Senior psychology major Kathryn Forbes overcame anxiety and depression in high school and said she never thought she would have to deal with them again. But after coming to Ole Miss and taking harder classes, Forbes said that wasn’t the case.
By the end of her freshman year, Forbes began experiencing feelings of depression and anxiety that snowballed out of control until she was hospitalized for severe depression during her sophomore year.
She struggled with her conditions and having to stay home from school her spring semester, but eventually realized the importance of taking the time to address her mental health.
In the coming days, Forbes and others will share their stories during the second annual Active Minds of Ole Miss’ Mental Health Week. Forbes and Tyler Rice, who co-founded the chapter together, and the rest of the Active Minds members are hoping to create conversation and generate awareness on campus this week with multiple events Monday through Thursday.
Anxiety and depression are only two of the many mental illnesses college students often endure. The American College Health Association reports that more than 80 percent of college students felt overwhelmed by all they had to do in the past year and 45 percent have felt things were hopeless.
Active Minds partnered with the Office of the Provost, Division of Student Affairs, Communicare-Oxford, the counseling center, the Office of Leadership Advocacy and William McGee Center of Wellness Education for Mental Health Week.
Active Minds will host Send Silence Packing on Monday in the Grove from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Forbes said the event will be a powerful display of empty backpacks laid out across the Grove to represent the number of students lost to suicide.
“One thousand and one hundred students die by suicide every year across the country, and so they bring in 1,100 backpacks,” Forbes said. “A few hundred of the backpacks are those backpacks of those students that the family has donated with their stories on them.”
During the event, there will also be signs with encouraging statements on display and tables set up with resources like the counseling center. The center will be there to discuss its services and offer assistance to anyone if the display affects them emotionally.
Organizers said the display will be important for the community to see how prominent suicide is on college campuses, especially since Ole Miss has been impacted by several suicides recently.
“Reading their story personalizes the issue for people, to change the conversation and to change the stigma surrounding mental health,” Forbes said.
Active Minds is teaming with Phi Delta Theta fraternity for a 3-day fundraiser, known as Ball for Life: A Thousand Threes in Three Days. University Sporting Goods will donate $1 up to $1,000 for every 3-point shot made.
People can stop by the Active Minds table on Business Row, pay $3 and attempt to make as many 3-point shots as they can in one minute. The individual who makes the most threes over the three-day period will win a prize.
An Active Minds table will be set up on Business Row every day of Mental Health Week from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Other than the three-day fundraiser, the group accepts donations through GoFundMe as an ongoing fundraiser to fight stigmas, host more events, help the chapter grow and provide donations to the William McGee Center for Wellness Education.
Michael Ziblich, a father who lost his son to suicide in 2012, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday at Bondurant 204C. Ziblich speaks to college campuses around the country,
“He’s really good at speaking toward the young men who are sometimes difficult to reach on campuses, and so we’re excited for him to reach that audience,” Forbes said.
Blake McClure, Mental Health Week co-chair, said there is still work to do when it comes to getting men to discuss their feelings, even though Active Minds has worked to make it easier to do so.
“I think it’s kind of popularized for men to be strong upfront and not to be emotional and talk about their emotions,” McClure said. “I think it’s been a lot easier for me, especially nowadays, to talk about what’s going on in my life and how my emotions affect me. But I think for men, in general, it’s a little easier, but it’s still a lot of work to do.”
Active Minds will also hold a Humans of Ole Miss exhibit from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday in Bondurant 204C. The Active Minds executive board asked faculty, staff, students and alumni to submit stories, whether anonymous or not.
“Some of them are so open about their stories, and they’re faces that students may know on campus, like popular campus figures and ASB figures,” Forbes said. “Faces that people know and faces that they’ve seen on campus are sharing their stories.”
The come-and-go exhibit will also feature photos of almost all of the individuals who chose to share their stories, and Active Minds will release the stories Tuesday to start a social media campaign.
“This whole process has taught us that people are so willing to talk about mental health,” Forbes said. “They just kind of have to be provoked at first. Once you ask them the questions, they’ll openly answer.”
Although Forbes, Rice and McClure are open about their mental health, they realize everyone else may not be at that comfort level of sharing yet.
“I want people that don’t struggle with mental health issues to know that other people around them are struggling with it, and that they may not be open about it and to make sure they are okay,” McClure said.
