ABC Television Announces Content for Mental Health Awareness Month

ABC Owned Television Stations raise awareness of mental health challenges during Mental Health Awareness Month with monthlong content and community events airing across its eight stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno. The station group announced TODAY its participation in the first-ever "Mental Health Action Day" to be held Thursday, May 20, that includes same-day town hall discussions and exclusive content in each market specifically focused to provide mental health experts and resources to the 1,590 local communities the station group serves.

The month kicks off with ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham airing "Eyewitness News Investigates: The Silent Struggle," May 6 (5:30 p.m. EDT). The half-hour will explore insurmountable loss to loneliness and a pandemic plagued with repeated racial trauma, as more people experience mental health crises than ever before. The stories of children, adults and frontline workers as they struggle to cope and highlight the resources available to them. The WTVD special will follow with an exclusive "Silent Struggle" stream-only town hall continuing the discussion on WTVD's free ABC11 North Carolina App and connected TV. Additionally, for Mental Health Action Day, WTVD will investigate the "Model Minority" stereotypes that looks at the damaging effects to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. That same week, an intersection of Jewish American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness. Wake County Holocaust survivors explain their history and present-day isolation and displacement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An overview of ABC Owned Television Stations linear and streaming content includes the following:

ABC7/ABC-TV New York, the most-watched station in the country, will air content throughout the month focusing on topics that range from how support groups provided virtual service during the pandemic to navigating through grief, mental illness, anxiety, and how racism has taken a toll on communities of color. ABC7 New York will also shine a light on how COVID-19 contributed to an uptick on opioid-related deaths and how children are coping post-pandemic. As the tri-state area is set to reopen fully on May 19, ABC7 will hold a "Mental Wellness Matters" town hall on May 13 with experts answering viewers' questions and addressing numerous topics including the increase of anxiety and depressive disorder among adults and the reports of an increase of unmet mental health care. Viewers can stream the town hall on WABC's free ABC7 New York App and connected TV apps.

ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, the most-watched station in Southern California, will air weekly content raising awareness about mental health. "Mental Wellness Matters" town hall airs Thursday, May 20 (4:30-5:00 p.m. PDT), with community mental health partners and experts to answer viewers' questions and share resources. Additionally, ABC7 partners with UCLA Health, National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), Pacific Clinics, San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center and several nonprofit community organizations throughout Southern California to raise awareness about the mental health crisis, erase mental health stigmas and provide resource information to its local communities. Viewers can stream content on the station's free news app ABC7 Los Angeles and connected TV apps.

ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago airs mental health-related content throughout the month and hosts two virtual town halls series, "Our Chicago: Voices of the Community" on May 13 and May 27, focusing on mental health among youth and young adults, and mental health issues in local communities as a result of the pandemic, policing and racism, respectively. "Windy City LIVE" dedicates a mental health hour on May 24 to include an open discussion with a panel of experts, a mental health and wellness segment, and discuss the various mental health apps available. ABC7's weekend public affairs programming "Our Chicago" (formerly "Newsviews") featured mental health experts discussing the toll of racism on communities of color, including the Black and AAPI communities on May 1.

6ABC/WPVI-TV Philadelphia will air segments every Monday in May on various mental health topics during the 5 p.m. newscast. The No. 1 station in Philadelphia will stream a digital town hall, "Minding Your Mental Health" on May 20 and will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health from all age perspectives, plus discussions on coping with racial trauma in communities of color. The town hall will be available to view on 6abc.com and across its free 6abc Philadelphia news streaming app, with both local and national resources made available to viewers.

ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco is airing monthlong content raising awareness of mental health issues throughout the Bay Area and providing local resources. The ABC7 Listens town hall, "Stop the Hate: Protect Our AAPI Communities," airs May 14. The live program spotlights local AAPI communities facing racism and increased violence. In support of Mental Health Action Day, ABC7 will air "Your Mental Health: A Bay Area Conversation" town hall during its 4 p.m. newscast on May 20 and live stream the program across its free ABC7 Bay Area news app and connected TV apps.

ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston is airing monthlong content with a "Mental Health Action Day" town hall, "Action 13: COVID-19 and Our Restaurant Industry," on May 20, raising awareness of essential food service workers' mental health challenges and providing resources to help as the pandemic continues to affect southeast Texas. ABC 13 supports "NAMIWalks 2021" airing local stories about the work NAMI Greater Houston does for the community, including fundraisers, programs, providing resources and mental health advocacy.

ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham will air an additional virtual town hall to help connect viewers with resources supporting "Mental Health Action Day" on May 20.

ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno dedicates an "ABC30 Together" segment sharing stories through a multicultural lens on May 19, raising awareness of mental health challenges in communities of color, specifically the experience of the Latino communities. In support of Mental Health Action Day, ABC30 will air exclusive content and local resources on May 20.

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