Over one billion people are affected by mental illness every year. Around one in seven people globally have one or more mental health or substance abuse disorders and almost 50% of Americans will suffer from some sort of mental illness such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders or drug and addiction in their lifetimes. <\/p>\n
After losing her younger sister Shelby to depression in 2014, San Francisco-based model Mackenzie Drazan <\/a> has been working to change the stigma around mental illness. Her goal: \u201cto revolutionize the way we access mental health care.\u201d Through activism and two organizations that she founded, TEAM<\/a> and MiResource<\/a>, this 24-year old helps those struggling with a condition and their loved ones band together to make the world a mentally healthier place through education, resources and support.<\/p>\n In the following conversation, Mackenzie<\/a> discusses her trajectory, health hacks, feminism and the importance of taking time to learn the lessons that our experience – and failures – have to offer.<\/p>\n Where do you call home? <\/strong> Tell us about your career path. What do you do? How did you start? What motivates you? <\/strong> Someone gave me great advice when I got into Duke which was to just look through the course catalogue and pick classes I thought were interesting and not to worry about graduation requirements just yet. I took that advice and enrolled in a class called \u201cIntroduction to Terrorism\u201d and I loved the class and the professor. So I ended up taking another course with the same professor but little to my knowledge it happened to be a graduate level class (oops!). So at that point I thought I might want to pursue a career in Counter Terrorism Strategy.<\/p>\n In October of my freshman year, my younger sister Shelby passed away from depression. I was so upset that we couldn’t find a way to save Shelby so I threw myself into learning everything I could about mental health and why our doctors were not able to find Shelby the right care.<\/p>\n Summer going into my sophomore year, after spending a lot of time thinking about what I could have done differently, I realized so many things I wish I could have gone back and told myself when Shelby started struggling two years previously. I wanted to create a way to tell other people what I had learned in the hope that they could be better supporters to their loved ones. That summer I founded TEAM (Teaching Everyone About Mental Health) to act as a pocket guide for supporters to learn how they can help a loved one struggling with their mental health. After launching TEAM, I realized that your roll as a supporter is really to help encourage your loved one get professional care but once you finally get to that step – finding the right care is really challenging. While running TEAM, I spent the next two years learning about what goes into making an accurate match between a person and a mental health professional. From there, in December 2016 I launched MiResource – an online platform to help people find the right care.<\/p>\n You are an avid horseback rider. What role do riding and horses play in your life? <\/strong> In general, I\u2019m lucky in that I love being active and outdoors and I\u2019m also very competitive. Being active has always helped me think and unlock my creative thinking. Now I use it as a tool to help me problem solve. Whenever I am stuck with an idea, I will go for a hike or do something active. When I let my brain go, it eventually figures things out.<\/p>\n Juggling life as a model and entrepreneur must be very hectic, and you travel a lot. Do you have any other health hacks that you would care to share?<\/strong> Do you have any rituals or routines that you adhere to in your various activities? <\/strong> In terms of my routine, I have recently gotten into infrared saunas. I try to spend 15 mins in the sauna after workouts. While I am in the sauna I do grounding exercises which is a form of mindfulness which helps me stay more in the present and unwind from work mode.<\/p>\n Are there any health or wellness trends that have caught your attention? <\/strong> Are there areas in the wellness sphere that you would like to see evolve? <\/strong>
\nI grew up in Northern California and have just moved back after spending a year living in London to join the rest of the MiResource team at our company’s headquarters in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
\nI am the CEO of MiResource and the Executive director and Chairwoman of TEAM but if you had asked me my freshman year of college if I would be running a company and a non-profit when I graduated I would have never believed you! Before going to Duke University, I modeled internationally for three years and thought maybe I wanted to work on the \u201cbusiness side of fashion\u201d but I didn\u2019t really know exactly what that entailed. I had no idea what I wanted to study. I actually thought I wanted to be a chemist for a period of time because I loved chemistry class. Thankfully I did an internship at a chemistry lab and quickly realized I didn\u2019t want to be in a lab all day.<\/p>\n
\nHorseback riding has always been my rock. In the second grade I was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD so for many many years school was very challenging for me. From failing spelling tests to being bullied by others to humiliated by teachers in front of the class for making \u201ccareless\u201d mistakes. Horses always kept me going because I knew that there was at least something I was good at. When my sister passed away in 2014, and later when my parents got divorced, it was horses that really saved me. No matter what was going on in my life I was so lucky to have the sport to give me confidence and something to drive towards.<\/p>\n
\nMy two favorite performance products are my Muse Meditation headband<\/a> and an Oura ring<\/a> that tracks my sleep. I believe the key to performance is maximizing your mental health and some of the best ways to do that are having good sleep hygiene and a meditation\/mindfulness program. My Oura ring has really helped me pay attention to my sleep hygiene and how certain behaviors affect my quality of sleep. The Muse Meditation headband is a bio feedback mechanism that reads my brainwaves and gives me real time feedback through sound to help guide my meditation session.<\/p>\n
\nWhen I was competing in show jumping, every time I would walk into the ring to compete I would close my eyes and relive a memory of my sister Shelby giving me a big hug just before the timer started – if you watch a video of me riding you will always see that. I found this very grounding to help keep me in the moment and let go of any pressure I was feeling.<\/p>\n
\nI think people are starting to pay more attention to their mental health which is really exciting. We still have a long way to go as a society but I really think that we are starting to head in the right direction. I personally would like to challenge people to think of your mental health like your physical fitness. Once you get in shape, you don\u2019t stop working out. The same thing applies with your mental health: Just because you might be mentally healthy doesn\u2019t mean you stop doing things to support your mental health. I like to take it a step further and I work with a therapist weekly because I want to be in the best mental health I personally can be in.<\/p>\n
\nI think it’s time we stop this \u201ctough it out\u201d mindset. When difficult events happen we shouldn’t just get on with our lives, you have to process the pain to be able to release it so you can open the next chapter of your life and thrive. Processing events is crucial for learning. Often times we need professional help to process and learn from tough situations. Research shows the greatest indicator of whether or not someone will be successful is \u201cgrit\u201d. Grit isn’t obtained by people who have failed and just get up and keep going again and again and again. Grit is something you develop when you fail and learn how to overcome the challenge – by spending time with that pain and learning from your experiences.<\/p>\n