Active Minds chapters act as a liaison between students and professional counseling services on campus.
Chapter President Stephanie Colwell said she joined the group to contribute to this kind of change at MSU.
Active Minds Chapter Manager Laura Horne said she works with the organization at a national level to support and develop individual chapters.
She said it often can be difficult to gain students’ trust in order for them to confide in advocates.
“About 67 percent of students who contemplate suicide are more likely to tell their friends than a professional on campus,” Horne said.
Colwell, a studio art junior, said although Active Minds didn’t play a big role in Mental Health Awareness Week, the organization is planning on hosting a Night of Hope event during next year’s awareness week, where students will be able to share testimonies about their struggles with mental health.
Colwell shared her story at a previous Night of Hope event.
She said having people come to her for advice after giving her testimony felt rewarding.
Horne said nearly a third of college students say they are so depressed they are unable to function, and these statistics are the reason Active Minds focuses on discussing these topics in a college setting.
“The ultimate goal of the organization is to empower students to speak openly about mental health,” Horne said. “The average onset of a mental health disorder is between 18 to 24. That’s the college age.”
Environmental biology and microbiology sophomore Mirijam Garske also joined Active Minds to learn more about mental health and try to make it a topic that students felt safe to talk about.
“I know that I was affected just by joining this group and realizing that (there are) other people also suffering through (similar mental health issues),” Garske said.
Colwell is helping Garske prepare for when she hands off the torch to her as the new leader of the group.
Colwell said she wants to bring a Send Silence Packing event to campus, which is an exhibition representing 1,100 college students who commit suicide each year by displaying that many backpacks.
"(We would be) laying out 1,100 backpacks ... (to highlight) the impact of seeing that number right in front of you,” Colwell said.
