National Day Without Stigma: TODAY
Today is National Day Without Stigma. The goal of this day is to spread positive messages about mental health and how we all need to be a part of reducing the shame people feel in seeking help. One in four students, and nearly as many adults, struggle with a mental health disorder and most of those who get help get better. Please consider showing your support in fighting stigma by stopping by the Active Minds table in LLGC between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. today. A variety of informative brochures and tip sheets will be available to help make you better informed about fighting stigma and supporting someone into the mental health system. Consider signing our “Stigma Fighter” poster.
Another means of fighting stigma also is available. The videos from the Changing Our Minds: A Mental Health Summit held last year at NU are posted on myNU under “Resources” at the top of the page. Consider watching one or more of the videos to learn more about mental illness, fighting stigma and supporting someone into the mental health system. Some of these videos are ideal for classroom use or outside assignments. The video featuring keynote speaker Eric Weaver is the best presentation I have ever seen on the forces that create and maintain the stigma of mental illness, which culminates in a charge to all of us on how fighting stigma begins with each one of us. Himself diagnosed with severe mental illness and hospitalized for suicidality on numerous occasions while serving both as a police sergeant and pastor, Eric openly and honestly shares his story.