2,500 postcards, and even more secrets, will soon be in the hands of Northwestern’s Active Minds.
NU Active Minds is hosting an event in the spirit of Frank Warren’s famous PostSecret blog to raise awareness of mental illness on campus and lessen the social stigma against it.
The postcards for the Active Minds event, which can either be submitted online or into drop boxes soon to be placed around campus, are a way for students to share some of their darkest secrets or thoughts. Like the website, all secrets are anonymous and creative artwork is encouraged. Though the postcards do not need to surround one’s mental illness, many of the postcards on Warren’s blog do divulge secrets surrounding the sender’s struggle or acceptance with his or her disease.
“What we’re hoping to do… is have people who feel uncomfortable really be able to express what they feel [and] how they deal with their mental health affliction in particular,” said Weinberg freshman Karsh Sahay, a member of NU Active Minds. “It’s really to voice their cause.” Such secrets would raise awareness of mental illness and its prevalence on campus when they are put on display in May.
“It’s not only a way of letting them out and sharing your thoughts with someone,” said Weinberg senior Samreen Iqbal, co-president of NU Active Minds, “but also having the people who are reading it know that you’re not alone, that there is someone there that has the same thought.”
NU Active Minds was formed last quarter by Weinberg junior Jinny Lee. Despite its prevalence on campus, Lee believes that mental illness is not given enough notice.
“We are trying to raise awareness of mental health issues on campus,” Lee said. “It’s a pretty common issue on campus… I don’t think many people realize how many people suffer in silence… because of all the stress of academic pressure, social pressure, or even the bad weather in the winter.”
Iqbal noted that the stigma associated with mental illness often leads to students not getting the help that they need. “We want to make sure that people know it’s okay to go to CAPS,” Iqbal said. “Just because you have a mental illness, that’s not something that defines you. You are much more than that.”
The selected postcards will be displayed at the May Day carnival in the lawn in front of Foster-Walker Complex. Helping NU Active Mind’s goal of bridging the gap between CAPS and students, Dr. John H. Dunkle, the director of CAPS, has been working closely with the group. NU Active Minds hopes to hold an informational panel on mental health at the end of May where students can get information they need but may have been too scared to seek before.
A display will also be made at the Rock mid-May, Mental Health Month, to present the postcards to the entire student body. For those that did not share a secret, Lee hopes the event will inspire some courage that allows them to participate in what NU Active Minds hopes to make an annual event.
“Just being able to share, and being able to see what other people have to say about their problems, their secrets, their lives,” said Lee, “it’s going to give everyone a sense of that community.”