The Iowa Mercury

Share this post

Fearless Storm Lake, Iowa high schoolers launch mental-health podcast with emphasis on Latinos

theiowamercury.substack.com

Discover more from The Iowa Mercury

Iowa's Politics, People, Economy and Culture
Continue reading
Sign in

Fearless Storm Lake, Iowa high schoolers launch mental-health podcast with emphasis on Latinos

Douglas Burns
Feb 25, 2023
8
Share this post

Fearless Storm Lake, Iowa high schoolers launch mental-health podcast with emphasis on Latinos

theiowamercury.substack.com
2
Share
Two Storm Lake High School students, Briana Acosta (left) and Darlyn Alvarado have launched a podcast on mental health. (Photo By Douglas Burns)

STORM LAKE, Iowa

With skyrocketing mental-heath concerns devastating a generation of Americans, two Storm Lake (Iowa) High School girls are fighting back one podcast at a time.

Briana Acosta, 17, a junior, and Darlyn Alvarado, 17, a sophomore, have posted some of their many recorded episodes (available on all major podcast platforms) of Mental Health Matters, Too! One of the first podcasts is a discussion with a teen mom. More podcasts are in the production pipeline, they say, as urgency persists and interest grows.

The mission is mental-health awareness, the chasing of stigma in favor of fact, openness to what for previous generations have been isolating, closed-door battles with depression, anxiety, trauma and other diminishing, debilitating, and as astonishing statistics from the CDC show, even death as an all-too-increasing escape route for Americans from the wars inside their heads.

According to Centers for Disease Control data released this week nearly 3 in 5 (57%) U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021—double that of boys, representing a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade.

Briana and Daryln build trust with the sources, and ask tough, penetrating questions, creating a podcast defined by its frankness.

The podcast is in English, but the girls, both Latina, said they want to slay misconceptions in their own community where seeking for help is taboo or not accessible for financial reasons to immigrants struggling to manage basic needs.

Storm Lake is one of the more diverse cities in Iowa. At least 30 languages are spoken in the local schools, one district official said.

“My parents didn’t believe in mental stuff at all,” Briana said. “They have taken me to church, called in a priest. At that point I got exhausted.”

So, she said, it was time to talk. On a podcast.

“At first I was just doing it for fun, nothing serious — I was like ‘I just need credit,” Briana said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to start a podcast about mental health.’ I have been struggling a lot, ever since eighth grade with mental health, depression, anxiety.”

The students posted their first podcast in December. The podcast features trained professionals and students and other sources.

“At first, we thought it was going to be non professional, just something fun, but then we actually started exploring, researching stuff,” Briana said. “That’s when everything started getting serious. We started getting a bunch of listeners  and a lot of people were supporting us. We want to bring awareness to the topic of mental health.”

Darlyn said there are differences between the way mental-health issues are managed, often socio-economic. In one podcast, Darlyn presses a school official on whether the district is responsive enough to the needs of a changing student body on mental health.

Many people just don’t consider getting assistance, she said.

“My family, they don’t have insurance,” Darlyn said. “When they get hurt, they don’t go to the doctor.”

Storm Lake High School has a podcast studio where Briana and Darlyn record the podcast. Mental Health Matters Too! podcasts drop weekly.

Leave a comment

Podcasters Darlyn Alvarado and Briana Acosta show their platform to Iowa Mercury writer Douglas Burns.

If you haven’t already, check out some of the other Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists:

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politic Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN
8
Share this post

Fearless Storm Lake, Iowa high schoolers launch mental-health podcast with emphasis on Latinos

theiowamercury.substack.com
2
Share
2 Comments
Share this discussion

Fearless Storm Lake, Iowa high schoolers launch mental-health podcast with emphasis on Latinos

theiowamercury.substack.com
Shirley Neary
Feb 28

They are fearless, and smart. Good story, Doug.

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
Robert Leonard
Writes Deep Midwest: Politics and Cult…
Feb 26

Good for them!

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Douglas Burns
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing