VIDEO: Patti Murin Joins Child Mind Institute's 2nd #MyYoungerSelf Campaign

It's Mental Health Awareness Month and The Child Mind Institute is featuring a celebrity video per day as part of its #MyYoungerSelf campaign to end the stigma attached to mental health and learning disorders. Each day, the site will share celebrities speaking to their younger selves via homemade, inspiring messages recorded on their smartphones. Today's video features Patti Murin, discussing her struggles with depression.

Murin, who co-stars in "Frozen" on Broadway, shares her advice to her younger self: "Since I have been diagnosed I can recognize signs of it in my younger self looking back on days when my mom wanted to pick me up from school since I was crying so hard and I didn't know what I was crying about. I remember living life very much from inside my own head, I monitored myself a lot. I was a very creative kid and that's where I got to sort of pour all of my anxiety and feelings. And it's really important to me that we really start concentrating on the children of the world because their the future, the future of this earth and the sooner that we can pin point any of these mental health issues with people and humans, the sooner we can do that the better off we will all be and the healthier we will all be. You can get through it, I did. We can do it together."

The Child Mind Institute is in the midst of the second year of its impactful #MyYoungerSelf social media campaign, bringing together more than three dozen actors, Olympians, authors, comedians, advocates and other influencers to share personal videos with the advice they would give their younger selves about growing up with a mental health or learning disorder. The goal of the #MyYoungerSelf campaign is to eliminate stigma by showing children and adolescents who struggle that there is a bright future ahead if they open up and ask for help.

Of the 74.5 million children in the United States, an estimated 17.1 million have or once had a mental health disorder - more than the number of children with cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. In spite of the magnitude of the problem, lack of awareness and entrenched stigma keep the majority of these young people from getting help. Children and adolescents struggling with these disorders are at risk for academic failure, substance abuse, and a clash with the juvenile justice system - all of which come at tremendous cost to them, their families and communities.

"By sharing their own personal stories for the second annual #MyYoungerSelf campaign, these actors, athletes, authors and influencers are helping to eradicate the stigma that keeps the 1 in 5 young people who struggle with a mental health or learning disorder from getting help and reaching their potential," said Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, Founding President of the Child Mind Institute. "We all know and love these children-if it's not your son or daughter, it's a niece or a nephew, or your child's best friend at school. #MyYoungerSelf represents our society, whether you're famous or not, coming together to get these kids the help they need."

Other campaign participants include: Sara Benincasa, Michelle Carter, Katherine Ellison, Nick Goepper, Temple Grandin, Cat Greenleaf, Chamique Holdsclaw, A.J. Mendez, Sonia Patel, Alysia Reiner, Allison Schmitt, Tara Sim, Mara Wilson and Michael Young.

Last year, the first #MyYoungerSelf campaign reached millions in May, featuring 44 notables such as Emma Stone, Lena Dunham, Michael Phelps, Tommy Hilfiger, Brandon Marshall and Jesse Eisenberg. The campaign achieved 3.5+ billion global media impressions, reached 96+ million via social media and had a total of 10 million video views.

About the Child Mind Institute
The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. Our teams work every day to deliver the highest standards of care, advance the science of the developing brain, and empower parents, professionals and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most. Together with our supporters, we're helping children reach their full potential in school and in life. We share all of our resources freely and do not accept any funding from the pharmaceutical industry. Learn more at childmind.org.