The La Grange-based nonprofit organization Optwell hosted a free event at SC last month, highlighting the importance of mental health maintenance and awareness.

The event, titled  “Find Your Calm: Tools to Reduce Stress,” featured a panel of guest speakers with presentations and a community resource fair consisting of mental health organizations like Rosecrance Behavioral Health, NAMI Metro Suburban, UChicago Medicine, and AdventHealth La Grange. It took place at SC’s new cafeteria on Feb. 24. LT and the Lyons Township Mental Health Commission assisted with and sponsored the event.

OptWell is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aims to inspire those in Chicago’s western suburbs to champion their mental health by incorporating healthy choices into their lifestyle. The organization promotes five evidence-based healthy habits: eat well, get moving, practice mental wellness, get quality sleep, and manage your health. They provide resources and social support to assist the community with their mental and physical well-being.

 “We’re seeking to destigmatize mental health,” Optwell President and Founder Kris Lonsway said. 

Lonsway founded OptWell last January and has since continued to empower local communities to form healthy habits and improve their quality of life. Lonsway grew up near Plano, Texas, where, as a kid, an adolescent suicide epidemic occurred, resulting in the deaths of eight teenagers. With the increasingly stressful environment for adolescents today, she believes that communicating mental health to teenagers is of utmost importance.

Last month’s event highlighted the importance of mental health awareness for all ages. Guest speakers included several people with experience with mental illness and other mental health specialists and therapists. 

High school teacher and LT alumnus Jim Maley ‘02 spoke at the event. Maley was an incredibly successful basketball player at LT, leading the Lions to the fourth-best team in the state, earning 15 scholarship offers, and being invited to the Nike All-American Camp. But while at Northwestern University, he began experiencing depression.

“I had no idea what it was,” Maley said. “I hadn’t been educated on [depression]. I didn’t just walk away, I ran away.”

He convinced himself that basketball was the problem. Yet 10 years later, while coaching at St. Laurence High School, the same symptoms returned—he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, and snapped at his players. Later, his mother shared her history with depression, and his father noted how closely Maley’s experience mirrored his own mother’s decades earlier. After taking a leave of absence, Maley planned to tell his players he’d been gone for another reason, but his mother urged him not to. Since then, he’s made it his mission to share his story and spotlight the fact that depression can happen to anyone.

“My therapy now is going around and speaking to all of you,” Maley said at the event.

Michelle Anderson, another guest speaker at the event, is the co-host of Cozy Conversations with The Sister Project. Anderson stressed the importance of taking care of yourself, putting your mind first, and limiting stress by just doing what you like.

“The more you practice, the better you get at being calm,” Anderson said.

As a parent of teenagers, Anderson claims that the seemingly constant adolescent stress may be attributed to social media and advocates doing basic activities you enjoy, and even sometimes doing absolutely nothing.

“Your nervous system doesn’t know the difference between a phone notification and if a tiger is standing right there,” Anderson said.

Other speakers included clinical social worker alumnus Jimenez Tapia and certified grief support specialist Michelle Halm, whose presentations highlighted signs of mental illness, ways of prevention and treatment, and who you can talk to. Every speaker emphasized that teenagers should find and speak to a trusted adult about their problems, as they may have experienced something similar themselves.

OptWell’s goal of suburban-wide awareness of personal health will continue with an event dedicated to brain health on April 16 from 6:30 to 8. This free event also features a panel of health experts and a resource fair to support adults and high school students. Anderson’s podcast “Cozy Conversations” is available to listen to via Spotify.