WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A national campaign focusing on youth mental health is making a virtual stop in south Florida.
Krishna Louis is in the home stretch of her college career.
“I’m a senior now at the University of Miami,” she said.
This wasn’t the senior year she was expecting.
“One minute you’re with everybody, the next minutes it’s like— quarantine,” Louis said. “You can't be around nobody and you have to stay in your own lane.”
For Louis, a survivor of sexual assault, that feeling of isolation is difficult while battling anxiety, severe depression, and PTSD.
“You are constantly trying so hard to push through your emotions,” she said.
On Wednesday, Louis will share her story at the Well Beings Tour a virtual panel discussion on mental health.
“Before COVID 19 out of 5 kids in our country struggled with a diagnosable mental health condition and with COVID the crisis has just been expanded beyond our imagination,” Randi Silverman said.
Silverman is the founder of the Youth Mental Health Project.
“I think the mental health crisis is going to be longer-lasting than the COVID crisis and we need to get a grip on it,” she said. “We need to have a plan. We need to work together as adults. We can no longer let mental health be a subject of silence.”
Hosted by PBS South Florida, the Well Beings tour will take place virtually Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.