Meet Miss Morris Area 2025

Natalie Demos: MACMH Partner, Mental Health Advocate

The Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health is excited to partner with Natalie Demos, Miss Morris Area 2025, to collaborate on our shared pursuit of optimal mental health for all. Learn more about her journey and mental health message.

Tell us about your role as Miss Morris Area 2025 and why you chose to use it as a platform to talk about mental health.

Miss Morris Area 2025 is a local title under the Morris Area Scholarship Program which is a local preliminary through the Miss Minnesota Scholarship Organization and Miss America Organization. I will spend my year of service representing the community of Morris, MN and the Morris Area Scholarship Program locally and across the state!

One of my favorite things about Morris is how it truly is a tight knit community. It is surrounded by some of our nation’s richest agricultural land, is full of incredible small businesses, and the people of Morris treat you like family. They have and continue to pour so much into the Morris Area Scholarship Program and I’m so honored to be representing them this year! In June of 2025, I will be representing Morris on the Miss Minnesota stage to compete for the title of Miss Minnesota 2025!

During our year of service, every titleholder has the opportunity to advocate for a cause that is important to them through what’s called a Community Service Initiative (CSI). As a mental health advocate for the past 7 years and someone living with a mental illness, I chose to advocate for mental health!

My CSI is called Let’s Talk About It: Normalizing the Discussion of Mental Health which aims to remove the stigma surrounding mental health by simply talking about it! I went undiagnosed for the majority of my life and struggled to receive the treatment I desperately needed. It unfortunately took a life-threatening situation for that to occur.

By utilizing my platform as a titleholder in this organization, I’m able to increase the visibility of the mental health community and remove the stigma around mental health — to be the person for others that I once needed and ensure others know their feelings are valid, it’s okay to not be okay, and that they are NOT alone.

I’m so excited to take my partnership with the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health along with me this year!

How do you first remember hearing the term “mental health?”

I hadn’t really heard the term until I was seeking help and guidance for my own mental health. Mental health was never a term that was used in school or outside of it growing up. The closest I had gotten to it was in my psychology course in high school but even then, it wasn’t geared towards mental health.

Many think the term “mental health” is the same and/or interchangeable with “mental illness.” Mental health is something we all have whereas a mental illness is a diagnosable medical condition.

We all struggle with our mental health at least some point in our lives yet we aren’t all educated on it. By educating ourselves, especially our youth, we are breaking that stigma so that we CAN be educated, and it no longer must hold the stigma that it does.

What are some of your strategies to care for your mental health?

I treat my mental health just as I would my physical health! I use my medication reminder on my phone to remind me to take my medication. I use the coping skills I learned in talk therapy for when I’m feeling overwhelmed. I practice self-care and I have a routine that I stick to that helps me with time management, staying active, and getting good rest every night!

Some of my favorite ways to practice self-care are watching my favorite tv show, a good face mask, listening to music, spending time with loved ones, and snuggling with my basset hound Asher Mountain!

Why do you think it is important to have conversations about mental health with young people?

Because it ultimately saves lives! Did you know that suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents? Yet, it’s preventable! We all have a brain. Therefore, we all have mental health! Just as everyone has physical health because every human has a body!

When we educate our youth on mental health, we are setting them up for success. We are teaching them how to reach out for support if they are struggling, that it’s okay to feel what we feel and talk about it, that expressing how you feel makes you STRONG not weak and ultimately setting them up to succeed as they continue to grow as a person!

Growing up, the topic of mental health was swept under the rug in my family. So, when I was struggling, I felt ashamed. Talking to our youth about mental health ensures they don’t have to feel ashamed or struggle in silence. We are making sure they know they are loved, they are valued, they are enough, and they will never be alone.

What message do you want young people to hear about their mental health?

“Love and take care of your mental health, because tomorrow needs you.”

This world is so much better off because you are a part of it. You are so loved and your mental health matters.

Why is it important for you to support and share the work of the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health?

The Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health promotes positive mental health for ALL youth (from infancy through adolescence) and their families. They are a beacon of hope for the mental health community across Minnesota and beyond.

I have struggled with my mental health and went undiagnosed for the majority of my life. I have always strived to be the person for others that I once needed. MACMH strives to be that person for others all across Minnesota and beyond.

By sharing their work, resources and tools I am able to help continue to improve the lives of others for the better. By becoming an official partner, I have been able to amplify their efforts and be a part of something so much greater than myself. And for that, I am forever grateful.

Join us in uplifting Natalie’s message by following her Miss Morris Area journey on social media @MissMorissAreaMN and her mental health initiative @_letstalk.aboutit_.