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. 

Talkspace Opens up New Therapeutic Insights for 1 Million Clients

President and chief operating officer of the pioneering online therapy platform Talkspace, Mark Hirschhorn directs the work of a company dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable, and confidential mental health services. The platform’s 1 million clients have access to trained, licensed therapists specifically matched to them. Mark Hirschhorn and his team have structured Talkspace to respond to the unique needs of each client, all within private and secure online therapy rooms, videoconferences, messages, and chats.

Talkspace has received top ratings directly from its clients. In one personal testimonial posted on the platform’s website, a client noted that their therapist was the most compassionate and effective therapist they had ever encountered, with a genuine desire to get to know them and understand their individual needs.

Another client, a first-time user of mental health therapy services, wrote that their Talkspace therapist provided helpful new insights and suggestions that the client would never otherwise have thought of. Another client stressed the effectiveness of the real-time Talkspace environment, which allowed them to communicate information to their therapist as issues arose instead of having to wait for an appointment and the possibility of having forgotten things that would have been important to bring forward.

A Cancer Research Charity That Focuses on Children’s Needs

Mark Hirschhorn has served in multiple executive capacities with some of the most innovative emerging and growing companies in the digital services sphere. Currently president and COO of digital behavioral therapy platform Talkspace, he previously supported operations, compliance, and investment as CFO of pharmacovigilance support provider ArisGlobal and served as executive vice president and CFO of media software applications provider RCS/Media Monitors. In addition, Mark Hirschhorn is a dedicated supporter of nonprofit organizations such as the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF).

Working with leading physicians and scientists, NPCF focuses on funding research efforts and clinical trials with the aim of developing treatments that will be less toxic, less invasive, and more comfortable for young patients and their families. As its team works to ultimately conquer childhood cancer, it seeks to boost current rates of survival and help reduce side effects of existing treatments.

NPCF’s work is particularly important in light of the fact that the majority of cancer research centers on the physiology of adult patients. As most traditional treatments are geared toward adults, medication dosages are often simply reduced to correspond to lower-weight bodies when treating children. But children’s physiologies are categorically different, which can result in needless misdiagnoses, complications, and side effects that might not happen if more were known about their unique needs.

While traditional fundraising initiatives have largely neglected pediatric cancer, NPCF is noted for its targeted research in the fight against the disease.

 

National Pediatric Cancer Foundation Launches Sunshine Club Fundraiser

Known for his sustained results in the institutional investment sphere, Mark Hirschhorn led the global pharmacovigilance SaaS technology firm ArisGlobal prior to its successful sale. Presently an executive at Talkspace, Mark Hirschhorn has a strong commitment to community giving and supports the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF).

In September 2020, honoring Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, NPCF launched the Sunshine Club fundraising initiative within its 2020 43 Challenge campaign. This year-long effort honors the 43 American children who receive a diagnosis of cancer, on average, each day.

While cancer is by far the leading cause of disease-linked death among children, less than 5 percent of cancer research focuses on childhood forms of the disease. Over the past four decades, the number of drugs that have been successfully developed for childhood cancers is in the single digits.

The Sunshine Club addresses this issue by fostering philanthropic and scientific collaboration across 20 top-ranked pediatric hospitals nationwide. The aim is to identify and develop novel therapies that are both effective and have less toxicity. Over the past 19 years, more than $25 million in NPCF funds has gone toward pediatric cancer research efforts. The current campaign encourages contributions of at least 43 cents per day, or about $13 per month, to the organization.

 

What Is Behavioral Health?

An accomplished executive experienced in sales and acquisitions, Mark Hirschhorn serves as the president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of Talkspace in New York City. Outside of directing finance, treasury, and investor relations functions, Mark Hirschhorn is interested in behavioral health.

Behavioral health encompasses the well-being of both the body and the mind, which are closely related, according to a growing body of research. Related to how healthy our choices are for mental and physical well-being, behavioral health can include what we eat and drink, how much we exercise, and how we interact with others.

