Thursday, June 8 2023
4-5:30 PM
Smitty's Cinema in Tilton
FREE!!!!!
The state’s 10 community mental health centers see increasing anxiety among children and youth every day. They are hoping to share that awareness with the public with free showings of “Anxious Nation,” a new documentary about childhood anxiety that features two Granite Staters, Concord psychotherapist Lynn Lyons and her longtime client Noah Cummings of Epsom.
The film’s writer and co-director Laura Morton began the project in 2019 when she was trying to understand her daughter’s extreme anxiety, according to the film’s website. She posted a question on Facebook: “Kids and anxiety, who is dealing with it?” A few people responded to the post publicly. Many more messaged Morton privately.
“It was as if I gave everyone permission to talk about the 10,000-pound elephant in the room,” she says on the film’s webpage. “Suddenly, people I thought I knew well began to share their heartbreaking stories. While each was remarkable and unique, they were also commonplace … too commonplace. So many, like me, were confused about where to turn for help.”
The state’s community mental health centers and NAMI New Hampshire have partnered on these screenings in hopes of providing people that help. The screenings, funded in part by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the Endowment for Health, will include panel discussions and mental health resources.
The film will air Wednesday night at Exeter Public Library; Thursday at Dover High School; Monday at Plaistow Public Library; and Tuesday at Kingswood Art Center in Wolfeboro. All screenings except for the one in Plaistow, begin at 5:30. The Plaistow event begins at 6:30.
The screenings will continue through at least June. The schedule is available on the New Hampshire Community Behavioral Health Association website at nhcbha.org/events.