Is Your Family Paying the Price for Your Job?

Reports from our health insurance providers show that SMART-TD members rarely use the mental health benefit afforded to us.

Those same reports reveal another alarming trend: our spouses and our kids use the mental health benefit more often than we do.

Think about that.

Using the Benefits We Fought to Win

It’s a fact: we have damn good health care. Using it, even for just an hour every two weeks, to talk with someone who carries no bias is freeing.

Counselors aren’t there to judge us or form opinions about the challenges we’re facing. They give us the tools we need to manage our stress more effectively, leave work at the door and ultimately, navigate toward a better tomorrow.    

Our mental health benefit exists because our brothers and sisters before us knew that we needed it, and they fought to get it into our contracts.

Using it not only honors their legacy but also protects our mental well-being and the ones closest to us.

The Hidden Cost

Too often, our families inadvertently end up being the ones who feel the effects of stress, bad sleep, and the sometimes-lengthy time away, paying the price for the mental toll of our jobs.

If a railroad or transit agency was physically harming your family, there wouldn’t be one of us who would stay quiet. Take the same stand to protect their mental and emotional well-being, too.

By addressing these issues head-on, we can stop letting stress creep into our homes and leave work issues at the crew room door where they belong.

But every door has two sides, and it’s not uncommon to have stressors from our personal lives spill over when we’re on the job. It’s just as important to do our best to leave those issues at that same crew room door.

“A Silent Killer”

One of our State Safety and Legislative Directors shared something his therapist once told him: “Mental health issues are a silent killer.” And in his words, “The loudest noise we hear is when we are in silence with our thoughts.”

Whether you’re from the rail or transit side of our union, we’re all worn thin. We either don’t have enough manpower, or we have too much and live with the worry of furloughs hanging over our heads. That kind of uncertainty piles up and is tough to ignore.

We fight battles with anxiety and depression, navigate strained relationships, and stress about how to make ends meet. The list goes on.

The good news is that help is readily available. All you have to do is ask.  

Make a Commitment to Yourself: Use the Benefit If You Need It

We wouldn’t ignore a broken leg or limp around on a busted knee. We’d use our hard-earned, employer-funded insurance and get it fixed. So why are we limping around with stress, burnout, and anger when we have the same coverage for that, too?

Please, take the time to:

• Call a counselor
• Use your EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
• Talk to someone you trust
• Reach out to Operation RedBlock (CSX)
• Connect with leaders at your church or in your community

Don’t wait until things blow up. Bring the real you home, the one your family deserves.

Being strong doesn’t mean going at it alone, and there is never any shame in reaching out.

We all work long hours together and our union is a family. That means we should always have each other’s backs, especially when one of us needs help.

If you’re ready to get started, talk to your Local Chairperson or visit your health plan’s website.

Make it a point to prioritize your mental well-being: you and your family deserve nothing less.