I have never thought about Active Minds until I had to check their website out. I was surprised to see how courageous the founder was. It has never been easy to overcome depression and mental health issues especially when it is brought by the loss of a family member. Furthermore, I see how Active Minds has evolved over the past decade to become the voice of young adult mental health advocacy nationwide with over 400 campus chapters, hundreds of thousands of young adults all across the country beneficiating from the Active minds model (according to CNN, NYTimes). I also feel that it is vital to have a better idea on how to manage not only the physical aspect of the body, but also the mind, because they both work together.
The whole purpose of Active Minds is to raise awareness of mental health issues and support one another as we go through difficulties of life. Mental health issues is something that many people face but are afraid to voice . It is a sensitive topic to talk about, however needs to be addressed in my opinion. Being mentally healthy and talking about how we are feeling is crucial to our overall health. Some people are not acceptable to change and as we transition from high school to college or from the working force to becoming a student, it can be extremely challenging. I myself still stuggle in this area, of being a full-time Student and a full-time employee. It has been a long lonley road for me and I am still trying to find my balance. In the past few years, there has been an increase of suicidal attempts and more and more people are struggling with depression and other mental illnesses. Wheather we struggle with a mental illness or not, I believe that we all can benefit from Active Minds. Not only can Active Minds can help prevent suicidal attempts among the City Tech students and thier loved ones, but it can also teach us how to cope with the challanges of life that come our way. People generally want to feel supported and one of the many reasons as to why people drop out of college is because of the lack of guidanice and support. I believe that Active Minds is a great tool that we can use as a platform to come together to voice our concerns and raise mental health awareness. I look forward in becoming an Active Minds advocate and raising awareness of mental health issues throughout the City Tech campus.
Mental and physical health is very crucial for the success of every individual. It affects relationships, academic success, and well-being of a person. Yet due to stigma, we don’t talk about the mental health so easily. Active Minds works directly with students to address mental health on college campuses with the intention of educating students and raising awareness, Active Minds encourages help-seeking and eventually saves lives by directing to the right place. Active Minds is a nonprofit organization works to increase students’ awareness of mental health issues, and provide all the resources necessary to improve mental health and mental illness, their intention is to help people/students all around the world. It is a nationwide effort to help improve everyone’s life regardless of their social status. According to active minds statistics, 1,100 college students die every year by suicide. Active Minds effort is to reduce the suicidal rate worldwide and raise awareness to each student. Prior to this class, I didn’t know anything about Active minds. I look forward to learn more about Active Minds and distribute the message to people who might be benefited by the organization.
Mental Health is a serious topic. It is unfortunate when a certain good is a result of something negative that already had happened. In this case, it was Open Minds. It was unfortunate for Brian Malmon to have to have taken his own life for a positive movement to be born from it. With that being said, Alison Malmon had a goal, to teach students about mental illnesses and provide the courage they may not have on their own so that anyone with issues can suppress them in a positive way rather than letting the constant pressures build. Active Minds is the only nonprofit organization in the nation who’s purpose is the constantly raise mental health awareness. Stress is a silent killer, school takes a toll on a majority of students, especially ones who work as well. This may lead to depression or suppression of ones feelings, Open Minds helps students deal with the daily struggles of life.
Active Minds is a non profit organization committed in helping college students dealing with mental health. This is the first time I heard about this organization, before this I didn’t even know that such organization existed. After doing some search online I found that they have been rated 5 stars by many people from different sources and have good reviews. On their website and their facebook page they have multiple people describing how it helped them. Students are more likely to face stress and mental illnesses during their college year when they have to deal with financial issues, family issues, social issues and also have to focus on study. At this point if they are not treated for their mental issue then that could contribute to greater health issue in the future and some are even more likely to die earlier. On their website, they have mentioned that about 1100 college students die by suicide each year, also In one of their video, it is mentioned that more American adults suffer from depression than heart disease cancer and AIDS combined. This clearly indicated how bad the situation is and people are less likely to seek help thinking they will be embarrassed, for them this is the best source for help. I would suggest that they try to spread their organization even more so more people can benefit from it for free.
I was sad to read the story behind the existence of Active Minds. It showed me that we are all vulnerable to any type of mental illness due to stress, anxiety and depression. Alison Malmon dedication to her brother’s cause was rewarded by bringing this awareness to many campuses across the nation. Based on their survey, suicide claims the lives of more than 1,100 college students each year. For this reason Active Minds created Send Silence Packing which is a nationally recognized traveling exhibition of donated backpacks representing college students lost to suicide each year. The program is designed to raise awareness about the incidence and impact of suicide, connect students to needed mental health resources, and inspire action for suicide prevention. At each exhibit of Send Silence Packing, backpacks are displayed in a high-traffic area of campus – like the campus quad – giving a visual representation of the scope of the problem and the number of victims. (active minds.org). I liked this idea the idea and I went on their website to request a display on our campus, but I found out that it is not free. I wonder Professor if you could do something about that??
I was taken aback by tragedy that took place in Malmon family. Loosing a loved one who was dealing with a mental illness is tough. But making sure that thousands of other people don’t suffer the same fate is quite challenging. Alison Malmon has been motivated by her loss to ensure well being for college students who may be suffering from mental disorders. Her heroic act (Active Minds) might save many lives of college students who’re under constant pressure and may be dealing with mental illnesses .