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'Leap out of your comfort zone,' young woman tells mental-health audience at RIC

Providence Journal (RI) - 5/19/2016

May 19--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- "People inherently need help and structuring," 19-year-old Amelia Grumbach told an audience of 400 at Rhode Island College on Thursday. And that, she said, "is never truer than when it is being applied to struggles with mental health."

Grumbach, of East Greenwich, spoke from personal experience. She has lived with depression and anxiety, most recently while completing her freshman year at Washington University in St. Louis. She spoke at the third annual Peace of Mind Storytellers day, held this year at RIC's Sapinsley Hall, having outgrown a previous smaller space.

"When I was going through the worst of my depression," Grumbach said, "the only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that I had people out there to support and love me through it. But at some point, others can only do so much. Ultimately it must be you working on yourself... Pushing yourself past what you think you can do and challenging your brain towards growth will only help in your recovery."

Grumbach was one of more than a dozen scheduled guest speakers at Thursday's Storytellers event, sponsored by Pawtucket-based PeaceLove Studios, the national group that uses art and storytelling to promote well-being. Some speakers, like the young East Greenwich woman, have lived with mental illness. Others have come to know mental-health issues through the experiences of relatives and friends.

A behind-the-scenes worker at last year's story day, Grumbach said she was "pretty terrified" appearing on stage this year to a full house and a multitude of cameras. In truth, she was anything but: she spoke smoothly and with composure, with wsidom belying her young age, and received loud applause when she finished.

"Throughout your life, there should be moments at which you leap out of your comfort zone, with the expectation that you will land somewhere completely unknown," she said. "This is encouraged! This is healthy! It's terrifying, right? But it's every bit as necessary to life as eating or sleeping or breathing."

-gwmiller@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7380

On Twitter: @GWayneMiller

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