The Mental Health Crisis

How to Become Part of the Solution: It May Seem Selfish

- Light Works, one of my cloud images from a long walk in the desert.

I’ve been working on a new book. It’s about mental health. When I was done with the first draft earlier this week, I thought to myself, “Nobody is going to give a crap about your new book.”

The book is under a big, new edit. Good Lord willing, I’m keeping my piehole closed about the book until it’s done.

My point is I have head trash.

If I have head trash, and you have head trash, we all have head trash, and we’re in this together.

It’s called an epidemic and mental health crisis. Head trash is a phrase I picked up from an old friend named Brad Ferguson, one of the greatest Sandler trainers in the universe.

Head trash is the suffering we go through to change ourselves by working on ourselves and learning to deal with life on life’s terms. I call it radical acceptance and love of what is, especially if I don’t like it or worse.

As a recovering control freak, I study and write about mental health. I call it “the art of human transformation.” Despite my overdeveloped ego, I’ve had to learn to let God lead the way. It’s about going from being an insatiably curious seeker to knowing that I know enough to know I don’t know squat.

Hence, I write about mental health. Today, I’m writing about the reality we face with mental health: a crisis.

Thomas Insel, the former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), said, “We’ve got treatments, but we’re not delivering treatments to the people who need them. That’s where the system is breaking down.”

I couldn’t wait for “the system” to help me. I had to choose to help myself. That’s called a “moment of clarity.” I said back then in 2003, “Dude, wake up. This sucks. Get your shit together.”

We’re experiencing a mental health crisis in most homes and every community. Everyone reading this article has experienced a mental health crisis directly or indirectly through family, friends, and co-workers.

We are more aware of the problem, but what can we do?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people globally will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.

In the United States, nearly 50 million adults experienced some form of mental illness in 2021, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Despite the growing awareness, millions of us suffer in silence.

But more and more of us are starting to talk about our personal experiences, how we fell into our dark nights of the soul and found light, got help, and got better.

The first step is being willing to talk about the problem. The second is to become part of the solution by working to improve ourselves, even though that sounds selfish.

Let’s agree we can shed more light on the problem and encourage more people to discuss becoming part of the solution.

I submit, “Self-improvement isn’t selfish.” Carl Jung calls it self-individuation. Abraham Maslow calls it self-actualization.

Here’s a list of related words for waking up and getting over our head trash:

• Self-Realization

• Self-Transcendence

• Personal Mastery

• Individuation

• Eudaimonia

• Flow

• Self-Efficacy

• Authenticity

• Peak Experience

• Self-Determination

• Enlightenment

• Inner Wisdom

• Christ Consciousness

• Resilience

• Theosis

• Self-Compassion

• Transcendence

• Higher Consciousness

• Mindfulness

• Self-Integration

• Self-Optimization

• Purpose-Driven Life

Why Is There A Crisis?

Despite the vast advancements made in medicine and science, there are many reasons for the current epidemic. Here are the drivers.

1. The Wealth Gap Is Severe: If you’ve been broke, you know how crushing it feels to the soul. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), financial stress is one of the most commonly reported sources of anxiety and depression, particularly among lower-income households. Harvard University professor Dr. David R. Williams notes, “Economic hardship doesn't just affect your ability to put food on the table—it also limits your ability to manage stress, which has cascading effects on your overall mental health.”

2. Social Isolation and Loneliness: Solitary confinement is cruel punishment. Too many of us are trapped inside. The digital age comes with a cost. We’re experiencing high levels of isolation and loneliness. Sure, the pandemic made things worse. But Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, has called loneliness an “epidemic of our time,” noting its negative impact on both physical and mental health.

3. Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Another underlying cause of mental health struggles trace back to childhood trauma. Yeah, it was brutal being a kid far before social media drove us to false ideals and madness. Our job is to do our best to transcend the trauma in the school of life. Trauma is a serious business that must be treated with love and forgiveness.

4. Biological and Genetic Factors: Genetic predispositions and chemical imbalances in the brain play a huge role in mental health. Depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia often run in families, indicating a hereditary component. However, while biology plays a role, it is rarely the sole factor in mental illness. There are many environmental and social influences.

