Dr. Simone’s Mind Space

There’s no mountain high enough for women to climb

Growing up in one of the most conservative countries in the world, with only 50 years of women’s right to vote and the right to open a bank account without husband approval, only since the 1990ies!!

The entire society is structured around one bred-winner and 99% of all women with children work part-time. Especially, the part-time work is what causes a huge career disadvantage for Swiss women. When they work part-time to make work and family life compatible, the male counterparts boost their careers. Free from any female concurrency. Once the women return to work after parental leave and initiate in part-time work, they’re often stuck in an intellectually not very stimulating job. Often having a male and far too often less qualified person above them.

 

An incredibly unfulfilling situation, leading many women quit work or work on a low percentage, reducing their chances for a career even more. The burden on Swiss women is extraordinarily high, since the school system, beside the work environment. It’s built upon the ideal housewife, staying at home and cooking 3 meals a day, including lunch!! Since Swiss kids up to 9th grade come home for lunch. It’s looked down upon, and women are seen as bad mothers, if they don’t provide lunch for their child.  A child that doesn’t eat at home, but rather at at a lunch place, i.e. organised by the church or other none-profit organisations, is called a “Schlüsselkind” or “key chain kid”.

Yet, these lunch services, that have such a negative association, yet aren’t free and require additional organisation and coordination. These factors complicate the combination of work and family life. These particular reasons, make it extraordinary challenging for Swiss women to  return to work smoothly.

 

What to do?

• Reduce the fees for daycare, in order not to use the entire salary just to cover the childcare costs.
• Increase number of public schools providing lunch at school.
• Urgent need for change in work culture.
• Provide greater flexibility at work places, working from home, choice of working hours.
• Job sharing in senior positions.
• Maybe maybe in Switzerland it’s necessary to initiate a quota, to increase the number of women in executive position from 0% to a utopia 50%.
• Men need to be more involved and able to be part-time workers.
• Provide access to more generous parental leave.
• Anonymous hiring process, to reduce gender and racial discrimination.
• Provide resources to women, such as mentorship, access to women’s networks to find role models and like-minded women.

@drschwank

@unesurcent 

Youth well-being: what can parents do to support?

Adolescence is a phase in life, probably no adult wants to return to. A place where we felt insecure, super dependent on our friends, felt excluded, uncool, debating of going to this party or not, like this music or not, and yet under massive academic pressure. Thinking of what to study, what career to persuade, and distancing oneself from the parents. Parents that sense the distancing and often struggle to accept that children are growing up and becoming independent young people. 

The more we give young people space, to figure out their identity by themselves, the more willing they are to share, and the more open the conversations will be. Needless to say, this is incredibly difficult and requires a lot of patience and trust from the parents, that their emerging adult will succeed in life, even without their hands on involvement. This negotiation of freedom is crucial for a successful identity development. Young people need to make their own experiences, even if that means they get hurt. We can’t protect them from everything. If we do, we limit their capacity to be ready for the world around them. 

 

Yet, what if a young person is struggling more than the normal feelings of anxiety, low mood, and depressive feelings that accompany identity development?

How can we support adolescents that find it harder to cut the cord to their parents and leave the nest, in order to try to fly in the real world?

1. Be there as a non-judgmental listener. 
2. Don’t provide advice, but share helpful resources. 
3. Give your adolescent space, don’t ask too many questions. Let them come to you with questions.
4. Trust your adolescent and let them make their own experience, easier said than done.
5. Recognize your limitations and seek professional help.

@drschwank

@unesurcent

What’s it about identity development in adolescence?

Identity development is a major topic in adolescence. Transitions are often inspired by disequilibrium in identity. This imbalance comes with lots of confusion, feelings of depression, low mood, anxiety, and lots of peer comparison, pressure, and identification challenges.

 

Social Media adds another layer of complexity to the crucial stage of development. During adolescence we all struggle with self-confidence to some degree. Social Media accelerates the constant comparison and identification with others. Some countries, such as Denmark released a law for mandatory disclosure if filters or modification are done run photos, in order to prevent the spread of false realities. These false realities can cause distress in young people‘s sense of self, body image, and identity development.

 

The four identity statuses according to Marcia are distinguished as: foreclosure, identity diffusion, moratorium, and identity achievement.

In adolescence to early adulthood, the identity status change is most often a progressive transition from diffusion to moratorium to identity achievement.

 

What teachers can do:

A) As teachers, being aware of the identity developmental changes is important, in order to interpret the adolescents‘ behaviors appropriately.

 

B) The states of identity development can be fundamentally important in understanding the youth and provide adequate support.

 

C) Undergoing identity exploration is exhausting and accompanied by feelings of inadequacy, lack of belonging, searching for meaning in life, and a sense of purpose.

@drschwank

@unesurcent

Sustainable global citizen lifestyle

How can one be traveling internationally on a frequent basis, yet maintain a sustainable lifestyle?

It’s the small things that make a difference: sharing a taxi with a fellow passenger, something I’ve done multiple times. Bike, walk the place you’re about to explore, rather than taking a taxi or tourist bus. Order only as must as you can eat or bring it home as doggy bag. As pescatarian that loves yoghurt and parmigiano, I’m not part of the meat eaters, but do encourage people to enjoy a great piece of high quality meat. Which is often times a way more sustainable way of eating meat too. Small actions make a huge difference.

