Educating patients about all of the ways to heal from recover from thrive with mental illness.
Mental is a platform dedicated to distributing information about robust, holistic, evidence based mental health treatments created by Emmy-Award winning TV producer Jesse Zook Mann. We want to expose patients to the expansive landscape of effective interventions that are available today for depression and other mental health struggles, and by doing so we aim to make a dent in the mental health crisis and reduce the suicide rate in America.
We are producing a podcast, a film and a book series comprised of interviews with clinicians, research scientists, and patients about all of the ways there are to recover from and manage mental illness. We want our audience to know that there is a world of effective treatment options available that most people don’t know about.
We want our audience to know that there is a world of effective treatment options available that most people don't know about.
Overview
The United States is experiencing a devastating mental illness epidemic. A shocking 46% of the population experiences a mental illness at some point. That is about 149,822,000 people. One person takes their own life every 13 minutes, and depression is now the number one cause of disability worldwide.3 The number of Americans disabled by mental illness doubled between 1987 and 2007, and the problem is getting worse.
The MENTAL platform is an intervention in this crisis. We are creating a multi-media platform that brings scientific innovations in mental health treatment to a mass audience in an accessible way. Mental is here to empower patients with information that is usually only available in dense scientific literature. Without access to current information, patients often believe they are out of options for treatment.
Our goal is to make a direct impact in mental health treatment through education, and reverse the trend of increasing hospitalizations, disability applications, and lives lost due to mental illness.
Scientific breakthroughs in healthcare take a horrifying average of 17 years to make it into medical practice, leaving patients to cope with outdated therapies. Mental believes that patients do not have 17 years to wait.
Some of the underutilized therapies we will be discussing on Mental include:
● Meditation
● Nutritional therapy
● Exercise
● Managing technology/ social media
● Nature therapy
● Establishing nurturing relationships/developing supportive communities
● Noninvasive treatments such as exposure therapy, transcranial stimulation and EMDR
● Emerging lower risk pharmaceuticals
Our project that will be supported by a podcast series, educational documentaries, and will utilize all social media platforms, as well as a book consisting of interviews with top doctors and research scientists about cutting-edge mental health treatments. We are building an invaluable health resource that will develop popular content with information on interventions that can save lives.
Mental is directed and produced by Emmy Award-winning film and television director Jesse Zook Mann, who became disabled due to the harsh side effects from an anti-anxiety medication. While searching for an effective intervention in his own health, he discovered a world of scientific advances from medical studies initially unfamiliar to his doctors. After years of dedicated research, he finally found life-saving treatments—now he’s ready to share his journey with others.
Impact Statement
It is the goal of Mental to educated mental health patients, medical providers, and caretakers about scientifically proven, yet underutilized, holistic treatment into the mainstream consciousness. This will result in more patients recovering and finding ways to manage their mental illness. Our slogan: Reverse The Trend. The conversation currently in the media is one of helplessness. We are told regularly that there is a mental health epidemic but officials are dumbfounded as to the cause or what can be done about it. We want to change that conversation. We acknowledge there is a mental health crisis, but there are so many ways to help people recover that is being overlooked.
By spearheading an education campaign that is the MENTAL platform, we aim to influence change in how we treat mental health that will result in a one percent decline in the national suicide rate in five years.
Who We Are
Dr. Broderick Sawyer
Producer/ Cohost
Dr. Broderick Sawyer or “Dr. B” is a clinical psychologist, meditation teacher, and mental health advocate. In his professional role he treats trauma, anxiety, and depression. While using treatments backed by clinical research to treat his patients, he also integrates a variety of holistic health practices such as teaching meditation, encouraging healthy eating and routine exercise, as well as helping patients integrate their spiritual practices with treatment when relevant.
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