What is Active Minds?
Active Minds is the nation's only nonprofit organization dedicated to raising mental health awareness among young adults (ages 18 - 24) as they transition from adolescence to adulthood and when they are at the peak of their emotional and mental vulnerability. Within a span of five years, Active Minds has become the "young adult voice" in mental health advocacy and the organizational catalyst for young adult mental health awareness on college and university campuses.
Research shows that most persons who suffer from mental illness experience their first episode of depression, bi-polar illness, or schizophrenia during these critical years; what the general public doesn't know is that, unfortunately, these diseases can ruin a young life: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students; and the tragedy is that these illnesses are treatable.
It is incumbent on this young generation of leaders to educate, support, and advocate on behalf of their peers so that future generations of young people will have access to the mental health services they need, and dispel the stigma that goes along with these often deadly brain diseases.
Active Minds works with student leaders on college campuses across the United States to:
- promote awareness about mental health;
- help identify symptoms of mental illness, and
- direct students to available resources on campus and in the community.
By engaging young adults in advocating for positive mental health, Active Minds works to break the stigma that causes too many to suffer in silence, and to prevent the tragic loss of life.
With a comprehensive website, an organizational template for colleges and universities who wish to start Active Minds chapters, and annual Mental Health on Campus Conference, Active Minds serves as the only link between young adult mental health advocates on 44 college campuses throughout the United States and Canada.
By the end of the 2006-2007 school year, Active Minds anticipates establishing chapters on one hundred college campuses, and that number will grow exponentially as students come to better understand the need to address their mental health and well-being.
Organizational History:
Active Minds was founded in 2001 by Alison Malmon, then a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, following the suicide of her only sibling, twenty-two year old brother Brian Malmon a year earlier. Troubled that her brilliant and popular brother had struggled with depression in silence, even though he maintained a full schedule of extra curricular activities and a superior grade point at Columbia University, Alison was convinced that stigma and lack of information kept Brian from seeking help.
Determined to combat the stigma and address the lack of awareness about mental illnesses that most often strike young people at the pinnacle of their educational careers, Alison launched a program to promote mental health awareness on her campus. Just two years later, Alison created the 501(c)3 organization.
Want to be part of the Active Minds at Georgetown chapter? Email Michelle at mch42@georgetown.edu for more information. Also, check out their naitonal website at activemindsoncampus.org.
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