 

@drschwank

@unesurcent

Youth Mental Well-Being

Recent research, clinical observations, teachers, parents, and young people themselves reported on their changes with their mental well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic, as a catalyst increasing and elevating pre-existing mental health problems in young people. The disruption of school, extended alone time, instead of with peers, lack of social interaction, too much time with parents, too much screen and too little physical activity time.

Beside all the challenges related to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine further increases the uncertainty of their future, not to forget the climate change and its impact on the generation of young people. Social media exposure, and its impact on mental well-being can’t be estimated enough. Bullying, incl cyber bullying are yet another major topic to be discussed.

 

The future is uncertain, full of question marks, what career path to choose, when there’s so many choices, yet so few that one understands and the decision so early to be made, yet so impactful for the future.

 

Working with young people since over a decade, in teaching, research, clinical, and consulting roles, I’ve noticed a shift in the number of young people struggling with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and self-confidence, eating disorders, and self-harming behavior.

 

In Switzerland, similar to many counties, especially low and middle income counties mental health is still stigmatised. Lack of awareness, especially among the parental generation leading to avoiding, ignoring, and neglecting mental health problems among their adolescents. Help is often sought when the damage caused has already become a bush fire, rather than a small flame.

Teachers and peers often also don’t know what to say, how to act, what kind, if any support to provide. Yet, I’m so many of the conversations exactly the aspect of being seen is what the adolescents are missing. Having someone to ask and acknowledge they’re aware of their suffering is life saving.

 

Goal with this podcast isn’t, to point at anyone or blame anyone. It’s simply educative, Public Health Service. The idea is to raise awareness of the increasing problem of mental health disorders among youth. Set up ask for action plans, educate, health care professionals, teachers, parents, and youth themselves. How to prevent, act, and intervene early to avoid major problems hard to be fixed without leaving behind wounds, both physical and mental wounds.

 

How to help?

1. Genuinely ask how the person is doing.
2. Be a listener: Non-judgment, simply taking in what the person would like to share.
3. Don’t offer advice! It victimises the person and most of the time they know exactly what they’d need, but need support executing their step towards a healing ❤️‍🩹 process.
4. Offer company: cook or take a walk together. If someone’s very anxious, offer to stay over night with them.
5. Say it before it’s too late! Adress the issue, don’t shy away from telling! But then: suggest sources for support.

 

@drschwank

@unesurcent 

A conversation about ageing

Today’s conversation on ageing and all it means for us women, with female entrepreneur and great inspiration, Dr. Vanessa Craig. Originally from Australia. She is a biomedical researcher and entrepreneur, living and working in Switzerland. Her company Formetta produces a premium collagen supplement and she leads a comprehensive nutrition program at Rivr with the aim to maximize health span.

 

@formetta

@unesurcent

@drschwank

Leadership analysis

Effective leaders and effective teams are the goal of each company. Finding teams that work together productively is however challenging. Particularly in todays society with hybrid work models, post pandemic shifts in work cultures and employees expectations and desires.

 

An in-depth objective analysis, plan for action, and individualised coaching and mentorship opportunities, tailored to the needs of each company and its complexity and challenges.

@drschwank

@unesurcent

Beauty from within

Todays conversation with female entrepreneurs and great inspiration, Dr. Vanessa Craig. Originally from Australia, she is a biomedical researcher and entrepreneur, living and working in Switzerland. Her company Formetta produces a premium collagen supplement and she leads a comprehensive nutrition program at Rivr with the aim to maximize health span.

 

@formetta

@unesurcent

@drschwank

Radioactivity and Beauty

“Nothing in life is to be feared- it is only to be understood” - Marie Curie

 

We cannot feel it, we cannot taste it, we cannot smell it, but we can be educated about it. We are talking about radiation and our member and expert professional Natalia will introduce us to this subject. She will explain what kinds of radiation there are, where do they come from and what risk they may be to us. A subject very eternal and very actual in the current days.

We will learn how to quantify the risks and take the protection of ourselves and our loved ones into own hands. A special attention will be paid to the subjects of anti-ageing, cancer risks prevention and the protection of the most radiation-vulnerable members of our society: the children.

Additionally in response to the current affairs the subject of radiation in relation to the ongoing war in Ukraine will be discussed.

As a bonus you are invited to bring any object which you may be suspicious of to emit radiation. Advise: pay special attention to old watches, green glass or orange coated ceramic objects from the 20s to 50s, “energy jewelry”, electronic objects and anything else you might be wondering about.

 

@unesurcent

@drschwank

@apolloresearchsolutions

Traveling is freedom

The openness and curiosity for other cultures is something running in my family. My great grandparents moved to Malaysia to start ten mines in the middle of the jungle. These adventurous genes are why I’ve always been intrigued to live in different countries around the world.

It’s this freedom of navigating other cultures, languages, customs, arts of living that always drawn me to leave the safest place on earth Switzerland.

 

#traveling # curiosity #switzerland #drschwankinsights # podcast #unesurscent

 

@unesurcent

@drschwank