You Never Change Things by Fighting the Existing Reality

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller

Hello, everyone – I’m Patrick Nagle, Co-Founder of MentalHealth.com. Welcome to my first blog post, where I’ll be sharing a bit about my background, recent accomplishments, and my vision for the future. Over the past two decades, I’ve had an amazing time building companies that have helped millions of people. I’m best known for founding RateMyProfessors.com, and more recently MentalHealth.com.

Lately, I have come to appreciate the value of open communication. By sharing who we are, what we stand for, and how we operate, MentalHealth.com gains fresh perspectives, new opinions, and meaningful insights. Most importantly, transparency builds trust—the foundation of all relationships.

Several years ago, after recovering from benzodiazepine dependence, I made a personal commitment to contribute my time towards projects that support those facing mental health and substance use challenges. To this day, that commitment continues to guide my work.

In the years leading up to MentalHealth.com, my team and I developed a national rehabilitation booking platform from the ground up. Notably, the platform onboarded over 5,000 providers, facilitated hundreds of thousands of connections through clicks and calls, and helped nearly a million people in their journey toward recovery.

However, our experience was ultimately overshadowed by the addiction treatment industry, which remains deeply flawed and in need of reform. Despite our good intentions and ambitious goals, we underestimated the challenges within this space.

The most important characteristic for the survival of a species is not strength or intelligence, but adaptability to change. One must become adept at adapting. This is the Buddhist teaching of “Annica”.

As we moved from a contentious environment to a more positive one, we undertook significant changes to our business, including a long-overdue reorganization of our management team. These efforts ultimately led to the successful sale of the company and the acquisition of MentalHealth.com.

As a team, we recognize the universal need for a comprehensive mental health platform. With half of the world’s population expected to experience a mental health disorder and recognizing that all eight billion of us benefit from ongoing care, our vision is to support the mental health of 1 billion people.

“From in-person appointments to online support, MentalHealth.com always leads with people first.”  –  Daniel Rivette

Imagine planning a trip without tools like TripAdvisor, Expedia, or Google Flights. Without these platforms, travel would feel overwhelming with too many choices, not enough clarity, and no simple way to know what is best. They give us confidence by simplifying decisions, building trust, and making it easy to compare options.

When it comes to mental health, that kind of guidance is often missing. People are left searching in the dark, unsure where to turn, what is available, or how to choose the right path forward. The result is stress, confusion, and sometimes giving up altogether.

At MentalHealth.com, we believe it does not have to be this way. We are creating a space where care is easier to find, clearer to understand, and simpler to navigate. By helping people compare options, access support, and trust the process, we make the journey toward self-understanding and meaningful connection less overwhelming and far more supportive.

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember ~ the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” – Zig Ziglar

Founding a company in the mental health space is extraordinarily challenging. For this reason, I take immense pride not only in our accomplishments but also in our exceptional team. In December, we reached our first milestone with the launch of our platform. By July, we hit an all-time high in traffic, and in August, we secured funding.

This funding allowed us to launch the MentalHealth.com Wellness Portal, acquire the online mental health platform MentalHelp.net, develop the MentalHealth.com Network, and acquire PsychGuides.com, a longstanding provider of mental health resources.

We also recruited and established prominent advisory teams to support key initiatives and uphold our people-first culture. These include the Venture Advisory Team, featuring Brian Trisler, Co-Founder of A Place for Mom; Fred Joyal and Gary Saint-Denis, Co-Founders of 1-800-DENTIST; Abhilash Patel, Founder of Within Health; and Jeff Smith, Co-Founder & CEO of Supermind Platforms.

Additionally, we formed the Clinical Affairs Team, including Co-Founder and Clinical Affairs Director Dr. Jesse Hanson, Ph.D., Clinical Care Director Dr. Carlos Protzel, Psy.D., Community Director Dr. Susanna Calvert, Ph.D. and the Public Oversight Committee, with involvement from Ryan Hampton.

“May I develop compassion boundless as the sky. So that all may rest in the clear light of their own awareness.” – The Tibetan Book of the Dead

In conclusion, I’ll share the daily question that guides me: What does the world need most right now? The answer is community. Community gives us purpose, and with purpose comes a more positive and fulfilling life. We all benefit from fewer artificial relationships and more genuine community in our lives.

The best is yet to come!

– Patrick