Hi, everyone! I hope school is going well and that with all of your busy schedules, you are still finding a way to serve your community.
In the past I have written a few blogs on Active Minds, a national organization committed to ending mental health stigma. At Exeter, our Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO), which is our umbrella organization for all our community service groups, has an Active Minds chapter. I am one of the two co-heads of this chapter and wanted to share a project we recently ran called, “I am more than…“
The “I am more than” project reached out to Exeter’s community to ask people about personal stigma and self-image.
We were working to combat the stigma infused identity issues that people, especially teens, face. Some examples from the project were: “I am more than my GPA.” to “I am more than my Anxiety Disorder”.
People shared a wide range of things to show that they are a multi-faceted person. Over two days, we collected peoples statements. Students were allowed to either tape their statement on a poster board themselves, to help show the world that they are not their stigma, or submit it anonymously.
Overall, the event was a huge success. We even had to make extra boards to cater to the volume of responses.
Check out activeminds.org to see more of what this national organization’s mission is