The Mental Health Digest - 988 is Coming, Surprise Your Senses

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse will break open your heart (In a good way)

Why this matters for your mental health

Just wow.

I've had this book on my shelf for a while, and I didn't start it because I didn't know what to make of it.

I usually read non-fiction because I'm a nerdy systems thinker who loves learning, but this book hit me in the mind and the heart.

Chalie Mackesy is a famous British illustrator. He pairs his drawings with life lessons in the most magical way.

This could be purchased as a thoughtful gift for an adult, or it could be read to a child as a bedtime story. It's that singular and wonderful.

Be amazed by sensual poetry from the man who started the style

Why this matters for your mental health

Even if you don't read poetry, you should read something by Walt Whitman.

He pushed boundaries in the mid-19th century by describing sensual experiences.

That was unheard of and risky back in the day, but now it seems downright tasteful and PG compared to the gratuitous nonsense we are shown on a daily basis. I sound like a crotchety old man. I am at heart, OK? OK!

If you want to feel something while also seeing the world in a new way, read the book Leaves of Grass. I especially recommend the poem Song of Myself for a taste of what to expect.

988 is coming to the United States for mental health crisis calls. Here's what you need to know.
Why this matters for your mental health

As someone who once had suicidal thoughts and struggled to get the care I needed, a mental health crisis number that is short and easy to remember sounds like a great idea.

But I've also worked in state government, where I managed a federal mental health grant.

So I know that bureaucracy and lack of funding usually spoil things.

Read this to know to what to expect about the new 988 crisis line coming to the US.

Watch a man in a nursing home react to hearing music from his era

Why this matters for your mental health

This left me speechless.

I can't even fathom what "clicked" in this man's brain for this to happen.

This video also features a cameo from the late Oliver Sacks, a mental health idol of mine. His book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, is an essential read for anyone interested in mental health or abnormal psychology.

Like Sacks' writing, this video humanizes a person with a confusing condition in such a beautiful way.

Alvin and the Chipmunks do goth rock (Hilariously bizarre)

Why this matters for your mental health

This is a fun one. I got such a good laugh out of this.

You think you know something, and then you hear it a different way, and it becomes something else entirely.

Maybe this is the way we should have been listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks all along?? 

I got this from Kottke, a fantastic newsletter and website I've recommended before.

Know the best time to get vitamin D, wherever you happen to be (That rhymes, and I like it.)

Why this matters for your mental health

This app won't win design awards, but it does one thing really well.

It tells you how much vitamin D you can expect to get in your area (or any area) today and tomorrow. Getting vitamin D is crucial for good physical health and mental health.

I live in Montana, and we have a serious lack of vitamin D in the winter (AKA....nothing). It hugely impacts my mental health even though I take a horse tranquilizer dose of vitamin D supplements throughout the year.

I'm happy to say that daily vitamin D windows are back. This app tells me the best time to be out in the sun during the D windows.

I'm sure you've heard of The Jonas Brothers. 

But have you heard of Nick Jonas singing with a gospel choir? 

HOLY cow. This will give you goosebumps.

I have to admit something. I had a slight punk phase in high school. 

And MXPX was a band that I loved. It was a fantastic surprise to learn years ago that my wife also loved them when she was younger.

But this is not what you would expect from a punk rock band.

Lead singer Mike Herrera recorded live streams of acoustic versions of his songs during the pandemic, which became the album / playlist, Life in Quarantine. 

My wife told me that she has been listening to this song whenever she's feeling down. I actually didn't know that before I picked the song. Thanks, newsletter, for knowing my wife better than I do.

Tomorrow's Another Day is a great song with a solid message. 

Hang in there for 10 seconds. He's a little off-key at first, but it builds nicely as he gets into it.