Even with mental health awareness increasing there is still a stigma that surrounds it. These TED Talks are helpful whether you suffer from mental health illness or know someone who does. These brave people share their stories with the goal of letting us know we are not alone.
To view these TED Talks just type in the title into your search engine.
How to connect with depressed friends – Bill Bernat
This TED Talk is humorous, but at the same time very informative for people who are wanting to connect with their depressed friends or loved ones but are not sure on the right way to do it. Bernat talks about what depression is and why depressed people can sometimes act in a way that we don’t understand. He also offers some great advice about the Do’s and Don’ts of connecting with depressed friends.
Don’t suffer from your depression in silence – Nikki Webber Allen
Allen shares how she didn’t feel she had a right to be depressed when others had struggles far worse than her own. She hopes that sharing her story can help others recognize that with help, they can heal. She wants you to ask for a hand when your burden gets too heavy and to know that others may carry pain that is unbeknownst to you.
There’s no shame in taking care of your mental health – Sangu Delle
Delle speaks about his own experiences with stress and anxiety and how his feel of being seen as a mad-man stopped him from seeking help from a mental health professional. He implores people to speak up and reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles, “being honest about how we feel does not make us weak, it makes us human.”
How to start a conversation about suicide – Jeremy Forbes
Forbes talks about how a suicide in his community opened his eyes to the need for a whole-of-community approach to starting conversations about mental health. He speaks about how societal expectations and the stigma surrounding mental health can cause people to not feel comfortable sharing their vulnerabilities.
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