Winston-Salem high schoolers host 'Healing Together' mental health forum

North Forsyth High School hosted its first forum about mental health Thursday evening.

Panelists included students, teachers and health leaders from local colleges. 

The event was called “Healing Together.” And that’s what seemed to happen over the course of the two-hour discussion in the high school auditorium.

Panelists and members of the audience opened up about personal struggles with their mental health, and challenges they’ve faced in seeking help. 

“I feel like a barrier for me was the fear of being vulnerable in front of people, because I feel like growing up, I was very dismissed about my feelings," said sophomore Vanessa Sosa-Rojas.  

Speakers also talked about barriers related to race and culture like struggling to find a therapist that looks like them, and being raised to not talk about their feelings at all.

The latter was the case for Zahara Cammock, a senior who grew up in Jamaica. But she said she’s working on opening up more. 

“I'm still learning how to do that myself, but it gets better with the support that we have from teachers and counselors and also our peers as well," Cammock said. 

Salem College's Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of Pre-Health Advising Brett Woods was one of the adults on the panel. He said conversations like these are so important, and that they don’t happen enough. 

“I think what these young people are doing is amazingly brave," Woods said. "And I think they are going to be the pioneers of future generations to get to the point where mental health is a completely integrated part of our entire health system.”

North Forsyth High School officials say they hope to continue hosting forums like this one in the future.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.