Panhandle PBS series ‘The Little Things’ teaches mental health strategies

This article was originally published by Amarillo Globe-News on September 11, 2022.

Panhandle PBS will be airing the documentary series “The Little Things” at 7 p.m. Thursdays, beginning Sept. 15. The streaming version can be found online at panhandlePBS.org/TheLittleThings .

More people around the globe Googled “how to maintain mental health” in 2021 than ever before. Between the pandemic, politics and personal matters, we’re stressed out. Panhandle PBS asked local and national experts for their advice — and the research behind it.

The result is a new in-depth series on mental health that will premiere at 7 p.m., Thursday on Panhandle PBS, panhandlePBS.org, and on the station’s social media.

Breathing intentionally. Being mindful. Exercise, connection, creativity — those aren’t just buzzwords. They’re science based strategies to help us build resilience. Episodes are packed with advice for rewiring the brain with simple new habits. They explain what happens in our brains and bodies when we experience anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges — and what happens when we practice resilience strategies.

“Our brains weren’t meant to hold the pain of the whole world,” Amarillo licensed professional counselor supervisor Missy Gray says in the series, according to a news release. “They were made, kind of evolutionarily, to hold the pain of our community. And with the evolution of social media … now, we’re having to hold everyone’s trauma all the time. And I think we’re just not really wired for that.”

Gray joined 30 other local mental health care experts and consumers in sharing strategies, personal successes and struggles in interviews for “The Little Things” series.

Nationally known experts who contributed information include Andy Keller, CEO of the Texas-based Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Dr. Uma Naidoo, nutritional psychiatrist and author of “This Is Your Brain on Food,” and Florence Williams, author of “The Nature Fix.”

The series is presented in partnership with Panhandle Behavioral Health Alliance and Texas Panhandle Centers Behavioral and Developmental Health. Support for the series was provided by Bank of America, Amarillo Area Foundation, Amarillo College, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Street Toyota and Texas Tech Physicians Department of Psychiatry.

The full article is available online here.