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Students won’t have to go out of their way Sept. 14 to hear the message of a mental health awareness group.
Ball State's chapter of Active Minds is bringing it to the people with an outdoor exhibit representing college students who took their own lives. Active Minds is also hosting an inspirational speaker.
These events will hopefully expose the reality of mental health and the importance of having healthy discussions related to it, said members of Active Minds.
Last year, the group worked on this goal by partnering with community projects. Active Minds supported “Boulevard,” a short film inspired by depression and suicide, by Jeff Holiday, a new telecommunications professor and former graduate student.
Their first event of the week, Send Silence Packing, is a little different than Holiday's project. It’s a national, traveling exhibit from the national chapter of Active Minds that features 1,100 backpacks, the amount of student lives lost each year to suicide.
The backpacks will be available for viewing at the University Green on Sept. 14 starting at 9 a.m.
The backpacks have been a part of the exhibit since 2008 and include personal stories, trophies, metals and series of other valuables. They’re put together by family, friends and loved ones to help honor the lives of students
Following the Send Silence Packing program, Kevin Briggs, a global Ted talk speaker, author and mental health advocate will give a talk at John R. Emens Auditorium at 7 p.m.
Jake Griffin, president and founder of Ball State’s chapter of Active Minds, said he expects a full house at Brigg's talk.
“Mental health disorders can often feel like an isolating experience,” Griffin said. “Bringing a speaker to campus who openly discusses their mental health journey can often start a conversation about mental health problems that students are currently experiencing.”
Griffin has experienced struggles caused by mental illness first-hand. Mental illness is present in his family’s medical history and Griffin himself is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This hasn’t stopped him from pursuing his goals in life, he said.
“There is a great need for education about the benefits of treatment and the need for reduction of negative stigma towards mental illnesses,” Griffin said.
Stigma can lead to concealment of mental illness and the removal of potential supports, according to the 2000 article, “Stigma of mental illness and ways of diminishing it.”
Kristen Stewart, a clinical mental health counseling graduate student, said she is tired of hearing negative stereotypes about mental health because people are ignorant to its literal meaning.
Everyone has mental health, said Stewart, and she doesn’t understand the negative association often connected with the term.
She hopes people take mental health awareness seriously in order to better promote healthier, effective conversations about these topics.
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