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Mental Health Advocacy on Campus
Stacy Hollingsworth knows the importance of mental health on college campuses. Originally from Old Bridge, New Jersey, she has lived with depression for more than ten years. Now 23 and completing her last year at Rutgers University, Stacy has fought not only for her own recovery, but for the wellbeing of her peers. In 2006, she founded a student-run organization, NAMI Rutgers, a college chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness. She developed the idea during a two-year medical leave she took to deal with her depression.
Stacy Hollingsworth: I wanted to use that time that I had, that second chance at life, to try and give back to other people, and to take my experiences that were really excruciatingly terrible and try to put a positive twist on things.
So far, Stacy has been extraordinarily successful at getting students, faculty, staff and even national media outlets like the New York Times and MTV to listen up and take action.
Not all students are as lucky as her peers at Rutgers. While most universities have campus counseling centers, too few have strong, student-led advocacy groups. According to Alison Malmon, founder and executive director of Active Minds, a national student organization with chapters at 70 colleges and universities, campus mental health programs lack two key ingredients: peer education and student involvement.
Malmon believes resources that seem too clinical can sometimes repel students. Outreach is much more effective, she says, when students themselves are involved.
Alison Malmon: Student advocates are really the best ones to know what's real, what's going to work, when's the best time to do this kind of outreach, what's the best way to reach their peers.
Many mental health conditions first appear at high school and college age, so promoting awareness and acceptance on college campuses is critical. Discussion of mental health should not be confined to college counseling centers. By joining together with their peers and staff, students can speak out about mental health in ways that are fun, engaging and that aren't intimidating.
Organizations like NAMI Rutgers and Active Minds get word out through information sessions, movies, awareness weeks and other events. But starting a formal organization isn't required to support campus mental health. Students may simply want to visit their campus counseling centers, help publicize a screening day, volunteer to conduct outreach or ask how they can help.
Alison Malmon: Students have a lot of energy, they have their stories to tell. They don't necessarily feel the same stigma the older generations feel and they want to tell their stories. And it can be a very healing process to be part of this type of advocacy work.
For information on how to increase awareness on your own campus, visit http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ or http://www.activeminds.org/. Thanks to Stacy Hollingsworth and Alison Malmon for "Chiming In" with us today. For Mental Health America, I'm Megan Sparks.
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