Reclaiming Our Mental Health Stories
On March 3rd, we held our second annual event, "Reclaiming Our Mental Health Stories", during which we shed light on the experiences of individuals navigating mental health challenges in today's world. Listen to our conversation with Rachel Aviv, author of Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories that Make Us, during which we explore the relationship between identity and illness, the impact of labels and much more. Experience the power of storytelling as you listen to Marina, Nathalie and John, who shed light on the experiences of individuals navigating anxiety, depression, addiction and disordered eating.
Speaker Info
Rachel Aviv
Rachel Aviv is a staff writer at The New Yorker who has written for the magazine about a range of subjects, including medical ethics, psychiatry, criminal justice, and education. She was twice a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Public Interest, and in 2022 she won a National Magazine Award for Profile Writing. Her 2022 book “Strangers to Ourselves” was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and named one of the ten best books of 2022 by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
John Hall
Born into the family disease of alcoholism, John Hall has been faced with generational disfunction and a lack of healthy coping skills. John struggled as a teen and young adult with depression and anxiety. His lack of knowledge about mental health led to it being untreated until his mid-40s, when John was sentenced to prison for DUIs, as he himself was self-medicating with alcohol. He used the two-and-a-half years he was incarcerated to study and better understand his own mental health and substance use disorder. Now, John helps others who are going through the journey as a peer support specialist, Nami group facilitator, prison mentor and public speaker. He believes that every moment is an opportunity to improve our lives and help one another.
Nathalie Ahn
Nathalie is currently a senior at Brown University. She is majoring in English Nonfiction Writing and plays for the Brown Women’s Lacrosse team. Nathalie has a history with anorexia and bulimia, beginning in high school, and she continues to navigate challenges with disordered eating as a college athlete.
Marina McCollum
Marina has struggled with depression, anxiety, and self-harming behavior since childhood. Adopted from Guatemala and bullied at school, she often felt like she didn't belong. With the support of her mother and her mental health providers, she has faced her challenges head on. She is currently a junior social work major at Simmons College. She is a dedicated mental health advocate, committed to sharing her own story to decrease the dangerous stigma associated with mental health conditions. She hopes to work with children and adolescents after graduation.