Residents who have experienced onset symptoms of anxiety are invited to attend Valencia Hills Community Church’s Anxiety Summit on Monday from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
The number of anxiety diagnoses has increased heavily in recent years, where “the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic [saw the] global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%,” according to the World Health Organization.
According to Care Pastor Dan Broyles, the event is geared toward helping people with anxiety, or supporting a loved one who may be affected by its symptoms.
“It’s just a community-wide event to really help people with tools with anxiety or even people they care about, like their friends and family, because anxiety just keeps rising,” Broyles said. “We’ll have a number of professional therapists and different professionals talking about different aspects of mental health. We have breakout sessions on things like trauma and anxiety, social media and anxiety, perfectionism, all those kinds of things.”
Broyles encourages people of all ages to learn from the set panel and communicate with others who may have experienced the same issues.
“Whether you want to help your kid with anxiety, or you’re struggling yourself, we’re inviting teenagers, people married to someone with anxiety, whatever it is,” Broyles said. “We just want to equip people and help them have some tools in feeling less alone in their anxiety.”
The event is open to anyone interested in registering online for $10 at valenciahills.com/anxietysummit.
