In Conversation With Cara Delevingne: The Center for Youth Mental Health Hosted an Inspiring Dinner for Its 10-Year Anniversary
We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in young people’s mental health. The lingering effects of the pandemic, the increasingly clear damage that social media does to young people’s psyches—just outlining the factors can be anxiety-inducing. But as Charlie Shaffer, MD, put it in his introductory remarks at The Center for Youth Mental Health fundraiser last night, the situation is not one over which we are powerless. “Mental illness can be a tremendous burden, but it does not have to limit or shackle people,” Shaffer said.
The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian, previously known as the Youth Anxiety Center, has an educational mission and a mission to serve populations that don’t often have access to mental health resources. Last night, Shaffer shared a story of one post-doc at the Center who came up with an innovative model to maximize the benefits of exposure therapy by using a group setting and positive peer pressure—just one example of its small but profound effect. The research and teaching that has always been part of the Center’s DNA, however, has not always qualified it for the kinds of grants issued by the National Institutes of Health or other government funders. And so, private philanthropy has stepped in to fill the gap and allow the Center to continue its important work.
In a conversation with Vogue.com editor Chioma Nnadi, Cara Delevingne, who recently shared her mental health journey as part of Vogue’s April cover story, again took the stage to further de-stigmatize the conversation around mental health. As Sienna Miller, who co-hosted the evening along with Dr. Zandy Forbes, put it in her introduction, Delevingne was often “grappling with an inner life that was in turmoil,” at the very moment when her career was taking off. This came with almost unimaginable pressures. The decision to come forward with real honesty was not an easy one, as Delevingne says, but it was one she felt committed to—and one that has had profound rewards. “Whether it was anxiety or depression, it was all a result of not speaking about my feelings, not knowing how to process emotions,” she said.
Delevingne, who sat on a stage flanked by large urns of vibrant foliage, has seen the impact of her honesty not just in terms of helping herself, but also in the effect it’s had on other people. “I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘You really helped me come out and be a queer person,’ or, ‘When you spoke about depression and anxiety, it really helped me.’ And that made me go, Oh, this is all worth it,” she told Nnadi. That kind of reinforcement doesn’t happen all the time, the actor noted, but the rewards of being sober and in recovery are tangible to her every day. “During the past six months, even when I m having a bad day, it s still the best day.”
After the discussion, guests—who included physicians from The Center for Youth Mental Health like Dr. Francis Lee, Dr. Anne Marie Albano, Dr. Philip Wilner, Dr. H. Blair Simpson, and Dr. Rebecca Rendleman, as well as notable figures who have also done their part to make the conversation around mental health more open, such as Demi Lovato and Camila Cabello—descended several floors for a dinner at Veronika. There, doctors were seated with figures from the world of fashion—including Emily Adams Bode Aujla, Christopher John Rogers, and Wes Gordon, among others. Jordan Roth and his husband Richie Jackson were in attendance, as were Derek Blasberg, Nick Brown, Jerry Speyer, Board of Trustees Chair at NewYork-Presbyterian, and Katherine Farley, Joey Masiyiwa, Tancredi di Carcaci, Tamara Mellon, and Wendi Murdoch.
The night raised $4 million for the Center and was a potent reminder of the impact that can be accomplished through storytelling and connection.
Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com1/23Sienna Miller
Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com2/23Demi Lovato
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