The Age of Polycrisis mental health awareness event, hosted by Partnership for Awareness (PFA) and presented by Ms. Peijen Chen, AMFT, brought students, families, and community members together for a thoughtful and interactive presentation on January 13th. Held at the San Marino Community Center, the 2 hour program, titled Creating Connection in an Age of Polycrisis, focused on how the struggles of every-day life affect youth and families, and how meaningful, face-to-face connection can help counter pressures.
The event featured 3 speakers who each brought a unique section of their struggles to the presentation. Huntington Middle School Wellness Counselor Ms. Chen, and San Marino High School seniors Mimi Bernstein and Claire Lee came together to host the event. Together, they guided attendees through the concept of polycrisis, a term used to describe how everyday crises such as academic pressure, mental health challenges, and other concepts can deeply affect your day-to-day thoughts and actions.
This presentation helped attendees, especially parents of students, better understand why many young people feel overwhelmed. Ms. Chen provided a professional perspective to the presentation, explaining how layered stress impacts emotional acts. She emphasized that while today’s challenges are complex, community care and speaking up about it remain powerful. Particularly, the part of the program including Bernstein and Lee, who shared personal stories from their own high school experiences, helped students and parents grasp the feelings that may be felt everyday. They specifically spoke about navigating academic expectations and mental health struggles, as well as uncertainty about the future. By sharing their realities as students currently living through polycrisis, they helped validate the experiences of many others in the room. “It was a rewarding experience to communicate with parents from HMS and SMHS who wanted to help students improve their mental health. An interesting thing I learned was that many of these parents encouraged their kids to talk to the wellness counselors, but many are afraid to do so. In the future, I hope that I can make a positive impact by encouraging these students to feel less alone as they navigate their journey to improve mental health,” Lee said.
Audience participation was an important part of the event as well, attendees were given sticky notes and were encouraged to write down challenges that they currently face. Those who felt comfortable sharing could share their notes aloud, creating a sense of community through the room. Overall, Age of Polycrisis was a meaningful reminder that everyone goes through challenges, maybe similar ones, and by centering students’ voices and encouraging participation PFA could create a space that felt comfortable for many.
