Get A Grip! Taming the emotional chaos in a disrupted world

We are excited to bring Neal O’Farrell back who has received our highest satisfaction rating in 2019 with a different topic!

Having trouble coping emotionally with the chaos of the last year? You’re not alone. 

Mental experts say that 2020 also triggered a global mental health epidemic, as our collective psychological and emotional resilience was pushed to the limit. And with little end to the global disruption in sight, it might be up to each one of us individually to try to get a grip on our stress and tame this chaos.

In this talk, cybersecurity expert turned mental health advocate Neal O’Farrell shares what he learned about mental health and wellness after he walked away from an award-winning forty-year career in cybersecurity to focus on mental health. Starting with his own.

He’ll be sharing what he learned about our addiction to social media and bad news headlines, even when we know they upset us. He’ll share what he learned about how different chemicals in the brain, from cortisol to serotonin, dictate our emotions from stress to happiness and how we can control these chemicals to make ourselves feel better. 

He’ll explain what he discovered about cortisol, and how this vital stress hormone can also be dangerously toxic to the body if not controlled. And he’ll share the results of his research into the various ways we can mind our minds and take charge of the chaos – from mindfulness and breathing, to positive psychology, emotional resilience, and the pursuit of calm.

About Neal

Neal O’Farrell is an award-winning cybersecurity expert who spent nearly forty years fighting cybercrime and identity theft around the world. About the same length of time he’s been fighting his own trifecta of mental illnesses.

As 2020 approached, Neal decided to pursue a different passion, a switch from cyber health to mental health (including his own), and specifically on how communities and workplaces could be the epicenter for improving employee mental wellness.

He has quickly become one of the most innovative new voices in the world of mental health, leading a number of national mental health initiatives. He founded the Mynde Project (www.mynde.me) with a goal to provide dedicated mental health education portals to thousands of cities across America and at no cost.

He also leads The PsyberResilience Project, to study the chronic levels of stress, burnout, and mental health issues in the cybersecurity workforce.

And he’s leading a national project as part of the NIST/DHS Smart and Secure Cities and Communities program to help future smart cities incorporate the mental health of their residents in their design."