Self-Care Strategies During the Pandemic

Drawing on more than 30 years of executive leadership experience, Mark Hirschhorn serves as the president, COO, and CFO of Talkspace. In this capacity, Mark Hirschhorn directs a behavioral health company that seamlessly brings clients and therapists together for text and video chat sessions.

With education and mental wellness at the forefront of Talkspace’s mission, the organization emphasizes the importance of self-care as a central facet of everyday life within an extended pandemic scenario. When restrictions on daily activities set in for the long haul, one of the most important antidotes is getting outdoors in a safe, socially distanced manner whenever possible. This may involve a 15-minute walk when the sun is out, or longer cycling or jogging sessions that boost endorphins and burn calories through a healthy workout.

Many people who saw Zoom as an integral part of their social life at the start of lockdown and travel restrictions started to feel a sense of “Zoom fatigue” set in over the months. In many cases, the fault was not with the platform itself, but a “quantity over quality” situation. One strategy to counteract this entails carefully monitoring time spent connecting with others and making sure that it has a positive and psychologically boosting effect, rather than draining reserves.

Other self-care strategies include mindfulness, meditation, and activities in the residential environment such as yoga. Keeping a positive mindset and looking forward to positive milestones, such as a successful vaccine rollout, is a proven strategy. In cases where a sense of anxiety and depression persists, professional help can be a good option. The therapists at Talkspace have the knowledge to help people work through the sense of dispiritedness that comes naturally during a time of extended pandemic.

 

The Children’s Village - Keeping Youth and Families Safe and Strong

Mark Hirschhorn’s decades of experience leading companies in the digital media and healthcare sectors culminated in early 2020 with his acceptance of the position of president and COO of Talkspace. An emerging player in the online behavioral health services industry, Talkspace serves more than 1 million clients, offering easy and affordable access to licensed and highly qualified mental health professionals. Apart from his responsibilities at Talkspace, Mark Hirschhorn is a dedicated philanthropist, supporting nonprofits such as The Children’s Village.

Reaching out to families in all five New York City boroughs and the lower part of the Hudson Valley, The Children’s Village works with the overarching goal of helping youth become self-sufficient, productive, and successful adults. The organization offers access to a variety of job skills training, mentoring opportunities, foster care programs, and other services that address the crucial needs of young people in under-resourced communities.

In one recent year alone, The Children’s Village provided residential treatment, foster home care, runaway shelters, and other types of sheltering care to some 2,000 children and teens, including undocumented youth.

Over the course of its life of service to the community, The Children’s Village has worked with more than 10,000 young people to help strengthen their families, and more than 90 percent of those in runaway or homeless shelters have been able to find secure long-term housing.

Meanwhile, more than 93 percent of at-risk youth helped by The Children’s Village avoided re-arrest after participating in mentoring and other programs designed to end cycles of incarceration. 

The Connection between Exercise, Depression, and Anxiety

Mark Hirschhorn functions as the president, COO, and CFO of telehealth therapy company Talkspace. Outside of work, Mark Hirschhorn enjoys keeping active by running, cycling, and playing tennis. Regular exercise has a number of mental health benefits, including alleviating the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Multiple studies have shown that regular exercise is as effective as antidepressant medications at treating mild to moderate depression. A recent study completed at Harvard University showed that running for 15 minutes or walking for an hour each day reduced the risk of major depressive disorder by more than 25 percent. Exercise promotes neural growth and releases endorphins, which can function as a sort of natural antidepressant.

These qualities also make exercise a good option for treating anxiety. Exercise can relieve tension and reduce stress while boosting overall energy. To treat anxiety, exercise is especially helpful when practiced mindfully. Paying attention to how your body feels during exercise interrupts the flow of worries that is characteristic of anxiety. 

ArisGlobal’s LifeSphere Platform Boosts Big BioPharma Effectiveness

Mark Hirschhorn serves as president and COO of Talkspace, a top-rated online mental health services platform. Talkspace connects clients with licensed therapists in a secure environment, allowing them to share information and questions in real-time and meet in scheduled private videoconference sessions. The growth and strength of the Talkspace user experience are supported by Mark Hirschhorn’s two decades of working in positions of major responsibility in digital and media software companies, including ArisGlobal.

ArisGlobal continues as a leader in helping to ensure the safety of developing medications by supplying sophisticated and cloud-based pharmacovigilance support services. ArisGlobal helps biopharma companies internalize their safety vigilance across an integrated platform and an end-to-end automated process, allowing them to seamlessly coordinate safety data while achieving pioneering product development and cost-efficiency.

The company’s LifeSphere Multivigilance 10 life sciences software serves as one of the world’s most effective tools for helping pharmaceutical manufacturers build out their core drug development activities safely and effectively. In August 2020, ArisGlobal announced that a Top 5 Big BioPharma company had chosen to deploy the LifeSphere safety platform to serve as the cornerstone of its growing pharmacovigilance technology development.

The company, which had relied on a legacy platform to support its safety needs, pivoted to LifeSphere as part of a modernization effort that will help it address the immediate issue of handling an increasing volume of adverse-event cases while increasing its global competitiveness and reach over the long term.