About Fight The Stigma Colorado
ABOUT THE FOUNDERS
Fight the Stigma Colorado is anchored by the trio of Psychiatrist Eric Straumanis, MD; Psychotherapist Marty J. Rein, Ph.D., M.Ed., LPC, CAS; and Addiction Physician Jeremy Dubin, DO, FASAM. Colorado’s 1st annual Fight the Stigma Music Festival on 9/9/23 at the Lyric Theatre in Fort Collins, CO, brought together musicians, community leaders, medical professionals and politicians to share one voice: that It is Ok to not be Ok. The vision for this event found inspiration from a shared call for urgency. It galvanized a mission that spoke to the importance for us as a community to create safe spaces and attitudes towards those who might be hesitant to seek help and to be receptive to the different courses recovery can take for each of us. This event has prompted the creation of the ‘Fight the Stigma Colorado’ consortium, to maintain the momentum that we had created in the fall of 2023.
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ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Hear from local thought leaders, politicians, invested artists, musicians, health care workers,
teachers, and other community folks who want to spread the word to ‘Fight the Stigma!’ while
getting down to some great music. This event brings together over 30 of Northern Colorado’s
leading musicians and artists performing in an outdoor 2 two-stage format for a day that
brings awareness to the imperative of challenging the stigma surrounding Addiction and Mental Health issues
This is an all-ages, free/donation-based event. Additional exhibitions and events will take place throughout the day. The service provider expo will showcase local organizations that provide important services to the community such as Alliance for Suicide Prevention . This great event gets community together for fun, connection, and purpose in the family-friendly atmosphere of the Lyric Cinema amphitheater.
Why join the chorus to shout out loud together as a community to “FIGHT THE STIGMA!” ?
Drug overdose death rates have increased in Colorado from 16.1 per 100,000 in 2011 to 31.per 100,000 in 2021.
(Source: Kaiser)
Colorado’s age-adjusted suicide rate was higher than the national level in 2021
(Source : Kaiser}
In the Poudre School District in 2021:
About 50% of students felt their stress was unmanageable, more than 40% of students felt so sad or hopeless that they stopped doing usual activities, about 1 in 5 high school students seriously considered suicide”
(Source: CDPHE)
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