merrell

About merrell

This author merrell has created 18 entries.

With Great Sadness and Continued Hope

Dear Friends, Through the efforts and the friendships we have made at the Foundation we are so grateful to for the continued open conversation around mental health. Last week at an event our friends from Palm Health Foundation hosted, we celebrated the opening of the first permanent brain exhibit at the West Palm Beach Science Museum. The excitement and hope for the progress we are making came to an abrupt halt when we learned that Dr. Jeremy Richman, who spoke at

Wellington man’s suicide spurs family to promote mental health drive

Featured on the Palm Beach Post “No one likes to talk about it.” When Justin Merrell’s father John committed suicide in 2012, after years of battling long-term depression and coping with family illness, well-wishers who knew what happened struggled to find words to comfort the family. So instead of deflecting the awkwardness, Justin decided to let them know it was alright to discuss it. And almost without fail, they started to speak up. “It was typically a clammy type of conversation, but

Mental Health Awareness Month

From Psychology Today  5 Things You Need to Know May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and organizations across the nation will be drawing attention to the various—and often-surprising—way mental illness affects people’s lives. This May, a number of new research findings highlight the need for increased understanding of, empathy for, and respect of people facing mental health issues. Consider the following. Mental Illness is ‘Normal’ People with mental health issues have

Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brain

Article from The Washington Post  Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was one of the first scientists to take the anecdotal claims about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and test them in brain scans. What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain. She explains: Q: Why did you start looking at meditation and mindfulness and the brain? Lazar: A friend and I were training for the Boston marathon. I had