Mental health forum to focus on post-pandemic world
“From Burnout to Resilience: Thriving in a Digital World,” a special forum on mental health dealing with stress and anxiety in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world, will be held virtually from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 22.
Allan Hancock College’s Student Health Services is partnering with Transitions-Mental Health and the LEAD Project to host the event.
“Many new stressors that have arisen have taken a huge toll on our mental health as individuals and collectively. In this digital age that has been rapidly unfolding, we are facing a new type of burnout—digital burnout,” said Xixi Zhai, Student Health Services specialist at the Santa Maria college.
“The goal for this year’s forum is to present strategies to prevent and alleviate digital burnout, promote self-care and compassion and improve everyone’s mental wellness.”
Featured speakers will include Amy Kathleen Lee and Hamza Kahn. Ms. Lee is an award-winning eating disorder recovery advocate, motivational speaker and suicide prevention trainer who has shared her story of overcoming childhood trauma, an eating disorder, self-harm and suicide with more than 4,000 youths across the Central Coast. She is also a QPR suicide prevention trainer and the CEO of her own nonprofit, Dancing with ED.
Mr. Kahn is an award-winning marketer, best-selling author and global keynote speaker whose TEDx talk, “Stop Managing, Start Leading,” has been viewed more than a million times. His presentations and talks seek to empower youth and early talent.
He also works as managing director of Student Life Network, Canada’s largest and most comprehensive education resource platform, which reaches over 2.7 million students.
Hancock, TMHA and LEAD partnered last year to present a similar in-person forum. The group, which calls itself the Alliance for Mental Health, chose to host this year’s forum virtually to protect the health and safety of participants.
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
“From Burnout to Resilience: Thriving in a Digital World” will be held virtually from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 22. To register for the event, visit www.allianceformentalwellness.com.
