Post Independent’s Longevity Project set to tackle mental health across age spectrum

As part of its annual Longevity Project, the Post Independent is set to embark on an enterprise series and events, titled “Striking a Conversation: Mental Health for All Ages.”

Last year’s Longevity Project examined issues associated with the aging demographic in Garfield County, life expectancy rates and the active senior set here.

This year’s project will dive headfirst into the broader issue of mental health across the age spectrum as a cornerstone of living a long, productive life.

The series will kick off Aug. 14, examining youth mental health issues, and in subsequent weeks will focus on different age ranges — teen/young adult, middle age and senior living — and what’s being done in our area to address mental health across the age spectrum.

“Throughout conversations in the past year, mental health keeps coming up as an issue,” Post Independent Publisher Jerry Raehal said. “From rising suicide rates to homelessness, to how we treat each other at work and at home, mental health is a topic that is often overlooked as stigmatized.”