By Elianna Novitch
With midterms underway and stress levels high, a partnership between student organizations is taking time to raise awareness for mental health and its importance on campus.
The University of Iowa Student Government partnered with Active Minds, a UI student organization dedicated to promoting mental-health awareness on campus, to launch a campaign this month called “True @ The U.”
“It’s a really personal campaign. It’s a series of videos that are personal interviews with students who have experience with mental illness,” UISG President Rachel Zuckerman said. “There are a lot of different mental illnesses featured [in the videos] like social anxiety, binge eating, depression, and suicidal ideation.”
The campaign was created “to encourage dialogue around mental-health concerns by sharing stories, thoughts, and advice from University of Iowa community members,” according to a statement released by UISG.
“Something that was hard for me was that I never felt like I had anyone to go to and that no one was going through the same struggles I was,” President of Active Minds Kelin Silber said. “In reality, I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Silber said he has his own mental-health struggles, including clinical depression.
“This initiative shows people that they aren’t alone,” he said. “We want to do what we can to help them help themselves.”
Over the next month, a series of videos will be released as part of the campaign, in which about 20 UI students will share their own personal stories of mental health. Some of the students featured in these videos include Silber and Zuckerman.
“I hope that [from this campaign] students will see that there is someone out there like them and that you’re not alone in what you’re going through,” UISG Sen. Lily Burns said.
Burns took over leading the True @ The U campaign this year from Astrid Montuclard, another UISG senator who spearheaded the initiative last semester.
Another goal of the campaign is to fight the stigma against mental health and normalize taking care of oneself.
“Even if you don’t have a mental illness, we all have mental health,” Zuckerman said. “It can be really hard to care for your mental health in college because of competing factors, but we hope this month can help encourage people to make their mental health a priority.”
Along with the launching of this campaign, Active Minds and UISG have partnered to make October the “You Matter at UIowa Month of Mental Health.”
“Part of the reason behind having this month is to help raise awareness to the True @ The U campaign because people were so brave with sharing their personal stories,” Zuckerman said. “We really want it to have as much reach as possible and effect as many students as possible.”
Zuckerman said they are also using this month as a way to incorporate discussions surrounding mental health in students’ daily lives.
Throughout the month of October, various events will be hosted by the partnership to promote awareness. Some of these events include Outdoor Yoga on the Pentacrest, Field of Memories, panel speakers, and compliments & candy.
Outdoor Yoga on the Pentacrest will take place today from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the Pentacrest near the east side of Macbride Hall.
Active Mind’s annual Field of Memories will take place Oct. 11 and 12.
“If this month helps one person get help, it will have been worth doing regardless of whether we see it,” Silber said. “The smallest thing can make a difference; whether it’s one person getting help or one person talking more openly about mental health.”
