The People's Movement for Mental Health and Well-Being

The Good Life Movement is a non-profit taking on the mental health crisis by creating a public movement focused on action and accountability.

We're like the people's watchdog and muscle for mental health. We bring awareness to what's happening then influence legislation.

Get Involved
Woman standing
Group of friends (one looks like Abe Lincoln ha)
People marching

GLM's Origin Story

Over COVID-19, our team was trying to understand how mental health was so wildly popular yet we had not seen major government urgency or reform.

Secondarily, we were trying to understand why the public was not upset about the inaction — and widely advocating for change.

The Missing Piece:
A Public Movement for Action

GLM realized the public had not organized because the mental health field had never built the infrastructure for a movement. Here's what was missing:

GLM Check
A clearly defined policy vision that inspired action
GLM Check
An organization working 100% on behalf of the people
GLM Check
An organization 100% dedicated to advocacy
GLM Check
An organization dedicated to the full mental health continuum

Our Dedication to the Public and the People

The Good Life Movement is 100% dedicated to the interests of the public, and people with lived and living experience. We are fighting for the entire mental health continuum and the many forms conditions take. This includes:

GLM Check
Substance Use
GLM Check
Disability Rights
GLM Check
Eating Disorders
GLM Check
Anyone with lived and living experience
Frawley photo
Founder

Meet Andrew

My name is Andrew Frawley. I'm a mental health advocate and I've been dedicated to this cause for my entire career.

I grew up in suburban Virginia — a place where the American dream is supposedly still alive. My father is a blue-collar painter who worked his way up to own a small business. My mother is a PTA mom still famous for her cookies.

My early years were like a sales pitch for America's middle-class. Modest suburbs, a family of four in diverse public schools, and recreation sports leagues on the weekend. On paper, it was everything that we're told to strive for.

The difficult truth, though, is that beneath the symbols of material security was often pain. Unfortunately, I've come to see this pain as a feature, not a bug, of an American culture that profits off our anxiety.

Executive Director

Meet Jono

In February of 2024 I lost my father to suicide. He was 67 years old. Sadly, my father’s story is not unique. His story of depression with the all-too-common ending of suicide is the story of countless others in this country, and it’s about time we start talking about it.
‍
Over the last several decades, America is averaging one suicide every eleven minutes…
Let that sink in for a second... one suicide every eleven minutes.
‍
As a point of reference, suicide is currently the 9th leading cause of death in this country -- more people die by suicide than auto accidents every year.

And the total number of "Deaths of Despair" -- in addition to suicide, "Deaths of Despair" are those associated with depression and substance abuse like alcohol-related diseases and drug overdoses -- makes depression the 4th leading cause of death in this country. Only heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19 have killed more Americans over the past 5 years.
‍
1/5 Americans has a mental illness -- that's only counting the reported cases. And I'm willing to bet that everyone reading this has either experienced a mental health issue personally (I have depression) or knows of someone who has. At most, each of us is just two degrees removed from someone suffering from a mental illness.
‍
Now, it’s important to remember that depression is a disease, like anything else. And yet it is the only disease in which suicide is a common and even predictable outcome. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s; no other disease results in suicide at the same rate as depression.
That’s because depression is a parasite of the mind. It feeds on its host and only grows in strength as the host weakens. And in many instances, this parasite grows and grows until it fulfills its goal of killing its host.
‍
It’s no coincidence that when people end their lives using a gun, like my father did, they typically shoot themselves in the head - not the heart, or the gut, but the head. They are, in fact, shooting at the depression, they’re trying to kill the parasite.

OK, so what do we do? We can start by removing the stigma around depression and suicide and discuss it like we do any other disease. If my father had died of brain cancer, would I feel shame about it? Of course not. And when it comes to his suicide, while he may have pulled the trigger, his depression is what killed him. Suicide is merely a symptom of depression and trust me when I say my father had no agency in his final moments. He did not kill himself, his depression killed him. He lost his battle with depression and surrendered to the final manifestation of his illness.
‍
You may have noticed that I’ve repeatedly said my father died by suicide, rather than say he committed suicide. This is very much intentional for he did not commit a crime or action; he had no real choice in the matter at all. He died by suicide and phrasing it in this way helps illustrate that he was a victim of a disease. When someone dies from cancer, we don’t say they committed organ failure. They died from complications of their disease, and the same is true for those who die by suicide.
‍
We should also be better about how we discuss depression, absent suicide. Our society often says, 'someone is depressed' when we should say 'they have depression'. We say, 'a person is bipolar' when we should say ‘that person has bipolar disorder'. What’s the difference? The proper phrasing doesn’t conflate the illness with the person’s identity. The disease does not define who they are. That’s why we say someone has cancer, not someone is cancer.
‍
Depression and suicide are all too common to still be ignored. Join me and The Good Life Movement in our efforts to change the public conversation and raise awareness about these issues. We will work to educate the public and inspire action – all in the name of people like my father. May his story become less and less common.

Our Movement

Collaborators & Advisors

Two people working

Our Volunteers!
Join the Movement.

Our movement is just beginning. We are building to mobilize in 2024. Sign up to help us build and make calls.

Volunteer
HEAL THE NATION
‍