On Friday the 22nd NAMI@Emma hosted a Wellness Night as a Friday Night activity. We were able to get Meredith Shorb to host a yoga session from 7 until 7:30, then we played Inside Out in the Student Center for about 30 students. What I think people liked the most about the night was the abundance of free food and tea we had. I had a lot of fun hosting this event, and am very happy with how it went. I think it was a great first big school wide event for NAMI@Emma, since it appealed to a wide range of interests. I also was so thankful for the help I got from club members in planning and executing the night. Looking forward to the future, I'm excited to do some more serious activities with the whole school and in the club. Ella, the co-head, and I will be attending the NAMI NYS Legislative Conference on February 22nd to advocate for a more thorough mental health curriculum in schools (and I'm hoping to get the chance to meet my local representative, Patricia Fahy). That same week we are planning on hosting an event for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Last meeting the club members came to an agreement that this event should be centered around recognizing the warning signs of eating disorders in friends, and we are also hoping to collaborate with the Feminism Club to have another seminar on body positivity.
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"The Campaign to Change Direction." The Campaign to Change Direction. Jan. 2015. Web. This organization is a good example of the work being done to increase awareness of mental illness. By making the warning signs of mental illness more widely known, they are helping people realize they might need treatment, helping friends and family encourage their peers to seek treatment, and also preventing suicide.
Garsd, Jasmin. "For Students With Mental Health Issues, Transition To College Is Complicated." National Public Radio. 12 Sept. 2015. Web. In addition to outlining the struggles of living with a mental illness in this day and age, this article brings to light why mental health services and education are so important to have in colleges and other educational institutions. Holmes, Lindsay. "7 Mental Illness Myths People Still Believe." Huffington Post. 2 Sept. 2015. Web. This article defines many of the myths that fuel the stigma surrounding mental illness. In particular, it addresses the spectrum of misconceptions regarding mental illness which range from believing they are "all in your head" to thinking they make a person dangerous and violent, both equally incorrect and harmful beliefs. Patrick, Corrigan W., Druss G. Benjamin, and Perlick A. Deborah. "The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma on Seeking and Participating in Mental Health Care." Psychological Science in the Public Interest 15 (2014): 37-70. Web. This article not only helps to define stigma and its roots in culture, but also describes the sometimes detrimental effect stigma can have in preventing people to seek treatment, which demonstrates the importance of decreasing stigma. Styron, William. Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness. New York: Vintage, 1992. Print. While this is only one example of a memoir documenting life with mental illness, these books serve as a way for people unfamiliar with mental illnesses to seek a better understanding of what life living with various mental illnesses. By cultivating understanding and empathy, these types of books can help to decrease stigma. |
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all. -Bill Clinton
Katherine WallaceEmma Willard Class of 2017. Archives
May 2017
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