Research at Rogers Research Center is helping connect biology, genetics, and mental health, advancing treatment while reducing the stigma that prevents many people from seeking help. Watch the video and read on to learn more.
One of the biggest challenges in mental health isn’t easy to see, but we all feel the impact.
“It can be hard for people to say that I need help, that I need to go somewhere for treatment, that things aren’t going quite right for me,” says Sheldon Garrison, PhD, research scientist with Rogers Research Center. “And it’s interesting because those same individuals oftentimes, for any other thing, might be willing.”
The stigma that comes along with mental health looms large – but so does hope.
“We’re starting to tie the biology into mental health,” Dr. Garrison says. “People are more willing to talk about it.”
At Rogers Research Center, discoveries from researchers like Dr. Garrison are helping connect biology and mental health in new ways. Those discoveries inform patient care at Rogers Behavioral Health, helping create hope and healing.
“We need to reimagine how we’re approaching biology and genetics with mental health,” Dr. Garrison says. “We cannot continue going down this road where we’re ignoring the biological underpinnings, if you will, of mental health.”
Rogers Research Center is taking a new route, bridging the disconnect between brain and body.
“How is it that our body’s most complicated organ, our brain, is thought to be just working perfectly, unlike every other part of the body?” Dr. Garrison says. “And we know it’s not true.”
The center’s research exploring how biology and genetics interact with mental health can help weave new insights into treatment and remove one of the biggest barriers to seeking help in the first place: stigma.
“As people start to understand how the brain works and start to understand the biology, and as we produce information about the biology of mental health, I think that stigma starts to fade away and we realize the brain is an important organ that deserves attention just like any other part of the body,” Dr. Garrison says.
It’s research that reminds us we’re all more connected than we might think.
