Members of an ASU student group held colorful signs and chanted “Listen, talk, reach out” as they marched from the east to west ends of the Downtown campus Wednesday in an effort to raise awareness about mental health issues.
The group, Active Minds, began last semester and is a chapter of a national organization that aims to spread information about mental health issues among students. Wednesday’s March for Mental Health event displayed this objective.
“We’re here to bring to light how serious mental illness is,” Active Minds Vice President and nursing senior Marissa Reyes said.
Group members walked from the Mercado complex on Van Buren and 5th streets to Taylor Mall, and they handed out pamphlets about mental health and the Downtown campus’ health services.
“College students don’t necessarily know how to deal with the stresses they’re sometimes faced with,” Reyes said. “We want them to know there are resources available.”
Ruth Flucker, a clinical assistant professor at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, was the guest speaker at the event. She spoke in the courtyard area of the Mercado complex before the march began.
Flucker said medication isn’t always the best option when treating mental illness.
“Therapy is key to everything,” she said. “Long-term monitoring leads to long-term benefits.”
This walk was held to inform students about the campus’ mental health resources, Active Minds President and nursing senior Tina Violetta said.
“Being on the Downtown campus, students feel like they’re on an island, separated from Tempe,” she said. “They have resources here too.”
Violetta said students can seek help at the Nurse Practitioners Health Clinic or see psychologists on campus. A counseling and consultation office on the second floor of the Post Office building also opened on the Downtown campus earlier this semester, Violetta said.
Colin Bishop, a nursing senior, participated in the walk because of his past experiences with mental illness.
“Members of my family have been affected by mental illness and I’ve been affected by mental illness,” Bishop said. “This is a growing problem for college students and they need to know that people are willing to help them through their problems.”
Nursing senior Lexie Keil said she hopes more people will begin to speak out about mental illness because of this event.
“I feel awareness is gathered by people seeing and hearing things,” Keil said. “This has now become something tangible that people are conscious of.”
Reyes wants students to know that ASU is here to help them with their mental health concerns.
“ASU is advocating for students’ mental health,” she said.
Reach the reporter at Tksincla@asu.edu
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