Active Minds Programs & Campaigns
Why (And How) Every Community Should “Send Silence Packing®”
Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. Send Silence Packing® (SSP) is a traveling exhibit with the purpose of opening the conversation about mental health issues that we all face on a daily basis while also providing attendees with the resources available to them on a community and national level. I decided to become…
Your Voice is Your Power… So Start Telling Your Story
Self-advocacy is a powerful tool, especially as we navigate a world with systems that are not structured to serve us. To me, as an immigrant, queer Latina, it is important to understand all of the factors that have played into my mental well-being. Growing up in a Hispanic household where mental health was not talked…
Making Space for Mental Health at Your Community College
Picture this: It’s my first semester at Central New Mexico Community College (CNMCC), and I’m knee-deep in textbooks, navigating the maze of college life. Like many of us, I was eager to learn and grow but realized that the pressures of academia can sometimes take a toll on our mental health. Stress, self-doubt, and the…
Behind the Scenes of the Fall 2023 Send Silence Packing® Tour
For over a decade, the Active Minds Send Silence Packing® (SSP) display has traveled the country to end the silence surrounding mental illness and suicide. Send Silence Packing® encourages attendees to seek support for themselves, friends, or loved ones, with trained professionals available on-site and thousands of mental health resources distributed to community members at…
Five Ways Youth Champions Can Practice Suicide Prevention
Last year, more than 49,000 people were victims of suicide, the highest ever recorded in U.S. history. Although talking about mental health and suicide can be challenging, it is a conversation that we can’t avoid. Every year, too many young lives are impacted by mental health challenges, making suicide a significant concern. That’s where what…
Meet the 2023-2024 Active Minds Student Advisory Committee (And Learn How They Can Help You!)
The Active Minds Student Advisory Committee (SAC) is made up of fifteen young adult leaders who represent the Active Minds student voice nationally through media and other student forums. They also advise Active Minds national staff on student engagement, community building, program planning, Chapter engagement and management, National Conference planning, and program promotion. Powered by…
How to Put Mental Health First This School Year (And Get Others to Join You)
Pencils? Check. Notebooks? Check. The planner you were obsessed with that you’ll use diligently for one week and then forget about? Also, check. As you prepare to head back to school this fall, it’s just as important to check in with your mental health (and the well-being of your friends and peers!) as it is…
Combatting Stigma Surrounding Asian American Mental Health Using Language
Being Asian and Filipino, it was so challenging to talk about my mental health, particularly due to the stigma in my family and community. As a college professor currently visiting the United States (but who was raised in the Philippines, a dominantly Catholic country), I observed from a young age how mental health issues, such…
How to Support the Mental Health of First-Generation Students
Isolation. No one ever told me how hard it would be to navigate my mental health as one of the many first-generation students entering college each year. I sat in my single dorm room for 48 hours after my guardian moved me in to avoid interacting with the people living on my floor. I sat…
Five Reasons to Attend the Active Minds Mental Health Conference
For many months I worked with the Active Minds team to prepare for the first in-person Mental Health Conference in almost three and a half years. The months leading up to the Conference felt like an eternity in anticipation, but once it started, the two days at the Conference flew by. Looking back at those…
Active Minds is the nation's premier nonprofit organization promoting mental health for young adults.