Stopping Stigma and Saving Lives
Mental health on campus.
By Alison Malmon
Monday July 24, 2006
Brian would walk the streets of New York late at night, giving his money to the homeless people he had befriended and sleeping side by side with them under covered bus stops. Oftentimes during the day, he would just stay in his dorm room and sleep. In between, he would take tests and hand in papers, serve as the sports editor and revered columnist for his campus paper, and lead his a cappella group in nightly rehearsals. But during this time, Brian’s friends saw him acting differently; losing his sense of humor, his ability to relate to other people, and his zest for life. But life is one’s own to live, they thought, letting him take care of himself.
Brian thought people were out to get him; and he thought it was his fault.
This is the story of my brother Brian who, at age 22, died by suicide.
But this is also the story of thousands of college students each year who take their lives after suffering from an indescribable depression or similar mental illness. In fact, 95 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death, but because of shame they often try to hide their depression, anxiety or psychosis from everyone around them. That’s exactly what my brother tried to do, though his friends did notice changes in him. In fact, in four out of five deaths by suicide, friends did see the signs before the tragedy. And in none of the cases, is the pain or illness anyone’s fault.
One in twelve college students has made a suicide plan. Do you have twelve friends? Then chances are, one of them has made one, too.
Suicide is, in fact, the second leading cause of death for college students. It kills 50 percent more people in this country than die by homicide. More children and young adults die from suicide each year than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, and chronic lung disease combined.
The statistics are staggering, but the dialogue and support around this issue is at best underwhelming. While many campus administrations cite mental health as a priority, they are struggling to find resources for on-campus clinical support and are falling short in their ability to properly educate, support, and treat all students on campus. In many cases, students are referred to outside support because their counseling center is ill-equipped to handle their long-term needs. And in some, like the recent case of George Washington University student Jordon Nott, students are required to take leaves of absence or move off-campus for fear their mental health problem is too severe to be handled on school grounds.
But even if the prioritizing was in check and the money was there, it would still be up to the students to make our peers comfortable seeking the help that they deserve. It’s up to our generation to increase the dialogue around these issues, and to open eyes to the prevalence of mental health disorders and the reality of recovery through proper treatment. It’s up to us to break the stigma and treat mental health issues with the same respect as problems of physical health.
After losing my brother Brian, my only sibling, to suicide in 2000, I formed an organization called Active Minds in order to break the stigma on college campuses nationwide. We currently have programs on over forty-five campuses around the country and in Canada, and are constantly working to expand our reach and establish new chapters wherever we can. Entirely student-run, Active Minds chapters engage young people in their own mental health; encouraging early-help seeking, enlightened dialogues, and an awareness of the role of mental health in overall success. Being a student is not just about getting good grades. My brother Brian’s 3.8 GPA isn’t helping him much right now. We need to start taking care of our whole selves, watching out for our friends, and breaking the stigma that is all too present in the older generation. It’s up to us to demonstrate that our generation is, indeed, not afraid of or embarrassed by these issues.
Talk to a friend who you are worried about, reach out to someone if you’re worried about yourself. By opening a dialogue and treating mental illness as seriously as we treat physical illness, you’ll be showing people like my brother Brian that they are not alone, that what they are experiencing is nothing to be ashamed of and is not their fault, that with treatment they can regain the life they once dreamed for themselves, and that life is not over.
Alison Malmon is Founder and President of Active Minds, Inc., the nation’s only nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging young adults in the mental health awareness movement. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003 with Honors in Psychology and Sociology. If you are interested in becoming involved in the youth mental health advocacy movement, please visit the website at www.activeminds.org or email her at amalmon@activeminds.org.
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Amazing piece Alison… I’m walking for suicide prevention in august.. theovernight.org “eric’s angels”..
This issue is so much more urgent than most people realize.. Sadly, most people dont realize the urgency until it affects them directly. Thanks for speaking out.
— Lauren Patrizi - Jul 25, 09:33 PM - #I am so sorry to read your story – the pain of losing a sibling is something we never “get over” My sister, Linda and my cousin, Sue both took their own lives and I know that we must stand strong and tell everyone that suicide is not the solution
— Pam Smith - Aug 7, 03:32 PM - #