Mental illness has been described by the World Health Organization as a global crisis. In the U.S., one in every five struggles with some kind of mental illness, and many with more than one.
And millions more – family, loved ones, co-workers – struggle to provide essential support. Experts agree that one of the most powerful tools against one of the most invisible diseases is more open discussion.
Unwrapped wants to accelerate those discussions. Neal O’Farrell, the founder of Mynde.me, is using this ongoing video discussion to try to unwrap, understand, and explain the cocktail of mental illnesses he has struggled with for nearly 50 years.
His goals?
- To try to explore and explain mental illness from a different perspective, the inside, and all the complicated and sometimes subtle side-effects and collateral damages that are rarely obvious.
- To encourage those struggling with mental illness to be more comfortable sharing their experiences, engaging with others, and finding the courage to seek treatment.
- To encourage everyone else to learn more about mental illness, how it really affects those struggling, how to recognize it, and how to help.
- To challenge the scourge of stigma that has proven to be the greatest barrier to treatment and that has cost too many lives.
Unwrapped will be delivered as a series of short videos that will include conversations and confessions hosted by Neal O’Farrell as he tries to unwrap himself, as well as video conversations with others struggling with mental illness.
In Part 2 of the series, Neal will be joined by a team of mental health professionals – psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists – to delve deeper into Neal’s conclusions and self-diagnoses.
And in Part 3, if it’s appropriate, Unwrapped will explore the various treatment options that are available, from talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), to medications, mindfulness, and anything else.
HOW IS UNWRAPPED DIFFERENT?
Apart from the very public deep dive into mental illness, what we hope is an up close-and-personal view of nearly 50 years of raw human data, tracking the course of a trifecta of some of the most common mental illnesses, what happens when they interact with each other, and all of their subtle side effects.
And exploring the changes through time – from early to late teens, to college and first relationships, to first jobs, first businesses and then an entire exhausting life spent trying on one hand to cope with the raging confusion, and on the other, trying to make sure no one suspected a thing.
