Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

Your dollars are funding research in the area of neuro-biology and psychology

These funds go toward research grants for the study of a vast range of emotional disabilities including depression, anxiety and the effects of trauma.

As promised in this first post of the series, here’s a little more about yet another cause that’s close to my heart.

This area of charitable giving only fell onto my radar a few years ago even though I’m no stranger to the concept of how important emotional health is to our overall well-being. It took me a while to understand and decide how best to reflect and support what I see as an important instrument in the quest for better mental health for all of us.  It finally became clear to me that the best way to help both – the people struggling and the people who love them, is by promoting research into this field of study of these conditions with long-held stigma.

Research = Conversation

The more conversation there is about mental and emotional health, the better care everyone will have access to.  One of the most painful parts of loving someone with an emotional disability is the lack of support, understanding by others and recognition that there is a diagnose-able condition at play.

Still not enough of us know how universal mental health challenges are, and this needs to change because a great contributor to suffering in this area, is the misconception that we are each alone in it. I would venture to guess that all of you have in some way experienced the influence of either your own or someone else’s challenge with emotional well-being, at one time or another.

Who Might Be Struggling?

Think about anyone you know who might have been labelled as “difficult”.  Maybe it’s someone in your life who engenders your deep sympathy…in an exhausting way.  Do they appeal to the “rescuer” or the “nurturer” in you?  It also might appear in the form of an impossible co-worker or an unkind supervisor who everyone loves to hate.  Then there’s that very rude customer in line next to you at the grocery store. But guess what? It can just as easily be the very charming or even shy, well-loved friend of a friend.

The point is that shades of mental illness and emotional disabilities are everywhere and affect all of us. We can never know what goes on behind closed doors for anyone.

When taking into consideration the whole health of a person, there’s no denying the role that mental and emotional balance plays. Not a single person I’ve ever met – personally or professionally – doesn’t have at least one family member or friend who is struggling, misunderstood and most often un-diagnosed. Not to mention the fact that we’re all really just at different points on the same spectrum.

The Gift of My Own Family’s Trauma History

It has taken myself decades (and likely will take more time) to unpack the emotional challenges that my own parents carried with them.  Both of them were impacted by traumatic experiences in early-life.  For one parent there was the witnessing of exceptional brutality at the end of World War II in Berlin.  For the other, it was through the gruesome Japanese invasion of China.  And both of them were raised during a time and in circumstances where the mistreatment of children was commonplace. This might have been related to scarcity of resources or just an inadequate understanding of child-rearing.

Emotional disabilities naturally follow trauma. Life through the eyes of a trauma survivor is unique and very difficult. But when you haven’t known anything else, and there is no wider conversation about it, it can be disabling in the most isolating way…for them and for their loved ones.

My parents inadvertently gifted me a deep caring and understanding for people with similar emotional challenges to them.  What isn’t as easy to learn, is how to recognize and remain healthy in the face of unacceptable toxic behavior when it’s coming from someone you love. This is just one small aspect that could benefit from a more open conversation about mental health in our society.

How do we remain compassionate and caring towards “difficult” people in our lives? How do we make it okay for anyone with mental and emotional challenges to remedy the shame and accept help?

Fight the Stigma to Find Compassion

The stigma of being “defective”, “less-than”, “damaged” or “hopeless” is strong.

The best solution I see now for the continued dismantling of mental-illness stigma, is through the research.  This is why The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation has found its way onto my list for annual contributions.

De-stigmatizing conversations about mental health and emotional coping starts with understanding that it touches every one of us to some degree.  For those affected, as well as their family members, validation and acceptance are key.  Research is a powerful way to provide that and bring it out of the shadows.

Conversation Starter:

How do you care for your own mental and emotional wellbeing?  Can you think of people in your life who might be struggling?