a certain field of nursing and I've spoken to someone that maybe after listening to the show, you're like I don't think I want to go into that, or maybe it's driving you to go into that. So that's pretty much, in a nutshell, what my show is about. And yeah, so, like you said, I started a few months before you and yeah, it's going so it's every week.
Speaker 2:So initially it was supposed to be every week, but at this point right now, I'm releasing episodes about every two to three weeks. Right now, two to three weeks, but there's definitely a lot to listen to, so there's no shortage of content, I would say.
Speaker 1:OK, OK, OK. So, and hey, you just heard Nurse Baker, so go out there, you know, listen to her podcast.
Speaker 2:subscribe like, subscribe, ask questions. You don't have to be a nurse. I take questions from anyone. I love talking so and I'm not shy.
Speaker 1:Can people ask you health-related questions? You can ask health-related questions, but I am a nurse.
Speaker 2:I'm not a doctor, so I'm not diagnosing anybody with anything. If you want my opinion on something, if I know the answer to it, then I will tell you. But I'm not diagnosing anybody with any type of medical concern. I can tell you what I see at the hospital in that sense. But if I can help you, I'll help you. If I can't, I will. I will say that I can't help you okay?
Speaker 1:so if I suffer with high blood pressure so and I need some advice on medication and things like that, I cannot ask you. So you will refer me back to my healthcare provider. I will definitely refer you back to healthcare.
Speaker 2:I could. I could even refer you to a healthcare provider if you don't have one, um, but in terms of, like, what medication I think you should take? No, because at the end of the day, I don't have lab work on you, I don't know. And and again, my job is not to to diagnose. But if you want a nurse aspect on hypertension, sure, no problem.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:It's fair enough. So, darling, it was a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much for having me so when I, you know, I remember when I shot you that text and I asked you, you know, if you will be available to make it. You know, to the show and without even taking twice, you say yes, of course, yeah, you know so, to finally make it happen.
Speaker 1:So it's a well appreciated moment for me. Thank you for having me. I believe it's the same for everyone who's watching or listening. Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2:I enjoyed being on on your world, okay, so together, we're gonna keep on yes, growing, yes, thank you.
Speaker 1:It was with you all, Dr Beatrice Ippolite, with your world.