Need help? If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or another mental health challenge, you can call the new three-digit National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Trained mental health professional are available to talk 24 hours a day.
A Leawood mom is adding her voice to a growing conversation in Johnson County about mental health struggles.
Driving the news: Five years after her son founded the annual You Matter Festival, aimed at raising mental health awareness in the Kansas City metro through music, Susie Gurley has now debuted a new podcast called ‘Just a Mom‘ centered around a parent’s perspective on kids’ and families’ mental health struggles.
What it is: On the podcast, Gurley interviews parents whose children have struggled with mental health challenges.
- Her intent with the podcast, she told the Post, is to shed light on the intersection of mental health and parenting without the stigma that can come with discussing mental illness.
Where can I find it? The first season can now be downloaded on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and will be complete by Thanksgiving, she said.
- Gurley’s family has also contributed to the podcast: her husband came up with the name and her son Will edits each episode.
- She is currently recording a second season.
Key quote: “It’s really amazing to me and humbling that people are willing to share their stories,” she said. “I’m so appreciative of that because I know that every single person who opens up, it’s going to help somebody.”
Backstory: Will opened up about his own struggles with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation a few years ago.
- The idea for the You Matter Festival came about after Will watched the rapper Logic perform the song “1-800-273-8255” on TV at the 2018 Grammys.
- The song’s title came from the then-number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which has since been changed to 988.
What happened next: After Will became a local mental health advocate through You Matter, Gurley said it created a “new role” for her as people began reaching out to her with their own stories.
- In researching for the podcast, she began to notice a lack in resources for parents whose children had struggled with mental illness — partly, she said, because of a generational gap.
- “While our kids are doing a much better job talking about mental health, parents still aren’t,” Gurley said. “I quickly realized every parent to date that I’ve interviewed, has said they didn’t know what to do and they didn’t know who to call when their child had a mental health crisis.”
Remember this: Gurley said if listeners take one thing away from “Just a Mom,” it’s that they don’t have to struggle on their own.
- “When you’re walking through a mental health crisis with your child, you feel hopeless and alone, and that’s how I felt,” she said. “Long story short, the message is that you’re not alone and there’s hope.”
