“Public mental health matters, says Leigh E. Richardson and World Mental Health Day 2023, and Mental Health Month are proving it.” Public awareness surrounding mental health and mental illness is a worldwide groundswell that’s growing daily and increasing exponentially.
Mental health is directly connected to and critical to public health. There are a large number of evidence-based approaches like those being utilized at the Brain Performance Center in Dallas, Texas. These approaches are proving that mental health is vital to public health, and that each is profoundly critical to our quality of life. Being mentally healthy helps people cope with life’s ups and downs and protects them against mental and physical illness. “This greatly helps people to live healthier lifestyles,” says Leigh.
The Brain Performance Center believes that finding mental health services should not be complicated. “Seeking mental health care should be as simple as booking a restaurant reservation” says Leigh Richardson. “There isn’t a single family in our country who is not touched by mental illness.” Sadly however, roughly 65 million Americans have a mental illness with about 60% of them not receiving treatment. The need for more robust mental health care is great. The Brain Performance Center and Institute are working on a much needed critical national solution.
World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Month are helping create a groundswell of global mental health and mental illness awareness. “Thankfully families are beginning to have the conversation around mental health and mental illness” says Leigh.
There are four key items that put a brain in a dysregulated state – genetics, physical brain injury, emotional trauma, and stress. The mental health and mental illness conversation used to be avoided at all costs. The Brain Performance Center reports that things are changing for the better. However, Pediatricians and General Practitioners are not trained for this, and while they deal with mental health and mental illness issues daily, they usually respond to the somatic or physical symptoms.
The body keeps score of everything going on in the brain, and when there is inflammation for example, the focus is not on what the organ, the brain, is experiencing, rather unfortunately the focus is on identifying and seeking a physical ailment.
Mental health is just as important as physical health and should be recognized so that equal care is available. Why are there “sick days” from work or school? Why aren’t there well-being days? Because it is okay to have an upset stomach, but it is not okay if anxiety is what is causing the nausea.
Each year 12 billion days from work and school are lost due to anxiety and depression. What if we begin to worry less about our high cholesterol and insulin and begin to concern ourselves more with our brain health? There is a clear link.
“Everything you do or you don’t do, and how well you do it depends on how your brain is working. The brain only weighs 3 pounds and is 80% water” says Leigh.
In 2019 when Leigh E. Richardson’s book ‘Turn Your Brain On, To Get Your Game On’ was published, two states allowed mental health days for students. In September 2023 there are now twelve states with legislation allowing mental health days for public school students, with another four states pending.
Leigh Richardson has worked with mental health issues for decades, working in particular on improving lives, mental health services, suicide prevention and stigma. The Brain Performance Center and Institute believe that mental health and mental wellbeing should be at the heart of public health, and that there can be ‘no health without mental health.’
Brain Performance Center is a Texas Corporation, located on the web at: https://thebrainperformancecenter.com. As a brain health expert, Leigh is a renown keynote speaker and regularly contributes to radio and television stations across the nation providing the appropriate organic brain health solutions. Leigh is located on the web at: https://www.leigherichardson.com/
