Opinion | Nov 19, 2024
Sally Sakin, Advisory Board Member, HeadQuarters
I attended the sold out presentation of “Feel It All,” a documentary created by renowned skier Drew Peterson hosted at TACAW and sponsored by HeadQuarters (HeadQ.org), a local nonprofit that focuses on prevention, and the Aspen Hope Center (aspenhopecenter.org), a local counseling center.
Peterson discusses his history of depression, the stigma of living with suicidal ideation; his fight to overcome alcoholism in a world that glorifies champagne spraying on the podium; and his dependency on outdoor recreation as a coping skill.
Those who suffer with the multiple forms of mental health need support and the necessary preventions and treatments to address their serious diseases. More than anything else, Drew deserves medals for his bravery in using his celebrity to highlight the needs of those suffering silently.
Our resort areas and communities that support the ski towns suffer from the “paradise paradox,” with suicide rates documented as two to three times higher than the national average (14.0 per 100,000), according to Colorado School of Public Health. Causes often referenced are exponentially rising — housing costs, cost of living vs. wages disparity, isolation, and lack of mental health resources.
Living in a ski community makes the need for understanding the crisis in mental health awareness all the more acute, leading Drew to call local schools and offer screenings for students. He was told by the schools that his film would not be shown. How upsetting in today’s world that a peer-led resource such as this film is denied to young communities with the needs for awareness on these issues. Mental health is a national crisis. The surgeon general puts loneliness at the top of healthcare concerns. The more we expose our community to these issues, the more we talk authentically; the more we understand, the stronger and more resilient we become as a community.