Loneliness, Social Media and Mental Health – An In-Person Speaker Event

As part of Mental Health Month awareness, STAR is pleased to partner with Silver Hill Hospital on an in-person speaker event titled “Loneliness, Social Media and Mental Health.” From loneliness for people of all ages, to the influence of social media and bullying, especially for youth, top experts will discuss leading mental health concerns and what we as individuals and community members can do to help each other and ourselves.

“We are excited to partner with S.T.A.R on this critically important topic for both adults and youth today. As a longtime ‘student of connection and community, our understanding that loneliness may stem from missing connections with others, oneself, and with purpose in one’s life at any age and social media can only exasperate a feeling of loneliness,” said Cheryl Bundy, MAR, BCC, Director of Spiritual Care at Silver Hill Hospital, who will be moderating the event.

In addition to experts from Silver Hill Hospital, Dr.Immacula Cann, DNP, RN-BC, Chief Nursing Officer; Dr. Elizabeth Ortiz-Schwartz, MD, DFAPA; we are also pleased to announce that our panel will include Maxwell Pearce, a Harlem Globetrotter player/ambassador and frequent speaker and advocate for athletes’ mental health issues, will share his experiences, offering advice to those experiencing the effects of bullying and isolation.

How do we break the cycle of bullying or isolation? How do we build community? Do we go to self care methods? So many questions and yet most of us are ill prepared to help or to cope. The conversation is not new, from the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD who focuses on the effect of loneliness with his New York Time best selling book “Together” on the universal condition of loneliness to Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal who said “We have a massive, deadly epidemic hidden in plain sight: loneliness. It is as harmful to health as smoking and far more common. And as his gripping stories of the science and suffering make clear, we can do something about it. Together is fascinating, moving, and essential reading.”

Loneliness and social media’s impact on our mental health is now recognized as an epidemic that is also exacerbated for populations of minority descent or cultural heritage that have to manage an added element to the struggle to manage one’s mental health.

STAR invites the New Canaan and neighboring communities to attend and participate in this open discussion of these mental health issues that are impacting so many today.

This event is made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the New Canaan Community Foundation.

EVENT DETAILS: “LONELINESS, SOCIAL MEDIA AND MENTAL HEALTH” An in-person speaker event

Date: Tuesday, May 21
Time: 7pm-8:30pm
Location: The Martin Center at Silver Hill Hospital, 208 Valley Road, New Canaan, CT
Cost: $10 per person, link to register and pay online https://bit.ly/LonelinessSocialMediaandMentalHealth

To request free press tickets and/or have access to the event’s speakers, please contact susanborst@susanborst.com.