Have you ever heard someone say people with mental illnesses are crazy, dangerous or insane?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in four adults and one in 10 children, or 60 million Americans, suffer from a mental illness.
Despite mental illnesses impacting the lives of so many, the stigma of negatively stereotyping those who suffer from them is difficult to combat, said Angelica Robertson, President and founder of Fresno State’s Hands on Mental Health Club.
The club’s goal is to educate students about mental health and to break the stigma that not everyone who has a mental illness is not able to function, because with the proper help and right treatment, they can have a brighter future, Robertson said.
Robertson and club co-founder Brittanny Heing created the Hands on Mental Health Club last semester which has 15 active members so far.
The club’s largest event of the semester was inviting In Our Own Voice (IOOV) to their club for the first time on Wednesday. Robertson expected four people to show up, but was surprised and motivated to see about 15 guests.
“It lets us know that people are interested in getting involved and learning about mental health,” Robertson said.
IOOV is offered to any club or organization of the local chapter of National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI).
During the IOOV event, two people volunteered to talk about their experience of living with a mental illness, what they went through, how their family coped with it and how they recovered from it, Heing said.
Psychology professor Christine Edmondson is the club adviser and a board member of NAMI Fresno. She said she is glad to have IOOV, one of many of the free services that NAMI offers, participate in the club.
NAMI pays attention to modern health illnesses, Edmondson said, because they can progress. She used the analogy of a cold progressing into pneumonia if not properly treated and diagnosed, and said some mild mental health issues work in exactly the same way.
“Mild mental illnesses can get worse,” Edmondson said. “If the club has access to different organizations, it is easier to meet their goal of spreading awareness about mental health and hopefully preventing future pain that may be unnecessary.”
NAMI also offers peer-to-peer support by non-licensed mental health professionals who help people to understand personal issues that those with mental illnesses face. Many of the non-licensed professionals have suffered from a mental illness or had someone in their family who had one and speak about their own experience, said Edmondson.
Robertson, who graduates this month, said that she hopes the club can continue to promote events that spread awareness about mental health, and that its members make strong connections with psychological services in the community and on-campus that will provide the club members with hands on experience for decades to come.