0 4 1May is Mental Health Month and #WOW2021: Whole Health includes Mental Health —UCLA’s virtual gathering focused on ending the stigma surrounding depression, anxiety and other neurological struggles– is the perfect way to address the issues so many face, as well as focus on solutions and connections that can help.

And who better to bring people together than headliner Dolly Parton, the queen of rainbows, sunshine and tellin’ it like is. Dolly will perform a song and share her thoughts on ending stigmas along with an impressive panel of other big names.

Joining the conversation: Ava DuVernay discusses adolescent depression with Dr. Kelsey Martin (the first woman dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA); Mindy Kalin explores parenting during the pandemic with Dr. Robin Berman (Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and author of Permission to Parent); Dan Wakeford (editor-in-chief of People magazine) lays out how media can be a part spreading acceptance; and soccer player Landon Donovan speaks about how athletes deal with mental challenges along with Dr. Michelle Craske (Director of the UCLA Anxiety and Depression Research Center and co-director of the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge).

Lisa Kudrow hosts the one-hour digital program, which hopes to help raise funds for mental health research, education, and care programs at the school, such as the UCLA Friends of the Semel Institute Research Scholars and the UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital Board of Advisors. More importantly, #WOW2021 aims to raise awareness and banish the shame that often surrounds mental health issues.

UCLA’s #WOW2021 is Thurs., May 13, 5-6 p.m. More info here.

 

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