Traveling Exhibit Encourages Students To Talk About Mental Health
Abstract
The exhibit, which displays personal belongings by individuals who died by suicide, is one of several projects developed by the national nonprofit Active Minds to raise awareness about mental illness on college campuses.
More than 1,000 backpacks, representing the number of U.S. students who die by suicide each year, stretched across the wide expanse of the Cathedral of Learning lawn on the University of Pittsburgh campus this fall.
More than 1,000 backpacks dotted the lawn one day last fall near the University of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Chapel as part of Active Mind’s Send Silence Packing campaign to raise awareness of suicide on campus. Many backpacks featured images and stories of college students who had died by suicide written by loved ones.
The traveling display was part of Active Minds’ Send Silence Packing suicide prevention campaign, and drew solemn attention from students, professors, and other passersby.
Many of the backpacks—donated by family members and friends—featured stories and photos of students who died by suicide. The stories and images of students were affixed to the tops of the backpacks that lay along the perimeter of the display.
“He was my best friend, my confidante,” one narrative read. “I spent the entire evening before with him, watching movies and laughing like old times. The next day I placed him in a body bag, as it was my duty as a paramedic to do so. That was the darkest, worst day of my entire life. I miss his smile like crazy.”
Active Minds is a national nonprofit that supports mental health awareness and education. The organization was founded in 2003 by Alison Malmon after her only sibling, Brian, died by suicide. Active Minds supports a network of campus-based chapters on 700 college campuses.
Pitt Active Minds President Julia Lamm told Psychiatric News that the Send Silence Packing campaign works not only to raise awareness about suicide on college campuses, but to “put a face and story to the statistics on suicide.” The campaign also helps to link students with campus mental health resources.
As Lamm explained, staff of the Pitt Counseling Center were on hand at the exhibit to talk with students about how to connect with mental health services on campus, and members of the Pitt Active Minds chapter spoke to students about how to get more involved with the chapter.
Other Active Minds programs designed to raise awareness about mental health issues include National Day Without Stigma, Stress Less Week, and Suicide Prevention Week. Active Minds compiles educational campaign materials that each participating university can adapt for its own use. ■
More information about the Send Silence Packing campaign is posted here.
