Interested in the mental health of young adults?

Join PFAM - Parents and Families for Active Minds! 

What is PFAM? Parents and Families for Active Minds is a group for moms, dads, aunts, uncles, siblings, grandparents, and friends who care about young adult mental health and want to be part of the movement.

Joining PFAM is easy. Membership is only $35 a year and gets you a subscription to the biannual Active Minds newsletter, exclusive membership in the PFAM Facebook group to connect with other members, and periodic, customized updates on the work our students are doing on over 250 campuses.   

Is your son, daughter, or other family member living with a mental health disorder?

Active Minds encourages you to get involved and support the work we do on campuses across the U.S. and Canada to promote mental health awareness, suicide prevention and the removal of the stigma that surrounds young adult mental health.

Families are an integral part of young adult mental health.  Your support is crucial to advancing this field and ensuring that college students seek out the help they need.

"Every time we describe the club to someone and watch their eyes grow and then nod with approval. It's just needed, plain and simple, and people really recognize that."            – Patricia, Active Minds at Tufts University

Why It Matters

Mental health is crucial for the success of every young adult, profoundly affecting his or her ability to thrive in relationships, academics and future careers. Yet because of stigma, mental health is not sufficiently discussed and college students are suffering.

Some Statistics:

• 50% of students report feeling so depressed at one point it was difficult to function
• 1 in 4 Americans suffer from a mental health disorder
• 2/3 of students who need help, don't receive it
• 1,100 college students die by suicide each year
• 1 in 10 students have seriously considered suicide
• 18 - 24 years of age: when mental illnesses are most likely to present

When students are distressed they turn to their peers. Sixty-seven percent of college students who have suicidal thoughts tell a friend before telling anyone else. Active Minds therefore takes the unique approach of working directly with students to address mental health on college campuses. By educating young adults and raising awareness, Active Minds encourages help-seeking and saves lives. By empowering the student voice, Active Minds is ending the silence around mental health.

Student Voices and Stories

Read student testimonials about the impact Active Minds has had on them, their lives and their campuses.

Chapter Highlights

We want to show off the amazing work of our Active Minds students from across the country - check out Chapter Highlights for the most innovative chapter programming in the country! 

Resources for Parents and Families

While we are focused on providing the best resources and information to college students on campuses all over the country and Canada, we are looking for resources that exist to help parents and families understand young adult mental health and the current state of the issue. If you come across a helpful article or resource, email it to us at pfam@activeminds.org and we will share it with others! 

Downloadable Publications