Thanks for visiting us at Broken Brains, we are glad you stopped by!

When someone breaks an arm or a leg, they get sympathy from everyone around them. And everybody wants to sign their cast! When a person experiences a period of depression, post-traumatic stress (“PTSD”) or has suicidal thoughts (collectively what we like to refer to as a “broken brain”), many people may stay away or may think the affected individual is “weak”. The truth is, an episode of depression (either episodic or chronic), PTSD and suicidality usually means that the person has a “broken brain”.  But broken brains, like broken bones, can heal. The healing process requires treatment (such as talk therapy and sometimes medication) just like a broken bone. 

We here at Broken Brains want to help reframe the discussion around mental illnesses such as depression, PTSD and suicidality so that people are no longer afraid to discuss mental illness. A person experiencing a broken brain should feel comfortable asking for help and treatment, just like they would if they broke an arm or a leg. There should be no shame for the individual experiencing a period of a broken brain!

Depression is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) during 2020, 18.4% of U.S. adults reported having ever been diagnosed with depression; state-level age-standardized estimates ranged from 12.7% in Hawaii to 27.5% in West Virginia. That’s almost one in five U.S. adults experiencing a period of a broken brain! When you’re in a room with five other people, at least one has had a period of a broken brain, but yet many people are uncomfortable discussing it.

On August 10th, the CDC released the latest provisional estimates for suicide deaths in the United States in 2022. After declining in 2019 and 2020, suicide deaths increased approximately 5% in the United States in 2021. The provisional estimates released in September of 2023 indicate that suicide deaths further increased in 2022, rising from 48,183 deaths in 2021 to an estimated 49,449 deaths in 2022, an increase of approximately 2.6%. That’s almost 50,000 lives ended too soon, due to a broken brain! According to the Veterans Administration, in 2020 (the latest year they have definitive data for), almost 17 veterans each day die by suicide (over 6,200 veterans per year). Often times, veterans are haunted by terrible things they saw during active duty – in other words, PTSD. All too often, they are reluctant to admit they need help due to the social stigma associated with depression and PTSD. That needs to change!

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and The Jed Foundation have been working hard to make an impact on the status of mental illness for many years. We at Broken Brains simply want to supplement the great work that NAMI, The Jed Foundation and other organizations have been doing for years. We want to provide more support to the community and encourage people to talk about their experiences with a broken brain so that open discussion occurs.

At Broken Brains.oeg we intend to offer a variety of programs to help our clients get back on their feet. From job training to mental health counseling, we intend to provide the resources and support necessary to help individuals achieve their goals.

I found that with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone.

Dwayne Johnson 

You are the one thing in this world, above all other things, that you must never give up on … Asking for help is the first step. You are more precious to this world than you'll ever know.

Lili Reinhart 

It's my mission to share this with the world and to let them know that there is life on the other side of those dark times that seem so hopeless and helpless. I want to show the world that there is life — surprising, wonderful and unexpected life after diagnosis.

Demi Lovato 

If you know someone who's depressed, please resolve to never ask why. Depression isn't a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather.

Stephen Fry 

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For now, here are some words of wisdom:

You’re still here. And that matters.

Morgan Harper Nichols 

We would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together … Getting help isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s a sign of strength.

Michelle Obama 

It is okay to have depression, it is okay to have anxiety, and it is okay to have an adjustment disorder. We need to improve the conversation. We all have mental health in the same way we all have physical health.

Prince Harry

What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.

Glenn Close  

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

Thích Nhất Hạnh 

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

Maya Angelou 

If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.

Fred Rogers 

My brain and my heart are really important to me. I don't know why I wouldn't seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth. I go to the dentist. So why wouldn't I go to a shrink?

Kerry Washington 

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller

A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.

Stephan A. Hoeller 

If you know someone who's depressed, please resolve to never ask why. Depression isn't a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather.

Stephen Fry 

Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine.

Charlotte Eriksson 

I had everything I needed to be happy. And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy. I started taking an antidepressant, which helped and I started sharing the news with friends and family — I felt like everyone deserved an explanation, and I didn’t know how else to say it other than the only way I know: just saying it. It got easier and easier to say it aloud every time.

Chrissy Teigen