Mental & Mentla

We are hiring for multiple roles! ** Full-Stack Product Engineer ** Clinician ** AI Research Engineer ** Head of Growth ** EA We are a research lab and consumer health company on a mission to provide therapy-grade help for anyone, anytime. Over 3 billion people a year have a problem large enough to warrant therapy but the barriers to access - around price, time, geography, stigma, and language - are so large that probably less than 10% of these people are getting the help they need. We exist because help shouldn’t depend on privilege, because intelligence should serve humanity, and because clarity is the first act of care. Come help us build a generational company that, if successful, may save more lives than any other company in human history. Really appreciate any shares!! See link to roles in the comments. 

When I was 19, my uncle, who was my best friend, killed himself. This is what motivated me to get my PhD in psychology. I wanted to understand why my uncle couldn’t let go of his childhood and how that lead to depression and ultimately to suicide. During my post-doc at Stanford, while doing research on rumination and mood disorders, my cousin on my other side of the family reached out to me, leaving a voicemail asking me some questions about the nature of reality and existence.  I didn’t realize until too late that it was a call for help. And I didn’t get back to him in time. He killed himself as well. And that motivated me to leave academia. We were making tremendous strides in understanding causes of mental illness but doing so little to scale up solutions that could make a difference. I joined Calm as the founding data scientist. I knew that meditation was a powerful preventative and that if we were able to make it more mainstream, it could have a huge positive impact on the world. And we did it. I used to joke with the head of UA at Calm that she had maybe gotten more people into meditation than any other person in history. At Calm though, we were not great at getting to men though. Nobody really was. The problem with this is that men are 80% of suicides. If we fail to get through to this population, we will never solve the suicide crisis! So my co-founder (Calm’s founding engineer) and I built Mental - the first mental health app for men.  We designed it to have cool audio hooks (taught by Navy SEALs and world heavy weight boxing champs) to bring in men who are skeptical of the mental health industry.  And then we offered AI therapy for men to go deeper. Men avoid therapy because 1) it makes them feel ashamed and overly exposed and 2) because they worry it is selfish - that they are wasting others' time and taking up precious resources. AI therapy solves these objections. At the start of this year, we launched our 3rd generation AI therapy tech. And it was game changing. It quickly became the men’s favorite feature in the app. Retention was wild. And you have to remember - our guys are generally guys who were skeptical of therapy before arriving. The impact we were having at Mental made us realize it shouldn’t be limited to a population. Many women also suffer in silence. They also hold back concerns and fears because they are worried about being judged. Every damn year almost 200k women also kill themselves. So we launched Mentla.  AI therapy for everyone. Today is International Suicide Prevention Day. I believe that AI therapy, while still in need of more research and not yet built for people in crisis states, is the CRITICAL TOOL that will finally address the suicide crisis. I want everyone to understand the power of this tool. So in the spirit of the day, Mentla is free.  And if you arrive today, it will remain free for you going forwards too. No paywalls or tiers.

𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛 **𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙙 — 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙥. For this year’s 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗦𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗗𝗔𝗬, I joined Sky News to highlight the urgent need to rethink how we approach mental health support — particularly for men. Every year, more than 𝟳𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲, with 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟴𝟬% of those deaths. 𝗦𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 is now the l𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝟰𝟱, & the human cost is devastating. Having spent over 𝟮𝟲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆, 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, & 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗶𝗹 & 𝗴𝗮𝘀, 𝗘𝗩, 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵, & 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀, I’ve seen how industries evolve, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗜. That pace of change is why I am excited to support a company committed to 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, & 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗘. Mental & Mentla is pioneering the 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 built specifically for men’s mental fitness — delivering 24/7, private, & action-oriented support designed to break down stigma & empower resilience. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽: • Mental’s co-founders were part of the founding team at Calm, the world’s first mental health unicorn 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 $𝟮𝗕 • Built with 𝟰𝟮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 for deeper and more personalized outcomes • Developed in collaboration with 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱-𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗗𝘀, & 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 • Uses a 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜, purpose-built to be therapeutic and guided by ethical guardrails • 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, with continuous implementation of the latest protocols • Provides a 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 with tools to 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, & 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 On this day of awareness, reflection, and hope, the message is clear: this is not about replacing therapists or the human connection. It is about 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵. Together we can all contribute to the World Suicide Prevention Day’s theme of “𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲”. Learn more here: www.getmental.com

Great to see both a thoughtful take on AI therapy and also for Mental & Mentla (Mentla.com) to be included in a new Reuters Article! I believe that we must be thoughtful about how we build and distribute this new technology. However, I also believe that AI represents one of the biggest opportunities to seriously impact mental health that I have seen in my career. And, man, is it needed. We have critical problems with mental health in society right now. The suicide crisis has been burning out of control for years. Anxiety and Depression are going up year after year. The mental state of our youth is more than disconcerting. And access to care, for many, is limited. AI brings some unique and major advantages to the table. It's strength is clearly not healing through emotional connection. But I believe our AI is already better at pushing towards and deriving critical insight that most humans. Personally, the insight of Mentla's AI has been game-changing for me a couple times. In coming posts, I'm going to break this down more. Hope you enjoy the article!

We would like to make a gesture of good will to all the therapists out there who are hesitant about or upset by the use of AI in mental health. These days I rarely open LinkedIn without hearing someone talking about AI. And lately, I have interpreted a lot therapist’s reactions to it as increasingly negative. My guess is that underlying this, for a lot of therapists, is a fear that AI therapy will replace them. That all their hard work, their job, their passion, their missions in life will be undermined by AI. And for those feeling that, I get it. A lot of white collar professions are seeing a similar uncertain horizon. And I don’t want you to feel that way. I don’t want anyone to feel that way. But at the same time: Anxiety rates are increasing. Depression rates are increasing. Suicide rates are increasing. As a profession, we were already failing to meet the massive need out there decades ago. And we are now just further behind than ever. AI for mental health, to me, especially in this context, is the most exciting change I have seen in my lifetime for mental health. I believe it will be game changing. But I also think that no matter how impactful it is, AI is not going to solve our problems on its own. So Mentla is not building to replace you. We do not think AI therapists will replace human therapists. I believe AI and humans will each have their own important roles to play. In fact, we are already seeing evidence of complimentary usage and complimentary benefits. For the therapists out there feeling threatened by AI, I would encourage you to reframe it as an opportunity. Because the opportunity here is massive for you. And massive for your practice. With AI you will soo be able to help your clients in ways you thought unimaginable years ago. So in this vein, I want to make a peace offering: We want to offer any human therapist a month of free access to our Premium subscription. This is not an empty gesture - We put a massive amount of compute into our AI therapy and there is real $ cost for us to serve our AI.  And thereby real financial risk for us to provide it for free, given that we are just a small startup. We are not sharing a subscription with you in order to get your feedback, advice, or help improving our AI.  I’m sharing because I think we will all be able to achieve our common mission of alleviating mental suffering in the world if we find ways to collaborate and effectively leverage each other, instead of working competitively with each other.  Use it. I have been amazed by what it has unlocked in me. See what it does for you. Give it a month and then judge it. If you are a mental health professional and to take me up on this offer, please comment “interested” or DM me. If you are not interested or, worse, are upset by this post, happy to hear concerns but let’s model a healthy conversation. :) 🙏