NAMI Ending the Silence (ETS) Young Adult Speaker

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Did you have mental health challenges in middle or high school?
Are you between the age of 18 and 35?
Do you live in Oregon? (Required)
Would you like to help teenagers get a better understanding of mental illness and end the stigma of talking about it and getting help?

Be a Young Adult Presenter of ETS. Through this free classroom presentation, (currently done on Zoom), middle and high school students get to hear the reality of living with a mental health condition. During the 50-minute presentation, a young adult living with mental illness and a family member tell their stories about mental health challenges, including what hurt and what helped.

At each pre-arranged presentation of Ending the Silence, currently being done via Zoom, there are two presenters:

Young Adult Presenter: a 10 minute presentation by someone who shares their own lived experience seeking mental health services in middle or high school. The young adult speaker also shares their experience by answering questions from students.

Lead Presenter: someone who gives a 25-minute PowerPoint presentation to junior and senior high school students.

Training will be provided.

Why Ending The Silence Matters

• 1 in 5 kids experiences a mental health condition; only 20% of them actually get help
• About 50% of students ages 14+ with a mental health condition will drop out of school
• Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for 15-24-year-olds
• The earlier the better: early identification and intervention provides better outcomes