Journalist Denise Brodey Has Been Working to Destigmatize Disability and Mental Health for Years. Now She’s Educating Others On Neurodiversity.

Spotify, Google, and Starbucks have all amped up their wellness and mental health support in recent years, with Chief Mental Health Officer-Advisor roles becoming an active member in C-suite offices from 2018. What is one piece of feedback you’d give companies on how they can better shape their wellness-mental health programs?

“Talk less, do more—and share the wins, no matter how small. Much of what you say can be forgotten but what you do and how your employees feel about it can really make a difference. It will allow others to feel comfortable talking about their own challenges or successes.”

Mental Wellness Interviews | Advocates | Founders

Male Beauty Influencer and Content Creator @richardcadrouce Breaks Down Anxiety Episodes in Home and Work, Growing Up with a Difficult Childhood, and Content Creating with Body Dysmorphia

“Also, constant worry about random scenarios that I’m convinced are ‘totally possible’, bring me anxiety. For example: ‘the L train is going to randomly impact another train and we all gonna d*e’ so I’m sitting there trying to listen to the music on my Airpods and ignore my thoughts but sometimes even after 10 inhalations/exhalations it is impossible not to feel scared.”

Mental Wellness Interviews | Content Creators

Erika Andersen, LPC, on Mental Health of Children in Foster Care and the Real-Life Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences

“Mental health counseling was not on my radar as an undergraduate and in fact there was a strong culture of perfectionism, in which our humanity gets a little lost for the sake of achievement. At least, that reflects my experience at the time. I remember learning about growth and fixed mindset in a psychology class and seeing how plastic brain development truly can be. Through working with young people in an education setting, I saw how a culture of fixed mindset affects teenagers and hinders growth. I saw a lot of other issues as well, like bullying, chronic stress, anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, all in the microcosm of a classroom setting. I had to learn more.”

Mental Wellness Interviews

Karen Mok, Co-founder of Wellness Community The Cosmos on Asian Mental Health & How the Trauma of Anti-Asian Hate & Violence Affects Her Community

“Even though the search was more difficult, I knew that a big part of my trauma was racial trauma, and I needed someone who would not question that part of my experience. I understood that lack of culturally relevant care was a major reason why Asian Americans do not seek mental health care; I saw that in my own family.”

Mental Wellness Interviews | Advocates | Founders

Marco Capozzoli, Former NFL and AFL Athlete on Mental Health for Athletes and in Professional Sports

“Some online resources that helped me through my dark days, and continue to help me on an ongoing basis are:

The Players Tribune – Users can search depression, suicide, or mental health to access stories, and first hand accounts of Athletes and their personal struggles with ill-mental health.

Start Today Podcast with Chris Cavallini: A personal friend and mentor of mine who went from foster care and being locked up 17 times before his 18th birthday to founding, owning, and operating Nutrition Solutions: a multi million dollar food prep company with a global presence (Language advisory)

Athletes Unheard.com: Founder Malcolm Lemmons, a former professional athlete and author built a media platform at the intersection of athletes and mental health.”

Mental Wellness Interviews | Advocates

Richie Cartwright, Co-Founder of Fella on Opening Up To Family About Binge Eating, Men’s Mental Health, and Stigmas Keeping Us from Seeking Treatment

“Most of our Fellas are either overweight, or very overweight. There’s a case of when both partners are bigger, and one partner struggles with binge eating and one won’t, and the partner doesn’t acknowledge the partner’s struggles. The interaction is very much like, ‘well, we just eat CRISPS every day’ and the partner with binge eating is like, ‘well, no. I actually do all this hidden stuff as well’.”

Mental Wellness Interviews | Advocates | Founders

Roy Dahildahil, Executive Director of #MentalHealthPH on LGBTQ Mental Health, Mental Health in the Philippines, and Building Frameworks to Drive Impactful Mental Healthcare

“At this time, no new laws are being lobbied in mental health; we’re primarily focusing on ensuring the Mental Health Act is executed properly and that there is proper implementation at the local-level. Like many laws enacted in the Philippines, without continuous monitoring and oversight, the national laws will fail to trickle down to the grassroots level, so that’s where the work of our organizations come in.”

Mental Wellness Interviews | Advocates | Founders