It sounds counterintuitive, but on March 28, 2012, the hot and rigid properties of asphalt made up the most forgiving surface of my life. I had attempted suicide, but I had survived and was posed with the toughest question of my life: now what? I suppose I should back up. I had been depressed for…
Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. Written by Remi Larson, Active Minds Student Advisory Committee and Active Minds at UCLA member. I’m here. I’m breathing. I’m alive. This surprises me sometimes. Then I remember how lucky I am for this second chance. When I attempted suicide I felt there was no hope left….
Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicidal ideation. This post was written by Dr. Colleen Coffey, a member of the Active Minds Speakers Bureau. I think that mental health issues exist on a spectrum. I mean this, of course, in the context of the range of issues we all face and the spectrum of…
Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. In November 2013, I knew little about mental health aside from the fact that my dad was battling depression. I avoided the topic of suicide on that autumn night when my dad mentioned it because I did not know how to respond. Sensing that it made me…
Now’s a great time to look ahead and plan your programs through the end of Fall semester and beyond; if you’re looking for a way to promote your Active Minds chapter on your campus, and raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention, consider hosting an event around one of the mental health awareness campaigns…
Frank Warren is the creator of PostSecret and a member of the Active Minds Speakers Bureau. Bring Frank to your campus to speak about mental health. I posted this image on the PostSecret Facebook page last week and it reached nearly 5,000,000 people. I don’t know the specific reasons why so many people chose to…
Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. Juliette Virzi is a former member of Active Minds at UCLA and the Active Minds Student Advisory Committee. When I woke up yesterday morning, I didn’t expect to begin the day in my living room, huddled around with six fellow students watching live news coverage of a…
This #StressLess Week, we challenged our social media followers to take extra good care of themselves by practicing self-care and then posting a #SelfCareSelfie. Once again, we were floored by the response (you guys are excellent selfie-takers) and want to keep this self-care train going. Without further ado, here are 12 ways to practice self-care,…
In the fall of 2015, I was heading off to graduate school at the University of Washington in Seattle. I saw this opportunity as a rebirth, a time to start over, and with that came the all too common thought that my mental health was under control, that I no longer required the self-care or…
It’s one of the toughest times of the year: papers and projects are due, you’re running solely on caffeine and there just isn’t enough time for sleep. That’s why Active Minds is hosting Stress Less Week from April 17-23. We’ve developed tons of resources and programs to help you get through finals with as little…
Active Minds is the largest nonprofit in the United States mobilizing youth and young adults to transform mental health norms across society.