As part of the SLJ Teen Live event, authors Nyrae Dawn, Stephanie Kuehn, Jennifer Niven, Teresa Toten and Susan Vaught participated in a panel in which they discussed mental health in #yalit. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, so I live tweeted the panel. I Storify it here in […]
As part of the SLJ Teen Live event, authors Nyrae Dawn, Stephanie Kuehn, Jennifer Niven, Teresa Toten and Susan Vaught participated in a panel in which they discussed mental health in #yalit. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, so I live tweeted the panel. I Storify it here in part so I can find all the great quotes in one place when I want to refer to them. It was a great panel full of great discussion. You can see it at SLJ as they archived it.
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We are deeply affected by the things that happen to people around us. – Nyrae Dawn
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“His journey is understanding what is in himself and in his external world he needs to deal with” – Stephanie Khuen
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I always worry about discussing mental health & using “magical” in the same context. Don’t want to romanticize or stigmatize MH
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Teresa Toten is discussing research when writing about mental health
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Toten starts with the DSMIV when doing research.
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Vaught writes about dealing w/a parent and mental illness from personal experience
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Thank you Susan Vaught for calling out the way current media/candidates are throwing around damaging terms about mental health
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“I am glad language is starting to change . . . ” Susan Vaught
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Vaught wants her MC to know that even if she does have a mental illness she has the potential for help & good life
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puts emphasis on people with mental health issues writing from their experience –
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Question1: how do you consider the topic of in writing about mental health
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Khuen: The value of is that it allows someone other then the dominant group to tell their story
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Khuen: some authors are private & may not want to disclose that their mental health is an book (excellent point)
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Toten: the intersection of storytelling and inserting your own experience is a dicey prospect
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Dawn: Everyone’s experience is different. There is no one experience of depression which we must take into consideration.
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Vaught: We go down a dangerous path when we assume an author is speaking for an entire group of people
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Vaught: it’s important that we not drown out in these discussions; dominant group has an easier path to pub
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Niven: I have heard so many teens say they have gotten help because of the books they have read
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Niven: Teens are experiencing this now & it should be in the books. They need to know they are know & loved.
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Question 2: how do you responsibly approach the topic of medication?
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Nyrae Dawn: if med is the right path for that teen it’s important that they know nothing is wrong with that
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Khuen: it’s hard & complicated. The admission that something is wrong is a hard place to get to.
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Khuen: what I owe teen readers is to be as honest as possible
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Khuen: teen readers know very quickly what is honest and what is not
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Vaught: medication is a choice & we should present it as a choice. Removing choices is not helpful.
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Vaught: other countries deal with mental health differently then we do
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Vaught: meds have side effects. For many it’s a choice between symptoms vs side effects & it’s a hard choice
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Question 3: why is it important to write about mental health
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Dawn: everyone has a right to see themselves in the stories that they read
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Khuen: it’s out there, it’s real, and we need to reduce stigma
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Niven: we need to remind readers they are not alone
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Toten: It’s all around us. It’s part of life so we right as writers about life.
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Vaught: “the ways my mom would come and go because of the symptoms of her mental illness”
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Vaught is talking about the effects of her mother’s mental illness & growing up with a distorted mirror
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Vaught: having a parent with a mental illness is a significant shaping factor
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Totens brother was a classic sociopath. This informed her writing of BEWARE THAT GIRL
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Question 5: if writing is about honesty, how do you know who to listen to?
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Vaught: be careful to use reliable sources and not just one source
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Mental illness is an illness. Taking meds is no diff then taking insulin for diabetes. – from mental health panel at

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