Our Turn to Talk w/Anastasia Vlasova

19-year-old Joe Perry from Gahanna, Ohio tells us what it was like to have school authorities turn against him after he came forward about his mental health challenges. We explore the impact of this stigma, and Joe takes us through his journey with depression, anxiety and self-harm. Joe introduces us to his greatest coping mechanism - writing poetry - and we hear from Tasha Golden on the impact of poetry and creative writing as healing arts. 

A dirt bike accident changed MaDarrius Burgo’s life forever, but it didn’t diminish his spirit. Hear this 20-year-old’s story of coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), living life in a wheelchair and how music and poetry restored his faith in life when he felt like he lost everything. A member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, MaDarrius takes us along to one of the tribe’s traditional “healing fires.” This ritual reveals the tribal elders’ perspectives and insights from about the importance of nurturing the spirit as a means to maintain mental health.

19-year-old Delaney Reilly from Windemere, Florida shares how an obsession with being thin became a diagnosis of anorexia, but it was never about food or weight. She tells us how she developed an eating disorder after suffering from anxiety nearly her whole life. We hear from Laurelee Roark, director of the eating disorder non-profit, Beyond Hunger, on ways we can prevent eating disorders before they begin through proper education on body image and intuitive eating. Delaney also shares her story of recovery, from attending an intensive outpatient treatment program to coping with difficult emotions through playing the violin.

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