LM to Host Panel Discussion “Angst: Raising Awareness Around Anxiety”

Earlier this week, the Linn-Mar Student Services Department  hosted a  screening of the documentary “Angst: Raising Awareness Around Anxiety”. 

The 56-minute documentary looked at the differences between “being anxious” and having an anxiety disorder. It provided a starting point for examining questions such as, what can we do about the 634% rise in the use of Mental Health America’s online tool for anxiety since the start of Covid? Why is there still so much fear and stigma in just talking to others instead of hiding online? What can each of us do to make it better and best engage in a full and happy life?

A post-screening virtual panel discussion on Thursday, October 7th, 2021 at 7:00 P.M. will be moderated by Scilla Andreen the Executive Producer of Angst and CEO & Co-Founder of iNDIEFLIX. The panelists will include representatives from the school district and various community agencies including Insight Therapy Group, Mercy Family Counseling, Foundation2, and UnityPoint. This event is open to the public.

Click here for panelist bios.

Click here to view the documentary Angst.

 

Angst is on a mission: to start a global conversation and raise awareness around anxiety. It delves into all aspects of our society’s most common mental health challenge.

 

It features candid interviews with kids and teens, who discuss their anxiety, its impacts on their lives and relationships, as well as how they’ve found solutions and hope. Expert perspectives, (from institutions such as Stanford University, Child Mind Institute), who talk about the causes of anxiety and its sociological effects and resources to help. Tips, tricks, and strategies to help reset thinking patterns, push back against anxiety, and support others. Awareness that anyone can be touched by – and overcome – anxiety, via a unique and revealing interview with mental health advocate Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history

Part of the beauty of this film is the openness of the children and young adults featured; for some of them, the “Angst” project marks the first time they are publicly sharing their experiences with anxiety. This has an effect on everyone who watches – from adults who realize for the first time that they or a family member has anxiety to students who are reassured to understand what their symptoms represent, or who reach out to their peers to check-in. The film is also hopeful and optimistic; Noah, a teenager featured, describes it this way: “Anxiety doesn’t define me. It’s not just a curse; it also gives me strength.”