Talking About Invisible Illness – Mental Illness: Max Silverman at TEDxBatesCollege

Max Silverman at TEDxBatesCollege

What is TEDx?

For the uninitiated, TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas in the form of powerful talks. They cover a wide range of topics, in hundreds of languages, including talks on medicine, health, scientific research, design and engineering.

The TEDx Program is designed to help communities, organizations and individuals to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences and was the perfect platform for our very own Director of Youth Council, Max Silverman, to spread the word about mental health stigmatization, and the importance of support for all.

Max, who spoke about mental illness and his family’s journey to understanding his brother’s mental illness recognized the privilege he had to be standing on stage to talk about mental illness activism while many people who are experiencing it right now are unable to tell their stories under the stigma and fear surrounding mental illness, “I hope one day we’ll be able to plaster this country with green ribbons and to foster conversation around mental illness.”

Silverman is from Tarrytown, N.Y., and is a junior with an interdisciplinary major that combines sociology, politics and education. The founder of the Bates chapter of Active Minds, a national organization dedicated to raising campus awareness of mental health and stigmatization, Silverman devoted his TED talk to this topic, underscoring the importance of understanding mental illness as biological.

Organize a local TEDx event

Would you like to host your own TEDx event? By organizing a TEDx event, you will have the opportunity to create a truly unique event that will unleash new ideas, inspire and inform.