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On Thursday, in honor of World Mental Health Day, Project Healthy Minds hosted an all-day festival of content and activations.
According to the mental health nonprofit, it is the world’s largest celebration of mental health awareness.
Panelists included Julie Rice of SoulCycle and Peoplehood, Andy Dunn of Bonobos and Pie, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and star and mental health advocate Demi Lovato. In addition to the daytime events, Project Healthy Minds will host an evening gala at Spring Studios honoring its first trailblazer of the year Chance the Rapper. Other attendees will be honored, including Lovato, Savannah Guthrie, Kyle Richards, Dr. Jennifer Ashton and more.
In addition to the day’s content, Project Healthy Minds also planned a slew of fitness and mental health activities with Lululemon, Equinox and SoulCycle, a meditation with actress Sanaa Lathan and group runs led by influencers.
Throughout the day, Project Healthy Minds presented several panels at the HBO Theater at Hudson Yards. It kicked off with a panel about mental health as a founder and wellness in the workplace featuring Rice and Dunn, who both agreed they had epiphany-like moments that led them to focus on mental health. For both, cultivating an environment where people feel comfortable to talk about mental health or daily challenges is crucial.
“Cultures are built around the DNA of their founders, and because Elizabeth [Cutler] and I are so obsessed with relationship and community, making sure that there was peer-to-peer communication that allowed people to help each other’s mental health,” Rice said.
Dunn, who wrote a book about his mental health experiences, added: “[With the book ‘Burn Rate,’] the thing I’ve been trying to hide from everyone, I actually should have been sharing.…It’s best if we take this experience we’re all having and we put it out there because it’s a real source of connection.”
That being said, both agreed that in the workplace hard work is still key.
“There’s nothing wrong with having expectations and asking people to work hard, but appreciation is something that is underrated,” Rice said.
Similarly, Hochul went on to discuss breaking down the stigma around mental health and the many initiatives she is aiming to establish as governor, such as banning cell phones in schools. Like Dunn and Rice, for Hochul it all starts with conversations and forums to actually discuss mental health.
“Get the validators that people trust,” Hochul said, emphasizing the impact of celebs talking about mental health. “We are a society that’s impacted by influencers.”
Lovato is one such example. She took the stage with OBB media founder and chief executive officer Michael D. Ratner to discuss mental health storytelling in the media in a conversation moderated by NBC’s Carson Daly, who has been open about his mental health struggles as well. Lovato and Ratner have worked together on several projects including “Dancing With the Devil,” a documentary about her past traumas, 2018 overdose and the aftermath.
“Each time somebody with a face is willing to be open and honest and vulnerable, it leads to more people being open and honest and vulnerable,” Ratner said.
“I needed to be the role model that I needed at 13 because I knew that there were 13-year-olds out there that were still struggling, that couldn’t relate to the 50-year-olds that had recovered from their eating disorders and were now willing to talk about it,” Lovato said. “I hope that the work that I’ve done on myself could inspire someone else to show up for themselves in a way that may be a ripple effect and inspire their friends or family to get help.”
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