WSU sponsors Voices Unlocked event to speak against mental health stigma

The Wayne State University School of Medicine's Division of Cannabinoids in Neurodevelopment (CANDID) will host Voices Unlocked, an evening of music, stories and community conversation designed to raise funds for a local nonprofit and break the stigma surrounding mental health. The event will take place Wednesday, Sept. 25, at Saint Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church.

The program will feature live performances, a moderated panel discussion, resource booths from local mental health organizations, an art feature from formerly incarcerated individuals and a silent auction to benefit the Children's Center of Wayne County. Founded in 1929 by U.S. Senator James Couzens, the center has provided nearly a century of support for Detroit children and families while also partnering with Wayne State on vital mental health research.

"We wanted to create an event that acknowledges the deep connection between creativity and lived experience with mental illness," said Associate Professor and CANDID Director Dr. Hilary Marusak. "This is about giving back to the community, in the community."

Marusak noted that despite advances in treatment, stigma continues to prevent many people from seeking help. "A friend of mine - one of our featured speakers - who struggled with treatment-resistant depression often asks, 'Why isn't depression a casserole disease?'" said Marusak, who works in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences. "If someone has cancer, neighbors bring food and support. But with depression or schizophrenia, people often withdraw. That silence and self-stigma can be just as painful as the illness itself."

The inspiration for Voices Unlocked came in part from the One Mind Music Festival in Napa Valley, which combines music, advocacy and fundraising to support brain health research. "They do an incredible job of breaking stigma while raising funds for science," Marusak said. "We wanted to create something similar, rooted here in Detroit."

The event will showcase a wide range of performers, including Wayne State's a cappella group Melodytroit, Detroit R&B artist Harold Thomas and music promoter Darrell Strickland, and the Detroit Medical Orchestra, an ensemble composed of health care professionals, medical students and community members. Speakers will include communications expert and TED Talk veteran J.D. Schramm; Jon Nelson, a patient advocate dedicated to ending mental health stigma; and Leon Judd, the president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Metro.

The event is co-sponsored by Wayne State's Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, the Metro-Detroit Association for Infant Mental Health and One Mind.

Marusak hopes this will be the first of many annual events. "Wayne State has tremendous strengths in neuroscience and mental health through the Institute for Brain Health, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and many other centers and programs across campus. It would be wonderful to see Voices Unlocked grow as part of this broader ecosystem of neuroscience excellence at WSU," she said.

Free tickets are available online, and donations to support the Children's Center can be made using this form. If you would like to donate to the CANDID team to support this event, or future events like this, use this link.