Active Minds chapter promotes mental health

Juniors Mara Weiss and Tom Rosenbaum are exposing an issue they said often seems to go unaddressed: mental health.

“People don’t want to talk about it,” Weiss said.

Together, the two established IU’s Active Minds chapter in late December. Weiss is now the chapter’s president, and Rosenbaum is the treasurer.

The group will work to spread mental health awareness at IU through educational campaigns and events.

So far they have plans to celebrate National Stress Out Day, which runs Monday through Friday, during which they will offer relaxing activities such as massages and games.

They will also provide information about mental health and where to seek help if someone is struggling emotionally.

The group is collaborating with the Division of Recreational Sports, the Residence Halls Association, Revitalizing Animal Well-Being and IU’s Counseling and Psychological Services to broaden the variety of the week’s events.

Newly organized, the group is still small and looking for members. If students missed the call-out meeting, there is still time to get involved.

Weiss and Rosenbaum said they need more people to get the organization running strong and to make a real impact on campus.

“It’s for people who want to reach out,” Rosenbaum said. “It’s a way for students to help other students.”

Weiss said she started Active Minds because she wants to get the message out that there is help for students facing emotional issues. She said mental health is an important matter that tends to be ignored, and she wants to bring it out in the open.

“It’s something I think needs to be there for students,” Rosenbaum said. “I feel it’s important to have something like this on campus.”

Active Minds serves as a liaison between students and mental health counselors.

If someone is experiencing an emotional issue, the organization will offer helpful information and refer them to Counseling and Psychological Services at the IU Health Center.

The ultimate goal of Active Minds is to remove the stigma around mental health and establish a clear environment for discussion of mental health
issues.

Counseling and Psychological Services Director Nancy Stockton said she believes the stigma has been lessening in the past few years, but there is still much need for
improvement.

“The more people talk about their emotional problems and the more they are brought out in the open, the more we can break down the stigma,” Stockton said.

Stockton said she thinks Active Minds has the potential to have a very positive effect on students. Because Active Minds is a student-run organization, she said students will have an easier time relating to one another.

“Students tend to listen to their peers,” she said. “It’s easier for students to get messages out to other students.”