Eileen Kelly Moderated a Conversation at the Center for Youth Mental Health Young Patrons Cocktail Party
“All of you have been to Zoom meetings, and if we had this event on Zoom, it would be qualitatively different than if we were in person,” said Dr. Francis Lee, co-research director for the Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, yesterday evening. "It s a qualitatively different experience.” Dr. Lee was in conversation with Zandy Forbes (a longtime supporter of the Center) and Eileen Kelly (the podcaster and mental health advocate whose focus on intimacy has made her something of a Gen-Z Carrie Bradshaw) at a cocktail event for Youth Mental Health Young Patrons.
Asked by Kelly what was contributing to a rise in mental health disorders among teens and preteens, Dr. Lee remarked, “Well, that’s the million-dollar question,” before pointing to the rise of social media platforms and the fall of in-person connection as important factors. “Ultimately, what we know is that social support and social interaction are the things that buffer everyone s stress. Social isolation makes it worse,” he said. His caution made the intimate gathering, which took place at Forbes’s home, feel all the more poignant; throughout the evening, guests learned about ways to identify and support adolescents struggling with mental health disorders—including, naturally, by fostering moments of off-screen togetherness, and encouraging a stigma-free dialogue about mental health.
Formerly known as the Youth Anxiety Center, the Center was founded 11 years ago to address the epidemic of anxiety and depression among young people. Spearheaded by the late child psychologist Dr. David Shaffer, the Center collaborated with faculty from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine to offer diagnosis and treatment to adolescents in need.
To mark its 10th anniversary last year, the Center launched a Young Patrons group, which came together last night for their first big event. Among those in attendance were members Azzi Agnelli, Lola Bute, Alexander Hankin, Sophia and Paul Henkel, Bettina Ogneva, Ayesha Shand, and David Smalling, as well as Anna Wintour, Ivy Getty, Marie Laffont, Romilly Newman, and Jamie Soros. All had the privilege of speaking to the many doctors also present (Dr. Anne Marie Albano, Dr. Shannon Bennett, Dr. Warren Ng, Dr. Rebecca Rendleman, Dr. Charlie Shaffer, Dr. Carolina Zerrate, Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele) about the Center’s crucial work. “You can spot us because we look a little nerdy,” joked Dr. Lee.
After a 7:00PM arrival, the panel discussion began at 7:30. Forbes began by speaking to the progress the Center had made in helping to de-stigmatize conversations around mental health. “Just 10 years ago, parents whose children had been helped by some of the psychiatrists at the hospital were very willing to support the Center, but they didn t want to have their names associated with this sort of illness,” she says. “There s a considerable shift in how those sorts of people are now talking about their illness.”
Kelly, who has been public about her own mental health experiences and the medical treatment she’s received, brought the room’s attention to the importance of early diagnoses. “A third of mental health problems manifest by age 14; and 75% by age 24,” she said.
Helping to bolster the evening’s hopeful tone—about the future of mental health treatment; about its wide (and ever-expanding) accessibility—was a spirited concert from Sing Harlem (of America s Got Talent fame). The choir’s gorgeously resonant voices had partygoers swaying, clapping, and, at the very end of the night, singing themselves. After a stirring rendition of Alicia Keys’s “Empire State of Mind and “Amazing Grace,” there was a group singalong of “This Little Light of Mine.” Ahmaya Knoelle, a co-founder of the choir, was on hand to pass the microphone around.
“Our foundation uses music to help rewire our brains, as therapy, and to help balance our daily lives,” said Knoelle. “And after this song ends, we’re going to keep on shining.”
Madison McGaw/BFA.com1/20Paul Henkel, David Smalling, Sophia Henkel, Ayesha Shand, Azzi Agnelli, Alexander Hankin, Jessica Nichols
Madison McGaw/BFA.com2/20Dr. Francis Lee, Dr. Rebecca Rendleman, Dr. Shannon Bennett, Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, Dr. Anne Marie Albano, Dr. Warren Ng, and Dr. Carolina Zerrate
