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 rehabilitation booking platform from the ground up. Notably, the platform onboarded 5,000 providers into a national network, 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 urgent 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 trying to plan travel without platforms like TripAdvisor, Expedia, or Google Flights. These intermediaries simplify complex decisions, increase transparency, and make it easier for consumers to compare options. As a society, we’ve come to rely on such platforms in nearly every sector, from grocery delivery to home buying, because they consistently add value.

Yet in healthcare, and particularly in mental health, these kinds of consumer-centric intermediaries have been largely absent. This gap limits transparency, increases friction, and often leaves people without the tools they need to make informed decisions.

According to basic economic principles, intermediaries help markets function more efficiently. They lower costs, improve service quality, and drive innovation. At MentalHealth.com, we apply these same principles to mental healthcare by streamlining access to care, raising quality standards, and enabling meaningful comparison shopping. These efficiencies not only lead to better outcomes but also increase accountability and give consumers greater choice and control.

“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 a challenging journey. 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 venture capital financing. 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 is the most essential thing the world needs 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