Vinnie Potestivo:
What is hope and how can it help us get through tough times?
Audrey Gruss:
Hope is the most positive word in the English language. It is all about expectation and desire to get a result and to have something positive happen to us in our lives.
The feeling of hope is what the feeling and the knowledge that there’s hope is what gets us through tough times.
Vinnie Potestivo:
So what message do you have to the first responders, nurses, and doctors, and other essential workers right now who are keeping our country running?
Audrey Gruss:
It is the saddest thing in life not to have hope but knowing that we have it and these first responders, these are the people who give everybody else hope at this particular time. The fact that they exist gives everyone else hope.
Vinnie Potestivo:
Absolutely. How has the role of the mother changed in the last few months, since this pandemic began?
Audrey Gruss:
Oh my goodness. I think today that a mother is everything. She’s a teacher, she is a mentor, she is a mother, a wife. Everything that you can imagine is thrown upon a mom today. It is amazing what women have been doing in the last few months during this pandemic and during this crisis. They are the best.
And they have to clean up and do it again the following day.
Vinnie Potestivo:
So what’s the silver lining? What are some positive outcomes of us sheltering at home and social distancing?
Audrey Gruss:
Okay. One of the silver linings of this pandemic is that we’re finding totally new ways to connect.e are zooming are trying new technology. We’re emailing more, we’re writing letters, we’re calling people more, we’re really reaching out because human contact, that social interaction is so important in spite of the distance..
Vinnie Potestivo:
What does a mother really look for on mother’s day?
Audrey Gruss:
Every mother wants to know that the ones they love are safe, that they are protecting themselves, that they’re respecting everyone else by wearing masks, by social distancing, that everything is good. That’s all they want to hear. They want to hear that first, then they want to know that they’re loved in whatever way you express that. But it is so important in these times to first say, I’m okay, I’m healthy, I’m safe and I love you.
Vinnie Potestivo:
I totally agree. Tell us about the community of scientists.
Audrey Gruss:
I think that at Hope for Depression Research Foundation, even the neuroscientists are working from home, but they are working every day trying to find a cure for depression, trying to find new treatments, trying to find news and something that can help people feel better. Work is going on as usual. Research is going on as usual. We’re here, we’re doing everything we can to make people feel better every day.
Vinnie Potestivo:
So tell us what has HFDR done in response to the 2020 pandemic.
Audrey Gruss:
We’ve done something so terrific. We’ve created the Hope at Home program, which is a digital email newsletter that comes out every single day because you know, at this very difficult time, even people who don’t have mental health issues are very afraid. They have a sense of anxiety, there’s stress all around them. And even if they don’t have anxiety or depression or any of those kinds of issues, it’s happening to them. They’re going through it for the first time. So we have to help those people to deal with all of this, that stuff that’s happening all around them right now.
And the second thing is people who do have mental health issues, whatever level they are, be they just a very small level of anxiety or depression or stress. But whether it’s small or whether it’s greater, the probability of those mental health issues being exacerbated during the pandemic is absolutely a reality. So our Hope at Home newsletter that gives mental health tips is wonderful.
We deal with the four pillars of good mental health and those pillars are sleep, nutrition, exercise and mindfulness or meditation. Each one of our daily newsletters deals with it. It goes into detail as to how you can achieve those pillars and all the different things you can do and how you can help yourself. And that’s what you’ve got to do first. First you help yourself, then you can help others.
Vinnie Potestivo:
That sounds awesome. And where Kim, do you know Where can people go to subscribe for Hope at Home?
Audrey Gruss:
You can get the Hope at Home email newsletter by going on your website to HopeForDepression.org and looking for Hope at Home right on the main page. You can get the Hope at home newsletter every day and it is completely for free.
Vinnie Potestivo:
Okay, great.
Audrey Gruss:
During this terrible pandemic, even somebody with no previous mental health issues can absolutely be going through a difficult time because there are so much stress and anxiety, and it can increase or cause depression even in those who’ve never had it. It is so important that when you talk to your friends and all your loved ones that if someone sounds strange if they sound different, if they sound too quiet or if you’ve tried to contact them and you know that they’re sleeping too much where they’re not eating properly or they just don’t sound like themselves, reach out to them. Tell them that, you know, I’m worried about you. You sound very different, or I think you’re sleeping. Tell them to call their doctor. Even by calling a general practitioner, your internist, they can recommend you to a proper mental health professional so you can get help with this. A very, very strange and difficult time.
