#69: Are We Treating Mental Health All Wrong - with C. Victor Brick"

On this week’s episode of The Ultimate Assist, John Stockton and Ken Ruettgers sit down with entrepreneur, coach, and mental health advocate C. Victor Brick for a powerful and deeply personal conversation on mental health, resilience, and what it really takes to build a meaningful life.

After losing his brother to complications related to schizophrenia—and later his daughter to ovarian cancer—Brick shares how those experiences reshaped his mission to challenge the way we approach both mental health and overall well-being. He questions the traditional “standard of care,” arguing that treatment often focuses too heavily on medication and not enough on integrated self-care, including movement, nutrition, and mind-body practices.  

The conversation explores:

• Why exercise, community, and lifestyle may play a bigger role in mental health than most people realize
• The concept of “positive stress” and how it builds resilience physically and mentally
• The difference between mental health and mental well-being—and why that distinction matters
• How loneliness and lack of coping skills are driving today’s mental health challenges

Brick also shares lessons from decades in business and fitness, including why chasing money often leads nowhere—and why pursuing a mission-driven life is the real path to success.

This episode is both practical and philosophical, blending real-world strategies with hard-earned perspective—and asking a bigger question:

Are we focusing on treating symptoms… instead of building resilient human beings?