A Global Village for Mental Health Advocacy
As I walked into CIIS, I didn’t know what to expect. I had been to mental health seminars, neuroscience symposiums, and had engaged in group therapy talking sessions during treatment and outpatient therapy, but this was an event outside of even my comfort zone.
HackMentalHealth was unlike any mental health group or event I had ever been a part of. I think it can best be described as a “global village,” a phrase coined by Canadian professor and philosopher Marshall McLuhan. “The Global Village” is a term that describes the Internet and the concept of the globalization of information. In these “global villages,” he mentions that we are all connected, whether by technology or human connection.
At HackMentalHealth, a “global village” of individuals came together to solve the issue of mental illness. People engaged in HackMentalHealth as a way to connect to people, to network, and to share ideas to combat a global epidemic that affects perhaps 1 in 4 individuals in the US and perhaps 1 in 7 people around the world.
I came to HackMentalHealth as a mental health advocate, a psychology educator and teacher, an artist, and most importantly, a recipient and consumer of mental health treatment. Though it can be hard to talk about my mental health struggles openly, I feel that the way to move past the stigma and shame of mental illness is to normalize the issue and openly share the issue as a public health issue and not a taboo. Let’s also add that I’m a male, expected to be strong especially within the machismo culture. Often, it is the expectation to be strong is what prevents us from getting help.
HackMentalHealth allowed me to see the possibilities and innovations it had to help me and so many others who are hurting. Though it was a new experience to me, I saw that many people did care about the issue of mental health and were passionate about working on solutions to address that issue. Let’s take the concept of the suicide hotline: has it saved lives? I believe it has. Do chatrooms and basic access to mental health professionals via phone save lives? I believe so. Anything that leads those to the right care and necessary professionals is important. Thank you HackMentalHealth participants, you actually saved lives. No really, if your app or idea is in motion and has gotten the funding to make it a reality, you are saving lives. If you saved just one person from hurting themselves, or helped others develop better sense of self, you are saving lives. At times during the event, I actually cried tears of joy, which was especially notable since my medication prevents me from crying due to serotonin and norepinephrine re-uptake and inhibition.
You see, when you suffer from depression, acute stress disorder, and panic disorders, you see the world a little differently. You see the world with negative lenses and think that no one cares, no one gives a shit, and no one is here to help you. I could go on with the list of cognitive distortions (good god, there are like millions of them), but you get the gist. Mental illness tricks the mind that we aren’t worth saving and we should be left alone, abandoned, beaten, and punished. We don’t need someone to tell us we aren’t worth it, because our own selves and introspection does the job for us.
HackMentalHealth gave me glimpse of the future of treatment through technology and new paradigms of treatment. Yes, we live in a world of smartphones and technology, and this is portrayed as adding more fuel to the fire of mental illness. Technology addiction, isolation, and a lack of personal communication, intimacy, and relationships do help, but on the other side of the coin, we can use social media, coding, smart devices, and algorithms to empower others to seek help.
Attending HackMentalHealth was a true testament that it does take a village to tackle the issue of mental illness. It takes a village of consumers, advocates, educators, students, doctors, business entrepreneurs, and civil servants to find new innovations against mental illness. You see when you suffer from depression, acute stress disorder, and panic disorders, you see the world a little differently. You see the world with negative lenses and think that no one cares, no one gives a shit, and no one is here to help you. I could go on with the list of cognitive distortions (good god, there are like millions of them), but you get the gist. Mental illness tricks the mind that we aren’t worth saving and we should be left alone, abandoned, beaten, and punished. We don’t need someone to tell us we aren’t worth it, because our own selves and introspection does the job for us.
“The medium is the message,” McLuhan famously said. “We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.” The medium and the message statement by Marshall McLuhan is very clear at HackMentalHealth. Technology, collaboration, and innovation is the way forward in mental health treatment, and by giving the tools to clinicians, consumers, and loved ones there ways to find hope, salvation, and community. Please keep the fire going HackMentalHealth. Connect more people to these events and bring the creativity, innovation, and community in future events. Therapists and medical professionals need new platforms to conduct therapy, and so many mental health recipients need access to treatment and access to allies and professionals. I never seen so many people in one place that showed so much volition and drive to help people like me (tearing up as I type). Thank you.
“There are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We are all crew.”
- Marshall McLuhan, Canadian professor and philosopher
