Each May, we observe Mental Health Awareness Month. Therefore, UCLA hosted its virtual gathering that focused on stopping the stigma around neurological conditions such as anxiety and mental depression. The event entitled #WOW2021: Whole Health Includes Mental Health was touted as the ideal way of addressing the problems that several people face.
Few are better than singer-songwriter Dolly Parton at bringing individuals together. Dolly Parton not only performed a song, but she also shared her thoughts about ending those stigmas alongside some other well-known panel members.
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay talked about mental depression in adolescence with Dr. Kelsey C. Martin. For your information, Kelsey Martin is the first-ever woman to be DGSOM’s dean. On the other hand, actor Mindy Kalin explored parenting in the epidemic period with Robin Berman. For your information, Berman is Permission to Parent’s author, and she teaches psychiatry at DGSOM. Meanwhile, People magazine’s chief editor Dan Wakeford discussed how media could play a part in spreading acceptance.
On the other hand, Michelle Craske and former American soccer star Landon Donovan talked about how sportspeople manage mental challenges. For the uninitiated, Craske is the Director of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Lisa Kudrow hosted the 60-minute-long virtual event, which is expected to aid in raising funds for UCLA’s mental health education and research, plus care programs. More significantly, the event aimed to not only improve awareness about mental health problems but also eliminate the shame associated with those issues.