Advocacy & Awareness
Myths About Suicide
Content Warning: Suicide, self-harm, trauma, psychiatric hospitalization. Two important things to know: Mental health is treatable. Suicide is preventable. When we all have the facts about mental health, we can better support the loved ones in our lives in getting the help they need. Unfortunately, while suicide remains the second leading cause of death for…
Navigating Food and Body Image During the Holidays
As the holiday season approaches and we reach the end of 2020, many of us start to experience mixed emotions. Over the years, the holidays have come to represent warmth and celebration, in addition to the signal of a fresh start. But the holiday season can also be a major source of stress, particularly for…
The Power of Mindfulness & Empathy: Cultural Competency Training for College Students
A much-needed spotlight has recently been shone on the systemic racism that has long been embedded in our country, creating disparities and disadvantages for BIPOC communities. Many privileged individuals cannot even begin to imagine the hardships that marginalized and minority groups have faced, nor have they ever taken the time to educate themselves on this…
Mental Health Doesn’t Have to Be Scary
We have come to the end of October, and if you are like me, that means it was Halloween month! The time to binge-watch horror films from the 80s, buy pumpkins to carve, and eat a little more candy than usual. During October, a lot of things should be scary, your costume, decorations, maybe even…
How to Build Relationships on Campus with Administrators
At the beginning of this semester, Active Minds launched the Your Voice Is Your Power campaign that calls on students and advocates to partner with their campus multicultural affairs offices and student organizations to rally around BIPOC students’ mental health and well-being. In order to make these impactful changes on your campus you must work…
Coping with Election Stress
No matter your political views, this has been a stressful 2020 presidential election season. A recent survey from the American Psychological Association and Harris Poll found that 68% of Americans cite the election as a significant source of stress in their life (compared to 52% in a similar poll in 2016), and levels of stress were consistent…
Five Things That Helped My Mental Health During COVID-19
This summer, as the fall semester of my freshman year at the University of Arizona, loomed, I had to make the difficult decision whether to stay home or head to campus and live the traditional freshman experience I imagined. Based on a wide variety of factors, I chose to stay home and attend school remotely…
Dear Educators: We’re Humans First, Students Second
In the first semester of my freshman year, I was hospitalized due to mental health concerns. Living with a mental illness and managing my mental health was nothing new for me. I was diagnosed a few years before coming to college, but with the transition to a new school and new area, I was not…
Finding Support as a Student in a Virtual World
When looking at the data from the Active Minds’ April 2020 survey for the first time, a particular statistic stood out to me: more than half of students did not know where to seek help for their mental health. I felt concerned about the wellbeing and mental health of students. We have all been isolating in our homes…
How to Build Bridges Between Overlooked Students and Administrators
Take a look at college students, like really take a look at the students on your campus. College students, especially first-generation college students, are scared, nervous, and quite frankly lost when they arrive at college. They’re far away from home with no support system. The responsibility for providing support now falls on the shoulders of…
Active Minds is the nation's premier nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for students.