STORIES AND UPDATES

StrongMinds’ Ten-Year Vision

As we celebrated our ten-year anniversary throughout 2023, StrongMinds staff and leadership came together to reflect on our achievements and to define a new globally focused vision and mission to guide us through the next ten years. Below is an excerpt from our ten-year vision statement. In our first decade of operation (2013-2023), StrongMinds proved…

Read more

StrongMinds Reaches Half a Million People With Depression Treatment

Kampala, Uganda – Feb 28, 2024 – After ten years of work treating depression through Interpersonal Group Therapy (IPT-G), StrongMinds has provided 500,000 individuals with treatment. As depression is the leading cause of disability world-wide and 75 percent of people in low- and middle-income countries do not receive treatment for their depression, this milestone is…

Read more

Global Advocacy for Mental Health

Putting Africa’s Mental Health Crisis on the Global Agenda StrongMinds advocates for improved financing for mental health initiatives, addressing stigma around mental health, and elevating the voices of people with lived depression experience globally. Recently, we had the opportunity to advance these goals at three key summits. UN General Assembly At the UN General Assembly…

Read more

Restoring Mental Health, Improving Livelihoods

Empowering women is essential to reducing poverty and building better economies. When women are mentally healthy, they can contribute to society, achieve financial independence, and accelerate positive change. This month, we’ve pulled together some of our favorite photos of women doing just that.  They are mothers. They are entrepreneurs. They are farmers. They are friends. …

Read more

Welcoming Debate About Cost-efficiency and Impact

We appreciate the recent attention we have received around the cost-effectiveness of Group Interpersonal Therapy (IPT-G) from two highly respected organizations: Happier Lives Institute and GiveWell. We welcome this conversation, as it elevates the dialogue around prioritizing mental health, which is much needed. Mental health treatment is still vastly underfunded, particularly in low- and middle-income…

Read more

Ten Years of Investing in Mental Health at StrongMinds is Accelerating Global SDG Progress

Kampala, Uganda, February 21, 2023 – Mental healthcare is critical to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 2023 marks the halfway point for reaching the SDGs, which aim to end poverty and protect the planet by 2030. However, by current estimates, twenty-six countries in sub-Saharan Africa are not on track to meet any of…

Read more

Responding to Climate Disasters and Disease Outbreaks

Climate-related environmental disasters and infectious disease outbreaks are increasingly affecting mental health in Africa. Safety concerns and loss of life, property, or livelihoods can trigger or worsen mental health disorders in the aftermath of a catastrophe. Uganda has been particularly hard-hit recently, and StrongMinds is providing much-needed mental health support in affected regions. In July,…

Read more

Big Win for Mental Health in Uganda’s Schools

When 16-year-old Gabriele first entered Uganda as a South Sudanese refugee, he never imagined he’d soon be traveling to Kampala to lobby Parliament and Ministry officials for new mental health policies. Gabriele, who attends school in Uganda’s Palabek refugee settlement, is one of nearly 12,000 adolescents in Africa who have received depression treatment from StrongMinds…

Read more

Sean Mayberry, Founder and CEO of StrongMinds, Awarded the 2022 Honorary Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health

Sean Mayberry was selected as the winner of the Honorary 2022 Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health, awarded by The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. The Honorary Prize Recipients were chosen by an esteemed panel for their groundbreaking work in global mental health. “The 2022 Pardes Prize recipients personify the deep knowledge and understanding of…

Read more

StrongMinds Uganda and Ministry of Education Join Forces to Prioritize Adolescent Mental Health in Schools

Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) circulated guidelines instructing all academic institutions to implement mental health programming in schools on October 5. The milestone comes after continuous ministry liaison with StrongMinds teams urging officials to place adolescent mental health higher on Uganda’s national education agenda. Under new procedures, institutions must begin implementing at least…

Read more

Pamela’s Story: Treating Depression in Refugee Settings

33-year-old Pamela resides in a small village within Lamwo District, Northern Uganda. As a busy mom attempting to manage long-standing medical issues, her days are often mentally and emotionally exhausting. In 2021, the unexpected cost of surgery caused Pamela to experience persistent feelings of sadness. Suddenly, all that began to consume her mind was the…

Read more

Educator Training Pilot Benefits Students and Teachers in Uganda

In 2021, StrongMinds launched an educator training pilot to explore the potential of instructing teachers to lead group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) sessions for adolescent students in Uganda.   After formal training, teachers deployed the skills obtained under StrongMinds’ supervision and delivered IPT-G sessions in groups consisting of 10-11 students. Initial results indicated that this model…

Read more

Fueling our work through technology

Building on our successes scaling through teletherapy during the pandemic, StrongMinds has now integrated phone-based technology throughout our operations, enhancing our ability to identify and treat individuals with depression, even as our in-person therapy operations resume. We continue to offer a pathway to depression screenings through *252, a short-code phone number in Uganda, and WhatsApp…

Read more

Designer Clio Goldbrenner Launches New line of Bags to Benefit StrongMinds

Belgian designer Clio Goldbrenner has partnered with StrongMinds and EPIC to launch a new bag collection in support of mental health for women in sub-Saharan Africa. The capsule collection includes two Clio Mini pouches, embossed with the words “Strong” and “Positive.” All proceeds will go to StrongMinds to improve access to mental health services for low-income women…

Read more

Half a million people in Africa reached through our innovative depression treatment

StrongMinds has reached a new milestone: we have now treated depression in more than 100,000 women and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa and changed the lives of their 400,000 dependents and family members. This milestone comes as the third wave of COVID-19 has caused unprecedented mental health impacts to many vulnerable African communities. The benefits of depression treatment…

Read more

Christina’s Story of Depression Recovery in a Refugee Settlement

Christina lives in a refugee settlement in northeastern Uganda. At 28-years old, she has already endured a lifetime of instability. When her family fled Sudan, Christina’s father stayed behind. Her mother still struggles daily to make ends meet. Now, as an adult, Christina is living with HIV, while raising her children without her husband’s support.…

Read more

Why Depression in Africa?

