According to Kellerer, sharing your personal anecdotes with others (whether informally told through conversation or formally read aloud) has a profound impact on our emotions and mental wellness.
The Mental Health Advocate.
According to Psychology Today, 1 in 5 Millennials face higher rates of depression and 12% of them are anxiety-ridden, much higher than the previous two generations. Source.
Given the recent cases of public violence and school shootings, it is more obvious than ever that we need to address mental health among teens and young adults. Depression and other mental health issues can drive individuals to the extreme if left untreated.
Mental Health Advocate, Ulrich Kellerer, is fighting the depression epidemic and promoting mental health and wellness with a unique approach combat sadness: storytelling!
Research shows relationship building and effective communication skills are very important factors in psychological health. The simple act of story-telling encourages both of these things! It allows people to not only practice social skills and verbal communication, it also encourages relationship-building since humans are hardwired to bond with each other over the shared human experience.
Kellerer continues to be a leader in the fight for mental health while bringing people together, storytelling, and ultimately saving lives. He is promoting psychological wellness (especially for May’s Mental Health Awareness Month) and has advice for kids, teens, and adults.
Kellerer has seen first-hand how exchanging stories can enhance health, happiness, and longevity. After frequent visits to see his mother in the nursing home, he discovered the loneliness and depression problem that challenged many of the residents, despite the facility’s quality care. To brighten the scene, Ulrich began a reading group where he shared the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, Mark Twain, and other attention-grabbing short stories. These visits became the most anticipated event on the nursing home’s calendar as they brought charm, entertainment, physical assistance, and encouragement to those that attended.
Ulrich not only read stories to the group, he encouraged them to open their hearts and share their own personal stories – which he discovered were extraordinary and needed to be told. He later compiled them into a book One Moment Can Change Your Life, Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People. In this series Kellerer reveals how other people can find THEIR special role in helping others, making a difference, and savoring special moments that will be remembered for a lifetime.
“Depression has a profound negative impact on physical and mental health but sharing stories brings people together. It promotes health and longevity because connecting over the shared human experience gives a sense of well-being.”
– Ulrich Kellerer
In An Interview/Article, Kellerer Can Share:
- Strategies that encourage good mental health for kids, teens, and adults.
- 3 parenting tips for raising mentally strong kids.
- How sharing stories can help fight the depression epidemic – especially in millennials.
- Why volunteering, contributing to the community and helping others (even strangers!) can improve your life and overall health.
- 3 ways to promote mental health and wellness this May (National Mental Health Awareness Month).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & SPEAKER
Ulrich Kellerer
Ulrich Kellerer’s decades of success in the fashion industry seemed destined from his earliest days living on a farm south of Munich, Germany – but it’s his current emergence as a talented storyteller, book writer and inspirational speaker that is giving his life a deeper meaning and purpose. After years of helping others look amazing, these endeavors are allowing him to have an impact on people he could never meet if he hadn’t ventured beyond the world of fall/spring collections and runways.
Ulrich concludes that his ultimate goal is to share his message that everyone should do something to make the world a better place. “I’m so blessed with a loving wife and business partner in Inge and good friends,” he says, “and embarking on these creative endeavors, I have met so many incredible people I would never have met in the fashion industry. Rather than talking over and over about the next collection in London, Paris or Milan, I’m talking about things of greater significance to me, and hopefully many others.”