Chris M. Curtis
J. 325
A new campus organization is addressing student’s mental health with a focus on suicide awareness, education and advocacy.
Christopher Werner, a second-year psychology major, started the outreach group Active Minds to provide students with the information and resources to help each other deal with mental health illnesses and to erase the stigma associated with illnesses.
Werner says the best way to end the stigma with mental health illnesses is to provide a comfortable environment for students to talk about mental health.
“We notice it’s not so much what we say to them, but that they know someone cares. That there is help out there for them.” Werner says.
One of the core concepts in Active Minds is that not everyone has a mental health disorder, but everyone has mental health and having a diagnosable disorder does not make a person much different from a person without a disorder.
The group seeks members beyond those who have a mental health disorder as it’s likely at some point students will encounter someone during their college careers with an illness or risk factors for an illness.
Active Minds is not a support group, Werner says, but rather a peer-service with resources and training for students. Active Minds can refer people to what is available.
According to the USC Counseling and Human Development Center one out of every four young adults will experience a depressive episode by age 24. The center finds nearly half of all college students report feeling so depressed at some point in time during their college career they have trouble functioning. If left untreated depression can lead to suicide, which is the second leading cause of death among college students, the center says.
Werner’s desire to help students comes from his past background in dealing with mental health issues and thoughts of suicide. “I have actually experienced it, I came close to committing suicide in high school,” Werner said. “I know what they are going through. I know how much help they need.”
Active minds will host several events in the month of April to raise awareness for campus mental health.
The group will host a suicide prevention training program on Thursday, April 16, led by Barbara Sheridan of the USC Counseling & Human Development Center from 6 – 8 p.m. in room 350 of the BA Building.
The training seeks to increase student awareness on the prevalence of suicide, help students recognize the risk signs for suicide and train students to respond with confidence.
Sheridan said the session would not train students to be therapists, but enable them to direct a friend or colleague to get help. Research shows college students are most likely to share thoughts of suicide with a friend or a peer. Responding with confidence includes taking threats seriously or being willing to ask if someone is thinking about suicide. In our culture most people will not voluntarily inform you they are thinking about suicide, Sheridan said.
The training will include activities and role-playing that replicate the real life scenarios and emotions that go along with discussing thoughts of suicide so the students know how to react in a true situation.
“This is an issue, there is hope and they can make a difference,” Sheridan says of students taking the training session. “How often can you learn to say a life in two hours?”
Active Minds will also participate in the National Alliance on Mental Illness 5K walk on Saturday, April 25, beginning at 9 a.m. in West Columbia river-walk park. The goal of the walk is to raise awareness for mental health issues and it is a fundraiser. Active Minds will host a team of walkers and work in cooperation with the counseling center, which will also host a team to raise funds.
One of the participants, Dr. Toby Level, a counselor with USC Counseling & Human Development Center and faculty advisor to Active Minds, hopes to see students come out and raise awareness about mental health issues.
Level wants to see more people accessing mental health services. He sees access as a way to reduce the stigma. “More dialogue about mental health problems and people being open about life struggles normalize mental health disorders.” Level says, as a way to reduce stigma. “At one time or another we will all be touched by mental illness if not personally then within a friendship or with a family member."
"To increase knowledge and to be aware of the resources available, particularly to USC students that are struggling with mental health problems.” Level says referring to why students should use the services.
Anyone interested in joining Active Minds or coming to an Active Minds activity or training can contact Chris Werner at (803) 530-4993 or Dr. Toby Level at (803) 777-5325.
