Photographs of people captured in their daily lives — doing things like eating chicken tenders and sitting at picnic tables in the Grove — flashed across the screens in the Student Union ballroom on Wednesday. A relaxing playlist of indie-alternative songs like Dodie’s “Secret for the Mad” played over speakers hidden somewhere.
At tables, handfuls of students, illuminated by a soft midday light, looked at the images and read short stories. The photographs and stories had been collected over several weeks by campus mental health awareness organization Active Minds for the Humans of Ole Miss project.
Jessica Tran, president of Active Minds, said the initiative is based on Humans of New York, a photoblog created by Brandon Stanton devoted to sharing New Yorkers’ stories, but focused specifically on mental health.
“The goal is to show people it’s O.K. to talk about mental health,” Tran said. “The kid sitting next to you in math might be struggling but would never talk about it.”
Some identified simply by their first name and class, students included in the Humans of Ole Miss exhibit shared stories about their own struggles with mental illness, opened up about mental health concerns particular to college life and provided ways for people to be proactive about caring for their own mental health.
“Surrounding yourself with a strong and healthy support system is so beneficial,” advised Grace, a junior.
“People love you and are willing to help. I am willing to help you,” offered Joshua, a sophomore.
“Real strength is opening up about your pain, not trying to suppress it,” suggested Sunny, a senior.
Since students could submit entries online, some of the words were shared anonymously.
“Happiness to me is escaping the real world with the endless adventures in books,” read an anonymous entry. “Sometimes I find myself reading for hours on end, and when I finally pull away from my book, I feel brand new and hopeful.”
Presley Favre, a senior broadcast journalism major, said that Humans of Ole Miss was a good way to let people know that mental illness is common and learn more about students who might not share their struggles in regular conversation.
“There were a lot of people in there that I actually knew and didn’t know those things about,” Favre said. “Everybody puts on their front for their friends and when they’re in certain organizations … people will put on that mask.”
Senior communication sciences Emily Leger, who came to the event with Favre, said that the event made a comfortable space for people to open up about their own mental health.
“Seeing people that feel the same way you do but may not be as open too, I feel like, makes you a bit more comfortable to start being a little bit more open and receptive,” Leger said.
Besides the in-person event, Active Minds is also sharing many of the Humans of Ole Miss stories on social media outlets like Instagram. Tran said social media and programming work together to normalize mental illness.
“Social media plays a large role in changing the conversation (about mental health) because celebrities and public figures have spoken up,” Tran said. “On-campus programming has made people feel more connected … people are now seeing that (mental illness) is a problem that needs to be addressed.”
