Vikram Patel helps bring better mental health care to low-resource communities -- by teaching ordinary people to deliver basic psychiatric services.

Dixon Chibanda is passionate about the human brain, how it influences our behavior and what we can do to make everybody happy.

The Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Thomas Insel supports research that will help us understand, treat and even prevent mental disorders.

Writer, comic and mental health activist Kevin Breel speaks up about depression.

Guy Winch asks us to take our emotional health as seriously as we take our physical health -- and explores how to heal from common heartaches.

Sue Klebold has become a passionate agent working to advance mental health awareness and intervention.

Through his lab at the California Institute of Technology, David Anderson seeks to find the neural underpinnings of emotions like fear, anxiety and anger.

Andrew Solomon writes about politics, culture and psychology.

Rosie King challenges stereotypes of people with autism and contextualizes the issue by asking us, “Why be normal?”

As a member of the California Highway Patrol with assignments including patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge, Sergeant Kevin Briggs and his staff are the last barriers between would-be suicides and the plunge to near-certain death.

Russell Foster studies sleep and its role in our lives, examining how our perception of light influences our sleep-wake rhythms.

TED Resident Beth Malone brings bold art to public spaces across the US, encouraging artists to have a sense of humor, to be vulnerable and take creative risks.

Nikki Webber Allen is working to create a safe space for honest conversations about mental health in communities of color.

Writer Faith Jegede Cole draws on her experiences growing up with two autistic brothers in order to spread awareness and understanding about this increasingly common diagnosis.

Sandrine Thuret studies the way adult brains create new nerve cells in the hippocampus -- a brain area involved in memory and mood.

Daniel Levitin incorporates findings from neuroscience into everyday life.

Psychiatrist and addiction expert Judson Brewer researches mindfulness techniques that effectively help quell cravings of all kinds.

Elyn Saks asks bold questions about how society treats people with mental illness.

In his provocative, mind-bending book "The Secret Life of the Mind," neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reveals his life’s work exploring the inner workings of the human brain.

Ami Klin is an award winning autism spectrum disorder researcher finding new avenues for early diagnosis.

Joshua Walters is a bipolar comedian whose work explores language, creativity, beatboxing and madness ...

Sitawa Wafula started Kenya's first free mental health and epilepsy support line.

Christen Reighter writes and performs as a poet and essayist, focusing primarily on social justice issues.

Essam Doad provides first response mental health interventions to refugees and displaced populations.

Regina Hartley thinks that those who don't always look good on paper may be just the person you need to hire.

Hailey Hardcastle established a network of student activists in order to make schools a better place for those struggling with mental health challenges.

Thomas Curran studies the personality characteristic of perfectionism, how it develops and its impact on mental health.

Ruby Wax is a loud, funny woman -- who spent much of her comedy career battling depression in silence. Now her work blends mental health advocacy and laughs.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Professor of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, UK, and leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group.

Dr. Ryan Martin is the chair of the psychology department at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.