Stress and ...Action! 4 short films about stress from YES teenagers

With guidance from filmmaker Anastasis Mavroyiannis as part of a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative’s (CAMHI) Youth Engagement Scheme (YES) workshop, teenagers worked together to create four short films about stress, altogether totalling seven minutes.

The idea of creating short films about anxiety and stress in adolescence—which was the main topic of YES throughout the 2022-23 school year—was presented to teenagers in the cities where the program was implemented this year, namely Alexandroupoli, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, and Athens. Next, small groups of between five and eight teens were formed in each city, and each worked with group coordinators and facilitators through both in-person and online meetings to come up with scenarios for their films before spending eight to ten hours on their final shoots.

Through the filmmaking and production process, the teenagers became closer to one another, learned a lot about the production of audiovisual materials, and crafted an important message for other young people, teachers, and parents. In a nutshell: “Stress exists in our lives for many reasons. Let's not be afraid; let’s face it together!"

CAMHI envisions formal and informal educators using this material in a variety of ways. They can prompt full-class or small-group discussions in the classroom, let kids know about the relevant page on CAMHI’s website, and form teams to:

- Explore the opinions and attitudes of their peers

- Undertake creative activities (e.g., shoot their own videos, write texts, make paintings, or collages)

- Gather and present to the class information on existing support services for teenagers and their families

More generally, CAMHI hopes teachers will use these short films to help empower their students to face the difficulties in their lives with courage, close to the people they trust.

CAMHI’s YES is implemented through the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s (SNF) Global Health Initiative (GHI).

To watch the videos and subscribe to CAMHI's YouTube channel, click here