Mental Health In the Mountains
Last month, a group of us gathered at the Bozeman Ice Fest to dig into mental health. It was the first time this topic presented at the Ice Fest, and finally is becoming more common in the outdoor community. Groups like the Climbing Grief Fund, Avalanche Resiliency Project, and The Responder Alliance are starting to encourage counseling, conversations, and mental health in the outdoor community, making the conversation more readily available at outdoor festivals, patrol and rescue teams, and more. Most of the feedback I hear as this topic gets moved to the forefront are “finally” or “better late than never”.
Since the start of the pandemic two out of five adults report experiencing mental health symptoms. Since outdoor pursuits engage with high-risk terrain, group decision making, and partner communication it seems essential we understand more about mental health and each other.
So, let’s keep talking about it.
Here are a few of the main takeaways from the workshop:
Stress in mild to moderate amounts helps keep us learning and growing. What creates stress is different for everyone depending on previous experiences or lack of experience in certain situations. Check in with each other about one another’s learning process and stressors before you go out. Learn what is helpful when both of you are experiencing stress.
When we are in high stress our brain can become limited in cortical regions that help us with memory, language skills, and executive function. So when we are on a climb or ski and something goes wrong we may lose some of our functioning. This is where practice and familiarity come in. The more something is muscle memory the quicker it will be to access even under high stress.
Familiarity becomes dangerous when we can over rely on those systems and not use present data. For instance, if we have done a climb or a ski a bunch of times we may not think through current warning signs or assess risks in the same way we would when we are new to it.
Checking in with your adventure partners on a regular basis increases trust and openness when mental health changes.
Questions you can ask each other:
What stressors have been in your life lately?
What kinds of things help you when you are stressed or overwhelmed?
Is the goal we planned on still doable with current experiences, risks, weather, etc.?
How would you feel if we changed routes or goals today?
What conditions and personal stressors make today’s objective a no go?
What helps you when you are experiencing stress?
4) Create safety plans for mental health challenges just as you would possible physical injuries on long routes or climbs. Treat them with the same care and compassion, because mental/stress injuries can have just as much impact if not more than a physical injury.
5) Offer empathy and validation before helping each other solve problems.
If you want more on these topics join my newsletter! I am planning some community events this winter and spring to dig into these topics more.
