School-based mental health clubs aim to make a difference
Doug Watson / WITF
Dr. James Waxmonsky, a child psychiatrist with PennState Health, has nothing but praise for school-based mental health clubs like Aevidum. He says clubs run by peers help to destigmatize mental health issues and tend to be more accepted by students, initially, than professional support.
Seven in 10 teens see anxiety and depression as a major problem among peers, the Pew Research Center reports. Brian Heisey, a teacher at Central York Middle School, says he has noticed an increase in mental health issues in his classroom in the past three years. It’s one of the reasons he wanted to lead a mental health club, known as Aevidum, in his school.
Aevidum is a suicide prevention club that began in Cocalico High School in Lancaster County in 2003. It’s now in over 150 schools.
Paula Fleming, a school social worker for the Cocalico School District, runs the Aevidum club at Cocalico.
“Aevidum means I’ve got your back. … It just has really kind of spread. And just getting out there and showing people that you don’t have to be alone.”
Keira McGuire is a health reporter and multimedia producer for WITF. She hosts and produces Transforming Health television programs as well as other shows and documentaries for WITF’s Original Productions. McGuire produced the Emmy Award winning series HealthSmart for the last ten years. Keira previously worked at WBFF in Baltimore and WMDT in Salisbury as a reporter and anchor. She’s a graduate of Towson University.