While some people seek behavioral health care to treat a psychiatric condition or addiction, others use the approach to improve their interpersonal relationships with their spouse or other family members. Unfortunately, many people who have behavioral health challenges aren’t receiving the treatment they need because they lack health insurance or the necessary resources to access care.

Advantages of Wellness Technologies as Employee Benefits

Corporate executive Mark Hirschhorn joined the teletherapy app company Talkspace early in 2020. Mark Hirschhorn serves as the firm’s president and chief operating officer.

In addition to connecting individuals to immediate counseling with licensed therapists, Talkspace offers a suite of mental health and wellness services suitable for employee assistance programs (EAPs). EAPs are benefits that companies may offer their workers to help them with non-work-related issues.

Traditional EAPs include discounts on in-person counseling, fitness programs, and other health and wellness-focused initiatives. In recent years, many of the offerings commonly included in an EAP are available on app-based or web-based platforms. Companies can bundle access to subscription wellness apps and provide them to employees as a benefit.

Since these benefits can be accessed with the privacy of a personal device, employees are more likely to engage in digital counseling. Further, apps that focus on health and fitness can easily collect anonymous data that can help companies determine which wellness initiatives are the most successful. These apps can also simplify the coordination of interactive fitness challenges, such as maintaining workout streaks or participating as a team to reach 100,000 steps per day. 

RACE Act to Boost Innovation in Pediatric Cancer Research

Formerly named the best small-sized healthcare company CFO, Mark Hirschhorn serves as the president and COO of teletherapy company Talkspace. Mark Hirschhorn has also contributed to numerous health-related nonprofit organizations, including the Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF).

According to the PCF, less than 4 percent of dedicated federal funding goes toward pediatric cancer research. To improve this number, the Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity (RACE) for Children Act was passed in 2017. As of early August 2020, companies that develop therapies and drugs for adult cancers must also investigate the treatments’ effectiveness and safety for children.

Before this legislation, many cancer drug companies would bypass clinical trials for pediatric cancers because of a combination of a smaller market and clinical trials for children. The RACE Act limits the drugs exempted from this extra research. The act will spur more innovation in pediatric cancer treatment, which historically has lagged behind advances in the treatment of adult cancers.

40 Million Americans Are Covered by Insurance for Talkspace Services

An experienced executive, Mark Hirschhorn was named best CFO of a small-cap health care company in 2017 by Institutional Investor. Currently, Mark Hirschhorn serves as president and COO of Talkspace, a company that connects individuals to therapy services using phone, text, and other forms of digital communication. Recently, Talkspace partnered with Cigna to bring its services to even more individuals around the country.

With this partnership, the number of individuals in the United States with health insurance coverage to use Talkspace now exceeds 40 million. The Cigna partnership allows its insurance customers to use live video or messaging sessions with Talkspace therapists for the same cost as traditional, in-person visits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has acutely increased the need for access to behavioral health service. Talkspace recorded a 70 percent increase in clients between March and April of 2020. Additional partnerships with insurance carriers like Cigna help ensure people can access services from virtually anywhere in the county at an affordable rate. Other carriers that have made arrangements with Talkspace include Optum, Humana, and Premara Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Talkspace Teams with USA Triathlon to Support Athletes

Mark Hirschhorn possesses extensive experience in managing telehealth startups. Since early 2020, Mark Hirschhorn has served as president and COO of Talkspace, a company that gives individuals access to therapy services through talk, text, and other digital communication options.

Recently, Talkspace teamed with USA Triathlon to expand its mental health services to everyone on the national team. These athletes often spend much of their time on the road, especially during the triathlon season, which can make it difficult to maintain relationships with therapists. This partnership opens up the telehealth Talkspace services to national team athletes so they can maintain their relationships with therapists no matter where they are on any given day.

This partnership is the first component of Transition 3, a new program launched by USA Triathlon to help elite athletes prepare to transition into life after professional sports. The program is meant to provide career, education, and wellness support for athletes. The Talkspace arrangement helps ensure that athletes always have access to high-quality behavioral health services before and during this transition.