Mental Health

Watch

• What is schizophrenia? - Anees Bahji ↗TED-Ed
• What happens to your brain without any social contact? - Terry Kupers ↗TED-Ed
• The Silent Crisis of Men's Mental Health | Dustin Hogan | TEDxGrandviewHeights ↗TEDx Talks
• How mindfulness changes the emotional life of our brains | Richard J. Davidson | TEDxSanFrancisco ↗TEDx Talks
• How Trauma and PTSD Change the Brain ↗Therapy in a Nutshell
• How psychosis bends your reality - BBC ↗BBC

Read

• Man's Search for Meaning ↗A timeless testament to the human spirit's capacity for resilience and finding purpose amidst profound suffering.Viktor Frankl
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience ↗Explores the state of deep engagement and its pivotal role in cultivating a life of meaning and psychological richness.Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Positive Psychology: An IntroductionThe foundational manifesto for a field dedicated to understanding and fostering human strengths and optimal functioning.Martin E. P. Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression ↗An exhaustive and empathetic journey into the landscape of depression, offering both personal insight and scientific breadth.Andrew Solomon
• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma ↗A groundbreaking examination of how trauma reshapes both mind and body, and the pathways to recovery.Bessel van der Kolk

Voices to follow

• Thomas Insel ↗Offers a critical perspective on the shortcomings of traditional mental healthcare and champions innovative, technology-driven solutions for better access and outcomes.Neuroscientist; former Director, National Institute of Mental Health
• Bessel van der Kolk ↗A leading voice on the neurobiology of trauma, his work illuminates how the body stores and expresses traumatic experiences, advocating for holistic therapeutic approaches.Psychiatrist; Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine
• Lisa Feldman Barrett ↗Her research on the construction of emotion offers a sophisticated understanding of how our brains create feelings, challenging simplistic views of mental states.University Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University
• Gabor Maté ↗Provides profound insights into the interconnectedness of physical and mental health, arguing that addiction and illness often stem from unaddressed trauma and societal pressures.Physician and author specializing in addiction, trauma, and childhood development
• Vivek Murthy ↗As the nation's chief physician, he consistently elevates mental well-being to a public health priority, advocating for community-based solutions and destigmatization.United States Surgeon General

Glossary

• AnxietyThis is a strong feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, often about something with an uncertain outcome. It's more intense and lasts longer than everyday stress. For example, if you constantly worry about school even when there's no test, or feel your heart race in social situations, you might be experiencing anxiety.
• Coping MechanismsThese are the strategies or actions people use to deal with stressful or difficult situations. They can be healthy or unhealthy ways of reacting. For example, talking to a friend, exercising, or listening to music are healthy coping mechanisms when you're feeling down.
• DepressionThis is a serious mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It affects how you feel, think, and behave, and can last for weeks or months. For example, if someone feels sad and tired every day for weeks, loses interest in hobbies they once loved, and has trouble sleeping, they might be experiencing depression.
• Mental HealthThis is about your overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how you think, feel, and act every day. For example, having good mental health means you can handle everyday challenges, feel good about yourself, and connect with others.
• ResilienceThis is your ability to bounce back from difficult experiences, challenges, or setbacks. It means being strong and flexible when things get tough. For example, if you don't do well on a test but learn from your mistakes and try harder next time, you are showing resilience.
• Self-careThis means taking deliberate actions to look after your mental, emotional, and physical health. It's about doing things that help you feel good and stay balanced. For example, taking a break to read a book, getting enough sleep, or spending time in nature are all forms of self-care.
• StigmaThis is a negative and unfair belief or attitude held by society about something, often causing shame or discrimination. In mental health, it means people might judge or avoid those with mental health challenges. For example, if someone doesn't want to talk about their anxiety because they're afraid others will think they're 'weak,' that's due to mental health stigma.
• StressThis is your body's natural reaction to a challenge or demand, making you feel overwhelmed, worried, or tense. It's a normal part of life. For example, feeling stressed before a big exam or a sports competition is a common reaction.
• Support SystemThis is a network of people who provide emotional, practical, or financial help when you need it. These are people you trust and can rely on. For example, your family, close friends, teachers, or a school counselor can all be part of your support system.
• Well-beingThis is a state of being healthy, happy, and comfortable in your life. It includes your physical, mental, and social health. For example, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and spending time with friends all contribute to your overall well-being.

Threads 6

Where this connects to other fields, and why it's worth knowing.

• Self-Presentation Media

  A sociologist named Goffman said we all have a 'backstage,' a private zone where we drop the act and stop performing. Social media erases that backstage, because the camera never really turns off and you're on stage all day. Living with no place to stop performing lines up with rising anxiety and burnout.

• Media Effects Media

  When the news covers a suicide in vivid detail, the number of copycat suicides measurably ticks up afterward, an effect real enough that reporters now follow strict guidelines. It's proof that how a story gets told isn't just style, it can literally cost lives. Media doesn't only change our minds; sometimes it changes who's still here.

• Climate Zones and Weather Systems Geography

  Less daylight in winter throws off your body clock, the internal timer that runs on light, and that can drag your mood down. So the climate you happen to live in quietly sets how common winter depression is, and even shifts when suicides peak across the year. Where you are on the map shapes what's happening in your head.

• Air Pollution Environment

  The tiniest specks of air pollution are small enough to cross from your lungs into your bloodstream and reach your brain, and they're now linked to depression and even dementia. That flips how we think about smog: dirty air isn't just a lung problem, it's a mental-health problem too, quietly seeping into your mind.

• Culture & Identity Sociology

  In one country depression shows up as deep sadness and guilt; in another, the very same illness shows up as a sore back or an aching stomach. So mental illness isn't purely a fixed thing in the brain. The culture you grow up in helps shape what the suffering even feels like and how it comes out.

• Dispute Resolution & Restorative Justice Law

  Locking someone up punishes the offender but does almost nothing for the victim's fear and pain. Restorative justice sits the two people face to face so a real apology can happen. That direct human moment can heal a victim's trauma in a way no harsh sentence, however long, ever manages.