Research | BAM

Is depression a chemical imbalance? Is it due to past trauma? Or, is it something else? Our work examines the consequences of these different beliefs and messages. We are rigorously testing and refining interventions and applications that deliver optimized mental health messaging to a variety of contexts.

The BAM Lab was inspired by the growing need for a central space for researchers and clinicians to come together to discuss alternative ways of thinking and talking about mental health. An overarching theme of the lab is interdisciplinary collaboration. Our collaborations span many disciplines, including clinical, social, and cognitive psychology, social work, sociology, and philosophy. 

Current Work

We believe that the optimal way to talk about mental illness, for the purposes of understanding and treating distress, remains an open empirical question. Our current work combines correlational and experimental methods to elucidate how specific beliefs and messages influence recovery efforts in collaboration with researchers across the country. 

We also examine how these beliefs are formed, including the social and contextual factors that contribute to their endorsement. Ultimately, our goal is to optimize mental health messaging to reduce harmful attitudes and promote engagement in treatment.

Clinical Relevance & Impact

With the advent of social media and the rapid access to information, narratives about mental health and illness are widespread but not always accurate. This is a pressing issue as rates of depression, suicide, and anxiety contribute to burnout, despair, and loneliness. Increased awareness of mental health problems is likely a positive change, but misinformation about its causes and treatments is plentiful and can actually contribute to harm.

Our team is developing alternative messages about mental health - framing depression as a signal, for instance - to dispel the harms that come from classic biogenetic frameworks of depression (e.g., increased stigma, decreased hope). We use carefully-controlled experiments and survey data to inform the precise content of these messages.One aspect of this work is to develop interventions that convey these optimized messages, which may be useful in brief, scalable, and highly accessible formats.

Future Directions

We aim to translate our findings into the development of empirically tested belief-based interventions, designed to promote adaptive beliefs about mental health, enhance treatment engagement, and improve psychological outcomes across diverse care settings.

We seek to inform mental health messaging employed at the educational, institutional, and policy levels. By promoting more adaptive, evidence-based narratives about mental illness, we hope to reduce stigma and foster attitudes that empower individuals in their recovery.