2008 Woodie Awards
Mental Health Awareness Group founded
President wants to help students know where to find resources
Abby Slinger
Issue date: 11/7/05 Section: Living
Crazy. Nutbag. Lunatic. Mental illnesses carry a stigma, but one campus organization is hoping to ease the perceived disgrace through education and awareness.
Active Minds, a newly formed mental health advocacy group, hopes to support those on campus with mental illnesses and help them get the help they need. While the members have no training in counseling, the group can help point students in the right direction.
"Most mental illnesses are curable," Active Minds founder and president Amber Walker says. "But when diagnosed people think 'OK, things are going to be OK now.' It's only the beginning. A good analogy is like when you blow out your knee; you still have to do therapy."
"And there are different ways to approach mental illnesses," Active Minds secretary and psychology major Nikki Myers says. "There's talk therapy, cognitive therapy - it's not just going and taking pills. It's more of a path."
The group hopes to educate MTSU students about mental illnesses by posting flyers or posters about common mental illnesses and by inviting everyone to their meetings. Active Minds wants to share the warning signs of mental illnesses, so people showing these signs or seeing these signs in their friends can get the help they need, Myers and Walker say.
Walker also wants to let students know about the counselors on campus. Myers agrees and says the counseling centers on campus seem to be hidden. Both say that mental illnesses are common on campus.
"Stress is one of the major causes of failing, not drugs and alcohol, but stress can lead to drugs and alcohol," Walker says. "Suicide is the number two leading death of college students."
"And the life transition to college can cause anxiety and depression," Myers says.
Active Minds is actually a chapter in a larger, national organization.
Alison Malmon founded Active Minds in response to her brother committing suicide, Walker says.
According to the website, activemindsoncampus.org, Malmon's brother, Brian, dealt with depression and psychosis but concealed his symptoms from everyone around him. Brian began receiving treatment for what was later diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder, and a year and a half later, according to the Web site, he took his own life.
Active Minds, a newly formed mental health advocacy group, hopes to support those on campus with mental illnesses and help them get the help they need. While the members have no training in counseling, the group can help point students in the right direction.
"Most mental illnesses are curable," Active Minds founder and president Amber Walker says. "But when diagnosed people think 'OK, things are going to be OK now.' It's only the beginning. A good analogy is like when you blow out your knee; you still have to do therapy."
"And there are different ways to approach mental illnesses," Active Minds secretary and psychology major Nikki Myers says. "There's talk therapy, cognitive therapy - it's not just going and taking pills. It's more of a path."
The group hopes to educate MTSU students about mental illnesses by posting flyers or posters about common mental illnesses and by inviting everyone to their meetings. Active Minds wants to share the warning signs of mental illnesses, so people showing these signs or seeing these signs in their friends can get the help they need, Myers and Walker say.
Walker also wants to let students know about the counselors on campus. Myers agrees and says the counseling centers on campus seem to be hidden. Both say that mental illnesses are common on campus.
"Stress is one of the major causes of failing, not drugs and alcohol, but stress can lead to drugs and alcohol," Walker says. "Suicide is the number two leading death of college students."
"And the life transition to college can cause anxiety and depression," Myers says.
Active Minds is actually a chapter in a larger, national organization.
Alison Malmon founded Active Minds in response to her brother committing suicide, Walker says.
According to the website, activemindsoncampus.org, Malmon's brother, Brian, dealt with depression and psychosis but concealed his symptoms from everyone around him. Brian began receiving treatment for what was later diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder, and a year and a half later, according to the Web site, he took his own life.
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