A Simple Mission - Think Security First

Mynde.me wants to offer any city and community in America its own dedicated local mental health education portal, just for its own community, and at no cost, ever.

One in every five Americans now struggles with some kind of mental illness, and millions more are struggling emotionally as they help loved ones with mental illnesses. The Covid pandemic has made things so much worse for so many, and with little sign of any improvement.

Education and support are critical when addressing mental health. And while there are plenty of national resources offering great advice on all kinds of mental health issues, most consumers and communities are simply not aware of their existence.

We believe that by bringing the best knowledge directly into every community, proudly owned and promoted by each community, we could reach more people and touch more lives:

If the resource belongs to the community, the community is much more likely to know the resource exists and therefore use it. That’s such a vital first step.
The community is much more likely to actively promote and participate in their own community site than someone else’s national site. City leaders, schools, and even local businesses can all benefit from being seen to promote such a vital local resource.
Such a public community statement can help to challenge the biggest reason those struggling with mental illness don’t get help – stigma.
When combined with social networking, the Mydne.me site should increase long-term engagement and discussions locally.
For those struggling with mental illness, and their supporters and caregivers, a local resource will make it much easier to connect to other critical resources that can help them.
With more than 3,000 counties in the US, county-based sites are also an option.

A BIGGER MISSION – COMMUNITY EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE

What if entire communities could be more emotionally resilient – psychologically better able to cope with constant waves of stressful events, from local, family, and work, to political and social unrest, economic challenges, climate change and natural disasters and so on? Would that make it easier to cope with and respond to these events?

Our belief is that if we can make individuals and communities better able to cope psychologically with these stressors, it could also have a collateral impact on so much else in the community, from domestic violence and substance abuse to crime and racial tensions.

WHAT A MYNDE.ME SITE WILL LOOK LIKE

Each Mynde.me site has three main components – the main education site; a “reading room” that contains a growing collection of hundreds of expert articles on dozens of topics and updated daily; and a private and anonymous forum.

The main site has four areas of focus – mental health and wellness, brain health, workplace mental health, and happiness. We have also recently added sections devoted to managing mental health issues related to Covid, as well as a stress management center.

Residents will also be able to sign up for email newsletters, alerts, tips, and advice.

Each site will include:

Articles and blogs
Checklists, tip sheets, and self-assessments.
Links to multiple expert external resources.
Topic-specific moderated forums.
Video discussions with recognized mental health experts.
Video presentations from outside experts.
Links to free apps and tools.
Podcasts and townhall discussions.
Ask-the-expert features and events.
Online courses and training

CUSTOMIZATION AND BRANDING

Each city or community will get its own dedicated site on its own dedicated domain – YourCity.mynde.me, for example. That site will be hosted and managed by us. No personal data will be collected on any site. Each site can be branded for its own community, with the city logo, the city colors, and a welcome message from the Mayor and Council or county commissioners.

SECURITY AND PRIVACY

We come from a privacy background and respect privacy as a human right. No personal or identifiable data is ever collected from any site, for any reason. If a city or community wants to add an email newsletter feature, the only information we will collect is an email address, and those email addresses will never be shared or divulged for any reason.

[textbar title=”SEE AN EXAMPLE OF A FULLY FUNCTIONING MYNDE.ME COMMUNITY SITE IN ACTION” style=”style_2″ button_title=”CLICK HERE” button_link=”https://www.mynde.me/cincinnati/” icon=”moon-office”]

[block_title style=”column_title” title=”ABOUT THE FOUNDER”][/block_title]

Neal O’Farrell is an award-winning cybersecurity expert who has spent nearly forty years fighting cybercrime and identity theft around the world. About the same length of time he’s been fighting his own trifecta of mental illnesses.

As 2020 approached, Neal decided to pursue a different passion, a switch from cyber health to mental health (including his own), and specifically on how communities and workplaces could be the epicenter for improving employee mental wellness.

In addition to Mynde.me, Neal also leads The PsyberResilience Project, to study the chronic levels of stress, burnout, and mental health issues in the cybersecurity workforce.

He’s also leading a national project as part of the NIST/DHS Smart and Secure Cities and Communities program to help future smart cities incorporate the mental health of their residents in their design.

[button title=”MEET HIM” link=”https://www.mynde.me/more-about-neal-ofarrell/” icon=”steadysets-icon-user”]

[media alignment=”center” animation=”Right” shadow=”1″ rounded_left=”1″ rounded_right=”1″ slideshow=”posts” slideshow_post=”33″ slideshow_page=”244″ image=”1896″ width=”480″]