The Effects of the Mental Health Crisis

Instead of hammering you with shocking statistics, we can agree that the suicide rates, the strain on healthcare systems, astronomical costs for care, workplace stress that leads to billions in absenteeism, and other direct costs are off the charts.

Dr. Thomas Insel, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), once remarked, "We spend more on mental health than heart disease or cancer, but in terms of outcomes, the return on investment is alarmingly poor."

We have a massive opportunity to address the problem together. There’s the “effect” worth mentioning.

Why Is It So Hard to Get Help?

Most of us agree getting help is hard once we’re ready. I’m passionate enough about mental health to have considered more than once getting a Master’s degree.

However, the time and cost seemed prohibitive, and this was in recent years when I had the time and money to afford it. While there are many qualified, willing professionals, there’s got to be a way to help more of us sooner.

Here’s my humble conclusion about the problem:

If it’s hard to get a Master’s degree in mental health and be licensed, no wonder it’s hard to get accessible, affordable, professional help when we need it.

Maybe we can make getting the professional training we need to help others more accessible and affordable. At a minimum, we can learn to help ourselves as best we can.

Despite the clear need for mental health services, getting help is hard. Here’s why.

1. Stigma: I remember my initial hesitation in getting professional help. Renowned psychologist Brene Brown emphasizes, “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.” But that’s not easy for a lot of us. Stigmas are a drag.

2. Lack of Access to Affordable Care: Who’s got the extra time or money to find and go to a psychologist if we could even find one with an open calendar? According to the APA, nearly one in five Americans with a mental illness reported they were unable to receive the treatment they needed in 2020, primarily due to cost and lack of providers.

3. Shortage of Mental Health Professionals: The National Council for Mental Wellbeing reports that 77% of U.S. counties have a severe shortage of mental health professionals, with many areas having no psychiatrists available. The shortage of mental health professionals is compounding the issue. The problem is horrendous for rural areas.

Becoming Part of the Solution

I’ve got more questions about the problem than solutions. All I can suggest is what I do for myself. Naturally, I’ll keep writing about mental health. Here’s my list of suggestions for becoming part of the solution. 

In short, it’s to help yourself, then others. That’s our purpose.

1. Own 100% of our head trash. Taking personal responsibility for mental health and well-being starts by recognizing that we are the problem with the healthcare system. We’ve got to take care of ourselves, including asking for help.

2. Realizing the connection between the body, mind, and spirit is real. My direct experience focusing on my spiritual development made the most significant difference. Hope, faith, charity, surrender, humility, gratitude, unconditional love, and goofy stuff like that led the way to my psychological development, even though I still have head trash from time to time. It’s all connected.

3. Respect life as a gift. We’re spiritual beings slammed into bodies stuck in seats, identities, roles, masks, etc., in the school of life. Let’s hit the playground and honor the inner child that never dies. Life is a gift. Let’s celebrate it.

4. Knowing our purpose. It’s to wake up, take a close look deep inside, get genuine, honest, open, and fired up to self-actualize, self-individuate, and self-realize into unconditional love, forgiveness, and higher consciousness to the best of our ability.

5. Accept that self-help isn’t selfish. It’s mandatory in the school of life. When we improve ourselves, we improve our environment and, ultimately, the world.

6. Love learning. Be curious and love life, especially if you hate school. The school of life is the best school of all when we remember to honor and heal the inner child.

7. Go golden. If there’s one rule we can live by, let it be the Golden Rule.

In closing, every crisis presents an incredible opportunity. Let’s do it together.

Thanks for following my work and sharing your comments.

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Clifford Jones is the founder and managing partner of Clarity Strategic Coaching, LLC. He writes about mental health, consciousness, and the art of human transformation. As a strategic coach, revenue builder, and communications consultant, Cliff advises and coaches company founders and leaders. Cliff is also a family man, writer, visual artist, and mental health advocate. Learn more at www.CliffordJones.com.