We all love a good story about a road-trip with two best friends meandering along America’s byways in search of enlightenment. Gabriel Nathan and his best four-wheeled friend, Herbie the Love Bug, have embarked on an ambitious, memorable, and inspiring journey to change the dialogue around suicide awareness and prevention. With humor and grace, Gabriel shares his own deeply moving personal challenges with mental health and how his story has, in turn, touched thousands of lives. Gabe is an author, editor, actor, playwright, director, mental health and suicide awareness advocate. He is the Editor in Chief of OC87 Recovery Diaries, an online mental health publication that tells stories of mental health, empowerment, and change.

For five years, he worked at Montgomery County Emergency Service, Inc. (MCES), a non-profit crisis psychiatric hospital in the capacity of Allied Therapist and, later, as Development Specialist. At MCES, he created innovative programs such as a psychiatric visiting nurse program, a suicide prevention collaboration with SEPTA, and an Inpatient Concert Series that brought professional performing artists to entertain the patients and enrich their inpatient experience.

Gabe serves on the Board of Directors of Prevent Suicide PA. He lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with his wife, twins, a long-haired German shepherd named Sadie and a basset hound named Tennessee. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx