Depression, schizophrenia, suicidal feelings—too often, these experiences stay private. These speakers who've struggled with mental illness boldly share their stories, in hopes that others don't feel so alone.

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

What makes suicide one of the more common causes of death among young American men? Entrepreneur Rob Wang draws on his own experience of suicidal depression to explain how misguided notions of masculinity affected his mental health and describes his approach to helping other men in similar situations.

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.

Nearly 450 million people are affected by mental illness worldwide. In wealthy nations, just half receive appropriate care, but in developing countries, close to 90 percent go untreated because psychiatrists are in such short supply. Vikram Patel outlines a highly promising approach -- training members of communities to give mental health interv...

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

Health care workers are under more stress than ever before. How can they protect their mental health while handling new and complex pressures? TED Fellow Laurel Braitman shows how writing and sharing personal stories helps physicians, nurses, medical students and other health professionals connect more meaningfully with themselves and others -- ...

"For all that's ever been said about climate change, we haven't heard nearly enough about the psychological impacts of living in a warming world," says science writer Britt Wray. In this quick talk, she explores how climate change is threatening our well-being -- mental, social and spiritual -- and offers a starting point for what we can do abou...

What is it about the teen years that puts us at risk for depression – but also helps us to build resilience? Drawing upon neurodevelopmental and clinical science, clinical psychologist Dr. Roselinde Kaiser explains how adolescence is a developmental window of both risk and enrichment and outlines strategies for teens (and the rest of us) to thrive.

Can the way you speak and write today predict your future mental state, even the onset of psychosis? In this fascinating talk, neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reflects on ancient Greece and the origins of introspection to investigate how our words hint at our inner lives and details a word-mapping algorithm that could predict the development of sc...

School can be rife with stress, anxiety, panic attacks and even burnout -- but there's often no formal policy for students who need to prioritize their well-being. Hailey Hardcastle explains why schools should offer mental health days and allow students time to practice emotional hygiene without stigma. Follow along to learn how she and a team o...

In Latin American countries like El Salvador, homicide rates are alarmingly high thanks in large part to a vicious cycle of violence -- people don't have a chance to heal from recurrent individual and collective trauma. With her team at Glasswing International, de Sola is hoping to break this cycle by equipping government employees like teachers...

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.

Too busy to take care of yourself? These talks offer simple ways to stay healthy -- both emotionally and physically.

TED Fellow Tom Osborn wants more young people to have access to the mental health support they need. With the Shamiri Institute, he and his team are training 18- to 22-year-olds to deliver evidence-based mental health care to their peers in Kenya -- which has only two psychiatrists for every million people. Hear how their community-first, youth-...

The global refugee crisis is a mental health catastrophe, leaving millions in need of psychological support to overcome the traumas of dislocation and conflict. To undo the damage, child psychiatrist and TED Fellow Essam Daod has been working in camps, rescue boats and the shorelines of Greece and the Mediterranean Sea to help refugees (a quarte...

When you report an emergency in the US, police, firefighters or paramedics answer the call. What if mental health professionals responded, too? Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod shares a straightforward and research-backed approach that brings heart and humanity to criminal justice rather than unnecessary fines and arrests -- and keeps ...

Andrew Solomon writes about politics, culture and psychology.

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

Depression is an illness that many suffer alone. These speakers bravely share their own stories -- and how they recovered.

Neuroscientist Kay M. Tye investigates how your brain gives rise to complex emotional states like depression, anxiety or loneliness. From the cutting edge of science, she shares her latest findings -- including the development of a tool that uses light to activate specific neurons and create dramatic behavioral changes in mice. Learn how these d...

These powerful stories shatter preconceived notions about mental illness, and pose the provocative question: What can the world learn from different kinds of minds?

Anxiety is a normal part of life, so why are we so afraid of it? Psychologist Lisa Damour breaks down how to recognize when anxiety is helpful and when it's harmful, offering simple solutions for calming yourself and taking back control when you feel it slipping away. (This conversation, hosted by TED science curator David Biello, was part of an...

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

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.

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

How to Be a Better Human Cord Jefferson's creativity is fueled by mental health March 6, 2023 [00:00:00] Chris Duffy: You are listening to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. When I think about the creative people who inspire me the most, besides them all being exceptionally talented at what they do, the other thing that unite...

When stress got to be too much for TED Fellow Sangu Delle, he had to confront his own deep prejudice: that men shouldn't take care of their mental health. In a personal talk, Delle shares how he learned to handle anxiety in a society that's uncomfortable with emotions. As he says: "Being honest about how we feel doesn't make us weak -- it makes ...

It's easy to suffer in silence, not knowing what to say to whom. These brave, honest talks suggest ways to open up, talk about it and seek help — as well as ways to offer it.