Depression is the leading cause of disability globally. More than 25% African women are suffering from depression and 85% have no access to mental health treatment. StrongMinds is the only organization focused on scaling a solution to the depression epidemic in Africa through its proven group talk therapy programs. Depression affects every aspect of a woman’s…

Read more

10 Solvers selected @ MIT Solve’s Brain Health Challenge

Winners of the 2017 Brain Health Challenge by MIT Solve, selected on September 17th, 2017 By: Alvaro Fernandez Yesterday, after a day of great pitches and tough decisions, the Judges @ MIT Solve’s Brain Health Challenge selected 10 Winners (called “Solvers”) developing non-invasive, non-pharmacological, scalable technology solutions that: Empower people to improve their overall brain health and fitness, mental…

Read more

Maplewood’s StrongMinds to Pitch at MIT’s ‘Solve Initiative’

From The Village Green of Maplewood and South Orange The following is from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT’s new Solve initiative recently announced the finalists for the Global Challenge Finals live pitch event during the United Nations General Assembly Week. Sixteen innovators and entrepreneurs, including Maplewood-based solution team StrongMinds, were selected as finalists for the Brain…

Read more

Global Mental Health Funding

In April 2017, the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation at the University of Washington released its seminal annual report on development funding for health in low and middle income countries. The report summarizes all bilateral, multilateral, corporate and private philanthropic investment into health throughout the prior calendar year. It also breaks out funding by…

Read more

World Health Day 2017

  On Friday, April 7, 2017, StrongMinds marked World Health Day at the World Health Organization’s event at the United Nations in New York City.  StrongMinds was joined by other local, national, and international nonprofits working in the global mental health space, as well as academic partners from the New York City area. The theme…

Read more

StrongMinds Uganda Retreat

The StrongMinds Uganda team held a retreat December 19-21, 2016.  The entire team of 47 personnel attended the two-day workshop, held in a serene environment away from office and the bustling city of Kampala to provide peace to staff during the retreat. GOAL The goal of the retreat was to give the Mental Health Facilitators…

Read more

mhNOW Press Release

Global and community leaders announce mhNOW initiative will engage 30 cities by 2030 to close the mental health gap Multi-stakeholder Commitment to Action announced by private, public, and philanthropic organizations at Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting NEW YORK, NY – September 20, 2016 – Global and community leaders across sectors made a Commitment to Action for “mental…

Read more

Dealing with depression the StrongMinds way

By Fergal Byrne of the Pioneers Post Statistics show that between 76% and 85% of people with severe mental disorder in low and middle-income countries receive no treatment. In Africa, the impact on families is particularly pronounced when women are suffering from depression. Culturally, women are the backbone of African families. Research shows that when an African…

Read more

Solving the Depression Epidemic in Africa | Sean Mayberry | TEDxCulverCity

Global healthcare advocate and activist, Sean Mayberry addresses a silent epidemic affecting hundreds of millions Africans, Depression. In a society that attaches stigma to mental health issues, Mayberry finds mass-relief through talk therapy. Sean Mayberry is a former diplomat and social marketer who believes in simple and cost-effective interventions which can improve an area that…

Read more

Inspiring Social Entrepreneurs

Episode 34 Interview with Sean Mayberry, CEO of Strong Minds Sean Mayberry is the CEO of Strong Minds an organisation that provide access to mental health services for impoverished Africans by helping people suffering from major depression return to becoming productive members of their communities. Previously Sean was the CEO for FXB International (2011-2013) and…

Read more

TEDx Debuts at Maplewood Library with ‘Depression in Africa: Why Should We Care?’

By The Village Green NJ of Maplewood & South Orange We’ve all watched those TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) talks on YouTube, with big names from Bill Gates to Monica Lewinsky covering topics ranging from innovation to cyber-bullying to education to environment to you-name-it. The “short, powerful” speeches — usually 18-minutes-or-less in length — have become a global phenomenon. Now a version…

Read more

Depression in Developing Countries

BY SREEJA KODALI for YALE GLOBAL HEALTH REVIEW Worldwide Prevalence of Diagnosed Clinical Depression. Source: Max Fisher, Washington Post In his book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, Andrew Solomon, describes the “worst case of depression” he had ever seen. Maggie Robbins, charming and “always so lustrous with energy,” in her deepest depression, was…

Read more

Get Happy, Get Rich: The Relationship Between Depression and Poverty

Originally published by Foreign Affairs on April 21, 2015. By: Catherine Thomas and Johannes Haushofer Depression, which the World Health Organization calls “the leading cause of disability worldwide,” affects 350 million, but it strikes the poor the hardest. A meta-analysis of 56 epidemiologic studies by researchers at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium found…

Read more

2014 Results

To date, we have successfully treated 514 women in our therapy groups! Our team of trained and certified mental health facilitators use group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) to treat these poor women who live on $1-2 a day.  The results from our first phase are very encouraging. Impact Synopsis An Impact Evaluation indicates that the StrongMinds’…

Read more