The Mental Health Opportunity: Transforming Struggles into Strengths | Julia Krankl | TEDxOjai
NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for mental health advice. This talk represents the speaker’s personal views and interpretation of the relationship between mental health, technology, and evolutionary psychiatry which remains an ongoing field of study. We’ve flagged this talk because it falls outside the content guidelines TED gives TEDx organizers. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf
What if our toughest challenges held the seeds of our greatest strengths? In this inspiring and thought-provoking talk, Julia Krankl reframes today’s rising mental health struggles as an opportunity for resilience, connection, and growth—calling on us to replace stigma with compassion and understanding, and to rebuild the communities we all need to thrive. (This talk is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.) Julia Krankl is a Harvard and UCLA-trained psychiatrist, trauma resilience specialist and the author of The 21st Minute, with proceeds supporting mental health nonprofits. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
47 Comments
Kinda disagree when she said stress makes us better. For some people, constant stress just destroys them.
This makes me wonder how many people are medicated just because they don’t fit into this weird, overstimulating world.
Knowing 1 in 6 Americans are on psychiatric meds is kinda sad… when did we just start accepting that this is okay?
Choosing to see it as an opportunity instead of a crisis is such a good shift in perspective
Stress = good wine 🍷 … okay, I’m never forgetting that one lol
This was the first time I didn’t feel talked down to in a mental health talk. It seemed more like she was walking with us.
I think it's easier said than done to ask for help when you're in that situation. Often you don't even know who can help
It's refreshing to hear a doctor say we're not just crazy lol
Hearing someone define mental health without judging or excluding people is really wonderful
Honestly we've already come so far. They used to just give people shock therapy and lock them away in facilities to the point people were terrified of talking about how they were really doing
She's right about reframing the term like that, it gives such a different meaning to it all
Feels like she's trying to make everyone feel seen, and it works.
Not sure if calling insomnia "normal" helps though. Some of us genuinely can't function because of it and saying that's normal just doesn't sit right
Thank you for this. I've had insomnia on and off since my early 20's and it's something that affects every other aspect of your life. Hearing that a LOT of other people also experience this was really validating for me
I just want people to stop pretending they're okay when they're not. That's how we lose people
I think it's time for us to collectively acknowledge that our way of life in the western world is so far removed from what a human life is meant to be and actually DO something about changing it
I like the reframe and it is an opportunity for us to be better as a society but considering there are very limited resources for public health I feel like it's just another thing that's going to fall by the wayside
I've seen a lot of talks regarding mental health, but this one felt more hopeful than depressing.
It actually gave me hope. Maybe my anxiety isn't just a weakness but something I can channel better and learn from
this is great!
"What is this challenge here to teach me?" is a question I'm going to steal.
Not sure I agree that stress is always helpful. Some stress just burns people out.
Calling it a mental health opportunity instead of crisis is such a different way to look at it. I weirdly like it.
The examples of people turning struggles into strengths were actually really inspiring.
The bit about loneliness being a reaction to lack of real connection… yeah, that's too relatable.
When you think about it through the hunter-gatherer lens that she talks about it makes sense that there is such a big disconnect hapenning
Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if that 1 in 5 stat is a little conservative. I feel like most people I know are struggling with something pretty serious regarding their mental health.
The idea of a crisis also being an opportunity is pretty well-trod ground but I do think there's a lot of insight here.
I've always felt this. Society has evolved way faster than our physiology.
It's very hopeful to think of it as an opportunity instead of a crisis but really what is it an opportunity for? On a societal level I mean, not just a personal one
I can't believe that stat about kids between 10 and 14… that's just too young.
She makes a lot of really solid points about all these things being pretty natural responses to the conditions we're living in atm. Sadly I don't think much will change though
I remember reading Brave New World when I was a kid and being like, wow they all take little pills to just zone out and pretend they're happy? That's so messed up….
The first step is to stop thinking of it as a struggle! I saw a video of a kid and his mom and the moms saying this is my kid he struggles with Autism and the kid says "I don't struggle I just have it." Words have power and this kid rejecting what his mother was putting on to him, I just thought it was amazing
….am I the only one who things it's kinda crazy that she'd use Robin Williams as an example here???
I agree it's all about what you do with your challenges that determines your greatness. Sadly people just aren't taught that anymore
Interesting stat about entrepreneurs and dyslexia! Makes sense they'd want to forge their own path
Honestly the whole world is struggling with something lol the sooner we can see it this way the better!
Okay I really like what she says about "grist for the mill" because honestly people just don't know how to turn their trauma and into resilience anymore. So many people want to stay stuck in the victim mindset and then over a long amount of time it turns into "mental illness"
Well…. at least I'm not alone in the things that I'm feeling
So much of this can be helped by not ignoring the problems in your life. I get what she's saying and yeah life is hard and we don't all have the resources to get therapy and eat unprocessed foods but there are a lot of easy thing you can do to pull yourself out of a mental health crisis.
I think the real struggle is because people will often just keep pushing themselves until they are like… beyond exhausted and depleted. Then they realize there's an issue but they have no energy to fix it.
We're definitely not all this mentally ill. It's just modern life and what it does to people, add isolation, loneliness, an inability to emotionally regulate and terrible diets on top of everything and really what chance do we have?
She's right all of the symptoms are just warning for things we need to pay more attention to
Another issue I think is that yes we're meant to be social/community minded people but we're used to having small communities and so the problems we're used to worrying about and trying to fix are small problems and instead we're confronted with all these really huge global problems every day and I think that does add to the stress of existing
Wishing everyone struggling through these kinds of issues a whole world of healing. Especially those with insomnia… sleep is so important for your mind AND body
The individual can learn to harness and channel their "mental illness" into something productive but we still need some big changes on an overall sociological level.