By LYDIA JONES
Contributing Writer
This past week Active Minds organized a hashtag challenge to raise awareness for mental illness and for the club. Everyone who posts through the week with #ACActiveminds will be entered into a drawing for a $20 gift card to Montana’s.
The purpose of this event is to get the Active Minds name out to the campus and for everyone to reflect on the different aspects of mental health. Monday was #MentalHealthMonday and participants posted a fact about mental health. Some were concrete facts, and some were reminders about what mental illnesses are and what they can do.
Sloane Prince
Half of all mental health disorders show first signs before a person turns 14 years old, and three quarters of mental health disorders begin before age 24. (mentalhealth.gov)#acactiveminds #mentalhealthmonday
Devin Malone
Mental health problems have nothing to do with being lazy or weak!! #mentalhealthmonday #acactiveminds
On #TrustTuesday we took the time to acknowledge the people in our lives who support us or support mental health awareness. The purpose of this was to create an understanding community of individuals who all are working towards ending the stigma.
Jena McKelvey
Thank you Dejana Smajic for accepting me when I’m vulnerable. #TrustTuesday #ACactiveminds
Sarah St. Peter
The way Brian Tutino treats the children at his work is incredible. He truly sees the person and not the disorder. It is inspiring! #TrustTuesday #ACactiveminds
For #WarmFuzzyWednesday we utilized Allegheny Compliments so people could anonymously acknowledge individuals on our campus. This gave people an opportunity to compliment people who are in need of recognition.
Andy Sharfman, you are a ray of sunshine in my day thank you for always being you and a great person to be around! #ACactiveminds #WarmFuzzyWednesday
Mary Eddins, You are one of the most kind and selfless people I know. You are always thinking of others, and, for that, you are an inspiration to many. #WarmFuzzyWednesday #ACActiveMinds
Making a pledge to support people with mental illness and to break the stigma surrounding mental health is an important part of what Active Minds is doing.
#ThePledgeThursday allowed people to publicly pledge what they are going to do to break the stigma.
Colin Muldoon
I pledge to put myself in other’s shoes before judging them as sensitive or weak #ThePledgeThursday
Leah Rudge
I pledge to stop saying “This class is so boring/stupid/hard I want to kill myself.” #ThePledgeThursday #ACActiveMinds
The past week has shown us that there are many people at Allegheny who care about changing the conversation about mental health. If we all band together to make a change, it will happen. Even though there was a Montana’s gift card on the line, I truly believe that everyone who participated wants to make a change in how we talk about mental illness. It was an honor to read all of the posts, and I am so excited to see what the club will do next year under the new president Leah Rudge.
Today is #FamousFriday- quote a famous person talking about mental health. If you want to participate in any of these hashtags, it’s not too late! Start the conversation!