Listen to These Five Ted Talks About Mental Health
- Britt Wray: How Climate Change Affects Your Mental Health
- Ryan Martin: Why We Get Mad and Why It’s Healthy
- Olivia Remes: How to Cope With Anxiety
- Jeremy Forbes: How to Start a Conversation About Suicide
- Cal Newport: Why You Should Quit Social Media
A person who works as a social worker, counselor, therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist may want to listen to at least one of these five great TED Talks about mental health. TED Talks are delivered by subject experts who have excellent communication skills and storytelling abilities. Each of these episodes could be listened to during a commute, lunch break or some downtime with coffee or tea.
1. Britt Wray: How Climate Change Affects Your Mental Health
In Britt Wray’s How Climate Change Affects Your Mental Health TED Talk, she explores how an uncertain future affects a person’s mental health today. While there is a general scientific consensus on the fact that climate change is real and that it is caused by human activities, the ramifications, and extent of how human lives, animals and plants, the environment and even the planet will be affected are in disagreement. A person may find it difficult to look ahead to a future that is filled with the strong possibility of gloom and doom.
2. Ryan Martin: Why We Get Mad and Why It’s Healthy
The TED Talk by Ryan Martin entitled “Why We Get Mad and Why It’s Healthy” explores why it is a good thing to experience anger from time to time. In his talk, Martin explores the idea that anger motivates action. While constant anger would not be a good thing, occasional anger could allow a person to feel empowered and emboldened to take an action that they would not have otherwise taken. Anger could give a person inspiration and motivation to make a change for the better.
3. Olivia Remes: How to Cope With Anxiety
A lot of people have anxiety. Some people live with generalized anxiety disorder or another type of anxiety, such as panic disorder. Constant anxiety makes it difficult for a person to make decisions and feel relaxed. The person’s body is also under constant stress from the high cortisol levels associated with anxiety. According to the TED Talks website, this presentation is designed for people with anxiety to learn how another person copes with it.
4. Jeremy Forbes: How to Start a Conversation About Suicide
Almost every day, there is a heartbreaking news story of a young child or teen who committed suicide after being bullied. Daily, dozens of Americans commit suicide because they are out of hope for their future. In “How to Start a Conversation About Suicide,” Jeremy Forbes explores how parents, educators, friends, and family can initiate a dialogue.
5. Cal Newport: Why You Should Quit Social Media
Cal Newport’s TED Talk on “Why You Should Quit Social Media” examines how social media affects mental health. He explains how it fosters resentment, jealousy, and frustration. He also explains how leaving social media can benefit a person’s mental health.
There is no fee to listen to these TED Talks, and they are accessible on a 24/7 basis on their website or on YouTube. A person who is considering a degree in psychology, psychiatry or one of the related fields should also consider listening to these episodes, as they provide some good insight into the profession and what a person could expect. Each of these five TED Talks about mental health is worthy of a person’s precious leisure time.
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