By Lauren Farberman
Theme Editor
Mira Costa juniors Liam Cook and Kayla Samimi organized the first of three TedX Manhattan Beach salons, titled “Mental Health,” on March 8 during second office hours in the small theatre.
The pair focused its event on mental health because it said it wanted to raise awareness on the topic. Cook and Samimi said they wanted to expose as many people as possible to the importance of mental health awareness, and since over 40 people attended, they feel that they were successful.
“I was really happy with the way the event turned out,” Cook said. “Not only was it fun to be a part of, but it brought attention to an issue on campus that is prevalent in a lot of students’ lives. I think mental health is a really important topic to shed light on, especially for high school kids.”
Cook and Samimi chose Costa junior Emily Angstreich to speak at the talk. Angstreich is the founder and co-president of Costa’s Headstrong Club, a group of students that joins together weekly to encourage open discussion about mental health. Angstreich was the ideal student speaker for this topic in particular due to her openness about her struggles with depression and anxiety, Cook said.
“I wanted to share my story because every time I do, I become more comfortable talking about my journey with mental health,” Angstreich said. “I know that initially it was really hard for me to come out to people about my mental health struggles, so I hope I helped inspire discussion about mental health so that it can be talked about openly.”
Angstreich’s speech encompassed stories about her own struggles with depression and anxiety. She also talked about her hopes to break down the negative stigma surrounding mental health in order to allow everyone to feel comfortable talking about it openly.
“There can always be more discussion on mental health, and I hope my speech showed that and encouraged others to stop treating mental health as less important than physical health,” Angstreich said. “I received a lot of support from my friends after my speech, and hopefully others can see talking about mental health doesn’t have to be scary.
Certified eating disorder specialist Diana Burge also spoke about mental health and the importance of recognizing when one has a problem and is in need of help. Burge shared her own experiences struggling with an eating disorder and how she was able to overcome it.
Link: Learn more about Burge’s work
“I spoke at the event to share my experience and give people hope that they can heal from the anxiety of an eating disorder,” Burge said. “I hope if anyone suffers from an eating disorder, they realize that they are not alone, and there is recovery and support out there to help them.”
Cook said the most rewarding aspect of the event was the praise and positive feedback he received from his peers after all the hard work he, Samimi, and other students and adults put into the event.
“I would do this again because it was not only fun, but I also helped spread awareness of a prevalent issue on Costa’s campus,” Cook said.
Leave a Reply