Reflection on Mental Health Innovation

Mental health innovation was introduced to me two years ago in my graduate seminar course ‘Global Mental Health Innovation’. I knew of mental health and innovation as separate entities; however, this class highlighted the intersection of the two. Each class was organized with the first half dedicated to mindfulness and cultivating a practice of value-centric presencing and listening, and the second half dedicated to social innovation where we learned and applied design thinking to address a mental health challenge in a particular context/community. As students, we had the autonomy and freedom to innovate, to initiate and to formulate our sense-making and innovation process with the support of our professors.

This approach to education was new to me and daunting at first because:
(1) It leaned away from traditional paradigms of learning and teaching,
(2) I was not familiar with the mental health system,
(3) My classmates and I were tasked to create an approach to address a real-world problem, not just a hypothetical one, and
(4) In the process, I was unpacking my own mental baggage while extending my attention outwards to empathize with the lived experiences of others.

It was in this course that I learned about the essential and authentic quest to self and systems transformation. Every one of us is called to go through an iterative process of learning and applying principles and information to improve not only aspects of our lives but the lives of others and even, society in part or in whole. What I realized after graduating is that this course was, in and of itself, a mental health innovation. Mental health innovations can look and feel different when applied to different scenarios and intended to serve specific actors within the system, but the purpose backing it remains fundamentally the same ~ to support people in achieving positive mental health and wellbeing, which is an integral part of overall functioning.

What sets mental health innovation apart is that it is a human- and relationship-centered approach to creating new connections and ways of addressing systemic barriers. To tackle the challenges of the mental health system, such as burnout in care providers and lack of access to mental health care, this will largely involve gathering all stakeholders including people with lived experiences and providing them with a space to unite and leverage ideas and innovations. I strongly believe that it is through this process of coming together that allows us to harness this potential to improve mental health outcomes and support millions of people around the world with achieving flourishing mental wellbeing.