2016 COMMUNITY BENEFIT REPORT
All Our Stories
Youth Group Brings Mental Health Challenges to Light
“ Addressing pediatric mental health in our community starts with coming together to better understand the stigma surrounding the topic ,” says Deb Federspiel , strategist for mental health programs at Children ’ s Hospital Colorado . “ If we want to change the conversation around youth mental health , we can ’ t just engage adults in that conversation .”
As a way to bring youth together on the subject , Children ’ s Colorado ’ s Pediatric Mental Health Institute formed the Youth Action Board ( YAB ), which consists of up to 15 youth from across the Denver metro area interested in raising awareness about de-stigmatizing mental health issues .
“ My mom is a social worker and my dad is interested in psychology , so mental health has always been a big topic of conversation in the house ,” explains Maeve , 18 . “ But when I started having a bad experience with girls at school sophomore year , I became really depressed .”
Maeve joined the YAB around the same time she was struggling at school . For her , it was an outlet to talk about mental health and stigma with her peers , and to use their shared experiences to create a project that would impact others .
Each year , the YAB designs an interactive art exhibit to reflect their discussions surrounding mental health . In 2016 , the exhibit was titled , “ Mental Health is All Our Stories ,” in which they encouraged teens to create a story in only six words :
An Oscar winning performance : “ I ’ m fine .”
Sharing silence can speak very loudly .
There is no normal . Let go .
Maeve ’ s senior project at school was an extension of her work in YAB . The goal was to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in her school community . As part of this project , Maeve presented on the importance of reducing mental health stigma to a school auditorium of 500 students , then encouraged her peers to participate in the six-word story project . She also organized a teacher training for staff on how to address youth mental health challenges .
Her work informed the creation of a community toolkit so other individuals and organizations , like schools , can engage youth in similar activities .
“ Giving a presentation to the entire school is something I thought I ’ d never do . Students came up to me afterwards and said they wished it went longer ,” Maeve says . “ My biggest takeaway from everything is that I can speak up and make a difference , and that ’ s something young people don ’ t realize . There are plenty of other kids like me . They just need an outlet .”
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