The Whole Story on Stress in College - Stress Awareness Month with #HalfTheStory

“Did you see her post?”

“Wait, last I heard, I thought they’d broken up, but look at this picture of them on the beach. Seem very happy together.”

“Idk, he told me before finals that he wasn’t doing well at all but his last TikTok is hilarious, so guess he’s doing better.”

These are conversations we think or have with friends nearly every day. Everyone’s lives look perfect on social media. We make assumptions based on TikToks, or smiling pictures of someone standing on a bridge in a foreign country.

Larissa ‘Larz’ May (she/her), founder of Half the Story (#HalfTheStory), knew this reality all too well. Spending up to 14 hours on social media each day, she realized how these platforms heightened her eating disorder, depression and anxiety. And she got the help she needed to change her filtered story.

Over the years, and through subsequent recovery, she now advocates for mental safety online, specifically on social media. And how it’s imperative that we all have safe places to share the “whole story” in this filtered, highly competitive world we live in online.

Join Larz and the rest of the Say It Brave on Campus team on April 26, 2023, from 8 - 9:30 p.m. EST to hear an honest and inspiring conversation about coping with college stress and social media use during Stress Awareness Month. Larz will discuss:

• Her lived experience with social media addiction and how she cares for her mental health now
• Tools for coping with stress and screens at the end of the academic year
• Resources to prioritize your mental health and care for your “unfiltered story”

* We’re aware that these topics may be sensitive and encourage you to involve mental health providers on your campus with your Watch Party. Please contact SayItBrave@ERCPathlight.com for any assistance in coordinating your Watch Party, or to be connected with a mental health professional who can attend.