Reimagining Online Mental Health Education

April 1, 2021
April 1, 2021

“I am amazed by the power of online learning and how you can use it to scale good information to a wide audience very quickly,” says Marjorie Morrison, co-founder, president, and CEO of Psych Hub. After decades of work in the mental health arena, Morrison’s deep understanding of the importance of effectively disseminating information comes from her first-hand experience. Morrison recently co-founded Psych Hub, the world’s largest online platform for digital mental health education, with the hope of expanding training opportunities and public health awareness around mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention.

Mental Health Conditions Exacerbated by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting chaos has intensified many individuals’ existing mental health conditions, pushing the U.S. towards an impending mental health crisis. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation brief reported some 53% of U.S. adults said stress and worry about COVID-19 has negatively impacted their mental health (Panchal et al., 2020). Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, Morrison explains they are seeing an influx of people seeking information about anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicide, substance use increase, and intimate partner violence.

Morrison expresses that COVID-19 presents a unique situation to those who work in mental health. With so much of the U.S. and the world under immense stress, there is a new opportunity for the de-stigmatization of mental health conditions. “One of the things that we spend so much time trying to educate people on is that there is a whole spectrum between mental illness and nothing—and all of us experience that spectrum,” explains Morrison. “It could be multiple times a day, two times a week, or a few times a month. It’s completely normal to feel depressed and anxious, but it has not always been easy to talk about these things. I think COVID has allowed us to have these conversations because everyone can relate. The anxiety right now is so real.”

This blog post is the first excerpt from the HealthStream article, “Psych Hub Reimagines Online Mental Health Education: An Interview with Co-Founder and CEO Marjorie Morrison,” available here.  Future installments in this series will include:

  • How a Pandemic Prompted a Shift towards Telehealth and Online Learning
  • Psych Hub Resources Confront the Problem of Access
  • A New Perception of Mental Health for the Future

Helping Healthcare Organizations to Support Mental Health

Everyone has a role to play when it comes to supporting mental health. With the Mental Health Ally Certification Library (MHAC) from Psych Hub, you can equip staff members at any level in your organization to learn about critical mental health topics and gain actionable skills to help someone or themselves during difficult times.

MHAC offers five micro-certification tracks focused on critical mental health topics, including: mental health foundations, substance use, motivational interviewing, diversity and bias, and suicide prevention. Learners can complete a single track for micro-certification to focus in on a specific need for your organization or complete all five tracks and obtain the master Mental Health Ally Certification from Psych Hub. In addition to interactive courses, each track comes complete with several companion videos for both providers and patients. These short 3-5-minute videos are excellent for focused knowledge building, reinforcement, or refresher.