Vinnie Potestivo:
Got it. That’s a really important message.
Could you share some things that inspire you?
Audrey Gruss:
You know, even at this difficult time of the pandemic, I think you can be inspired and have a feeling of hope just from taking a walk outside, just feeling nature all around you, looking at a beautiful plant, looking at a beautiful flower, watching people walk or jog or run and their colorful clothes. I love to see bicyclists and how they’re dressed and kind of smiles on their faces as they’re breathing in the fresh air and speeding along. I love to look out at the water. I just see a boat outside my window going up the inland waterway here. It’s so beautiful just to see people doing relaxing, lovely things. There’s nothing like nature, nothing like fresh air. Nothing like the beauty of a butterfly on a bush, on a flower. Simple, lovely things that cause you to be happier and give you a sense of hope in your life.
Vinnie Potestivo:
So what is it? What makes Mother’s day special for you?
Audrey Gruss:
My mother’s name was Hope and she was one of the most wonderful people that I’ve ever had in my life and has an influence in my life. She was so talented, she was so creative and so outgoing. She loved life. She loved to sing, she loved to dance. She wrote poetry all the time and through no fault of hers, she had depression. She had a nervous breakdown is what it was called in the sixties when she went through this. And it was just devastating to have someone you love go through an illness where they become a completely different individual. All of that life-sapping, loss of energy, that is a mark of depression for me. I think of my mother every mother’s day. I wish you were back here with me. I connect with her by saying a prayer for her. I loved her so much. I still love her.
Vinnie Potestivo:
So what do we, what can we actually do for mom on mother’s day to let them know that we’re thinking about them. And not just today but all year round.
Audrey Gruss:
Instead of sending flowers instead of buying a dress or some accessory that your mother has no place to go and wear right now, one of the finest things you can do is donate to the Hope for Depression Research Foundation. 100% of your donation, every cent that you give, goes directly to the most advanced brain research. And by doing this you and your mother become a part of this brilliant group of neuroscientists who are world leaders in what they do and are working hard every day to try to find new treatments, new medications, and answers to one of the most difficult illnesses in the world today. Depression and it’s related mood disorders, which are bipolar, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and even worse, are depression and its related mood disorders. So I think this would be a very thoughtful and a very loving thing to do for yourself and for your mother. Thank you for even considering it and thinking about it.
Vinnie Potestivo:
What’s something special you can do for mother’s day?
Audrey Gruss:
One of the most wonderful things, fun and beautiful and lovely, is to send your mothers some Hope Fragrances from the Hope Fragrance collection. I actually designed Hope Fragrance, the original one with my mother in mind, and named it Hope, which is my mother’s name. She always loved beautiful flowers. She especially loved white flowers. She surrounded herself with lilies and tuberose and Jasmine and Gardenia. It is so beautiful that it lasts so long. It has such a fresh and delightful feeling.
And the second fragrance that we designed is Hope Sport. You know how you put on your workout clothes and some days you just stay in those workout clothes all day long. I know I’ve done that and I looked at my watch and I think, Oh my goodness, it’s four o’clock and I still haven’t gotten out of my gym clothes. Well, Hope sport is for that woman and that time when you were in your casual clothes and you want an essence that has an extra excitement of a crisp green, outdoorsy kind of natural feeling. That’s Hope Sport. It is so cool. It is so pretty. It is so lovely to wear and you feel kind of energized by wearing it. It’s so special.
And then the third fragrance that is simply wonderful is Hope Night. It’s for when you feel totally romantic, relaxed, sensual, and beautiful? It does have two white flowers, and then it has some patchouli amber, vanilla, and an amazing scent of plum. It is delicious. It’s indescribable. You have got to go get your sample, at HopeFragrances.com get a sample, smell all of them, and then I know that you’ll want all three Hope Fragrances in your life. I have them in my life. There’s nothing like them. I don’t go out unless I put on one of the Hope Fragrances every day and every night.
