APRIL 27 • 2023 | 83
I couldn’t really figure out
what was going on with my
child. I was taking her to
therapists and experts, and I
just felt like I was completely
failing her as a mom. No
matter how many tools I
shoved in that toolbox, she
wasn’t getting better. I was
frustrated and defeated,” says
Morton, whose family has
all attended Temple Israel,
where its Korman Hall is
named for her grandparents,
Harry and Anna Korman.
So, she put out a post on
Facebook in 2019 and asked:
“Kids and Anxiety, who is
struggling with it?”
KIDS IN CRISIS
Morton received very personal
responses from people she
closely socialized with but
with whom she had never
discussed these issues,
including friends whose
children had attempted
suicide.
“I had no idea. That stigma
and shame is still very real,
but it was really eye-opening
for me because I thought
that we were alone. I didn’t
realize that there was an entire
community of people that
were going through the same
thing. I just started putting
feelers out and I started asking
these questions: ‘
Are we more
anxious or are we just more
aware of it? Why? What can I
do about it?’ Because I hadn’t
found the answer, I set off on
this journey to tell that story,”
Morton says.
Filming started in 2019.
When COVID hit in 2020,
and right before lockdown,
Morton and Roth already had
14 cameras out in the field
for the group of diverse teens
and young adults who were
documenting their struggles
in real-time during the
pandemic.
“They allowed themselves to
be incredibly vulnerable, raw
and real. And their courage is
admirable,” Morton says.
Along with personal
accounts from the teens and
young adults and parent-child
conversations, Anxious Nation
features testimony and insight
from leading psychologists
and psychiatrists along with
archival footage and historic
cartoons.
To complete the docu-
mentary, Morton and her
team reached out to educators
all over the world to obtain
artwork from kids between
the ages of 8-26 on how kids
view anxiety in themselves.
Artwork came from as far as
Ukraine, India and Australia
and, locally, from Hillel Day
School in Farmington Hills.
Morton’s daughter’s middle
school submitted 40 pieces.
“The reason why my
daughter and I are in this
film is that, not only is Sevey
the inspiration behind the
film, but I also knew that I
couldn’t ask another family
to do what we weren’t willing
to do ourselves. I thought
it was important that we
showed what was happening
in our family, too — not as a
filmmaker, because I’m not
a filmmaker by trade, but as
a family — as a mother and
a daughter,” says Morton,
whose daughter turns 15 in
July. “I’m a single mom and I
wear every hat in my family. I
wanted other families to know
that it’s OK to not be OK. I
wanted them to feel seen and
heard and I wanted them to
understand that there’s hope.”
Morton named her daughter
Seveann when she was born,
a combination of Morton’s
mother, Suzanne; and her
grandmothers Eve and Ann.
“That’s what you get
when you have a writer for a
mother,” laughs Morton who
has taken Sevey to most of
Anxious Nation’s film festivals.
“Sevey believes
wholeheartedly that by telling
her story she can inspire and
help other kids. She’s now
using her voice and platform
to be a youth mental health
advocate. It’s something she
feels very strongly about
and,remarkably, all of the
kids in the film do. She’s an
old soul, so wise. She’s leaps
and bounds the greatest
teacher I’ve ever had, and
you can see that in the film.
It’s not a perfect ending.
She still struggles with her
anxiety. The important thing
to know is that this doesn’t
define who you are. The
takeaway that she hopes to
instill in others is that it may
not go away but it does get
better,” Morton says.
“This is absolutely the
most critical medical crisis
we are facing in this country.
While we do ring the alarm
on the problem, we spend a
great deal of time in the film
talking about solutions and
things that you can do. Our
hope with this film is to bring
awareness to it and affect
change. And any meaningful
change needs to start at
home. We know that anxiety
is energy. We can learn to
harness that energy and
repurpose it.
“I’m a first-time filmmaker
and a mom who really took
the resources that I have to try
and put some good out in the
world,” Morton adds. “That’s
what the driving force was
behind it. I’m four years into
this film — all of my blood
sweat and tears — because it’s
that important.”
DETAILS
Anxious Nation will livestream at 7 p.m. May 3. Screening
and post-film Q&A with Kathy Ireland and moderated
by Joan Lunden. $12 adults; $7 students and military. To
order online viewing tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/
anxiousnation/play/64025cb6b0b29a00e2aa9174
For information about the film, go to: www.anxiousnation.
com Instagram: @anxiousnation; Facebook: www.
facebook.com/anxiousnationfilm
Join the conversation on social media using
#AnxiousNation, #YouAreNotAlone, #Anxiety,
#MentalHealthAwareness.
PHOTOS FROM ANXIOUS NATION
Sevey and her mom, Laura
Morton, in a scene from
Anxious Nation.