It all started when my brother was around three years old, and he decided that he couldn't play with me anymore. My 'girly' toys started bothering him so much that if he accidentally touched one of them-or sometimes just me- he would scream this phrase over and over again until my mom would tell him that they were off and everything was okay.
Fast forward about five years later and our family life became defined by an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder diagnosis, the writing of an Individual Education Plan, and countless trips to doctors and therapists who could never quite help my brother. Sure, he no longer slams doors five times before finally closing them, and he doesn't walk in and out of restaurants more than the two times it takes to enter and exit, but his compulsions are still there. OCD is not something that is cured overnight, not something that you can simply 'get over', and the same goes for all mental illnesses.
Not everyone shares my viewpoint, however. It's this sad realization that made me determined to find a mental health advocacy club at Mizzou, and I've been lucky enough to find exactly what I'm looking for in Active Minds.
Active Minds is a a national nonprofit organization which has collegiate chapters all over the U.S. and Canada. Our goal is to change the conversation about mental health and give voice to this issue that is so close to our hearts.
This past November, I was blessed with the incredible opportunity to attend the National Active Minds Conference in Washington, D.C.. I spent three days on the insanely gorgeous campus of Georgetown University, and I loved every second of it.
First of all, I have a bizarre obsession with seeing other schools. I'm not sure why I find it fun to compare my campus to all the others that I visit, but I think I just really enjoy putting myself in other people's shoes and imagining how their college experience might be different than mine. Which, oddly enough, is one reason why this was the best conference I could have ever gone on.
I was probably fifteen years old when I realized that I really wanted to do something to stop the stigma surrounding mental illness. I embraced this cause as fully as many of my peers embraced Livestrong, Susan B. Komen and other organizations fighting for the cure of physical illnesses. I wasn't very vocal about how close this cause was to my heart however, because my brother was unfortunately so embarrassed by his disorder that my family kept it a secret from most people other than our closest family and friends.
So, when I finally found an organization three years later that could help me fight for this cause that I was so passionate about, I jumped right in. Active Minds became an extremely important part of my life last semester, and as I became more and more involved, I began realizing how much closer I was to making a real impact.
My experience at the national conference was very different than some of my peers, however. Through various open discussions, I began to realize that a large majority of my fellow Active Minds members across the country joined the movement because they themselves suffer from a mental illness. I sat and listened to story after heart wrenching story of students right around my age who had spent mornings unsure of whether or not they could get out of bed because they had lost the motivation to live. This was the ultimate turning point for me, because hearing exactly what it was like to live your life with a mental illness was that missing viewpoint that had kept me from fully understanding the cause that I had thrown myself into head-first.
My brother doesn't talk about his experience with OCD. In fact, he barely talks at all. He keeps to himself and the couple friends that he allows to peek into his life from time to time, and to be honest, it's kept us from having a real relationship. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother dearly and I would do anything for him, but the fact that he's never actually told me how hard it is to live with OCD always made it hard for me to truly understand, or to sympathize on the days when his disorder prevented me from doing the things I wanted to do.
Attending the National Active Minds Conference gave me the insight I needed to be a true advocate for mental health and for the battle against stigma. I've been trained to be a mental health peer educator, and I will spend this semester sharing all the vital lessons I learned at conference with fellow Mizzou students through the multiple presentations I'll give (starting this month!)
The point of this is simple; if you really care about changing something that's plaguing our society, do something about it. Or better yet, do everything you can to fully grasp the scale of the problem, and don't let anything get in your way once you're ready to make a difference.
SIDE NOTE: Georgetown and D.C. are absolutely wonderful and the travel lover in me has a few tips for anyone interested in visiting.
1) You MUST see the Star Spangled Banner (and yes, I'm talking about an object and not our nation's great anthem).
If you go to D.C., it's a given that you have to visit as many Smithsonian museums as physically possible. However, whoever planned my eighth grade trip to our nation's great capital must have overlooked the National Museum of American History. Here you can see movie artifacts (like Dorothy's red slippers!), good old Abe's favorite hat, and most important, our nation's first flag (which is actually called the Star Spangled Banner, which many people actually don't know). I swear I'm not just trying to be cheesy when I say that seeing that flag made me feel more patriotic than ever before. There's something about seeing such an enormous artifact which literally made history with each individual stitch. The flag is stored in a room where you're not supposed to take pictures because of the special light that they use to preserve it, but you can get away with a quick snap on your iPhone without the flash. Just edit it later and make it brighter (see my poor excuse for photography below).
2) The actual town of Georgetown is one of the most quaint places you will ever visit. Just walk down M Street and all the streets running parallel and you will find a town caught in a web of old and new America. I developed a slight obsession with the old pastel colored buildings, wrought iron fences and cobblestone streets. Oh, and you have to find the Exorcist stairs (from the movie) that are ironically placed in one of the most peaceful neighborhoods Ive ever been in (and don't be afraid to take a cheesy picture where you pretend you're falling...I mean, I did).
3) It's okay to skip Chinatown. I could walk around D.C. for weeks. Between the monuments, government buildings and numerous college campuses (and with the ease of the metro) it's easy to find yourself entertained without spending a dime. My fellow group members and I visited the Lincoln Memorial on our first night in town and suddenly were overcome with hunger, so we decided to leave this dreamland of American history and venture off to Chinatown, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. I think we walked for fifteen minutes before we found a real restaurant among all the American chains with Chinese signs. The food was great, but I could have found the same quality at my favorite Chinese restaurant back home. Find a restaurant in downtown instead, and spend some more time walking on the same grounds as our founding fathers.
First of all, I have a bizarre obsession with seeing other schools. I'm not sure why I find it fun to compare my campus to all the others that I visit, but I think I just really enjoy putting myself in other people's shoes and imagining how their college experience might be different than mine. Which, oddly enough, is one reason why this was the best conference I could have ever gone on.
 |
| My Stomp Out Stigma walk pennant and name tag |
I was probably fifteen years old when I realized that I really wanted to do something to stop the stigma surrounding mental illness. I embraced this cause as fully as many of my peers embraced Livestrong, Susan B. Komen and other organizations fighting for the cure of physical illnesses. I wasn't very vocal about how close this cause was to my heart however, because my brother was unfortunately so embarrassed by his disorder that my family kept it a secret from most people other than our closest family and friends.
So, when I finally found an organization three years later that could help me fight for this cause that I was so passionate about, I jumped right in. Active Minds became an extremely important part of my life last semester, and as I became more and more involved, I began realizing how much closer I was to making a real impact.
My experience at the national conference was very different than some of my peers, however. Through various open discussions, I began to realize that a large majority of my fellow Active Minds members across the country joined the movement because they themselves suffer from a mental illness. I sat and listened to story after heart wrenching story of students right around my age who had spent mornings unsure of whether or not they could get out of bed because they had lost the motivation to live. This was the ultimate turning point for me, because hearing exactly what it was like to live your life with a mental illness was that missing viewpoint that had kept me from fully understanding the cause that I had thrown myself into head-first.
My brother doesn't talk about his experience with OCD. In fact, he barely talks at all. He keeps to himself and the couple friends that he allows to peek into his life from time to time, and to be honest, it's kept us from having a real relationship. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother dearly and I would do anything for him, but the fact that he's never actually told me how hard it is to live with OCD always made it hard for me to truly understand, or to sympathize on the days when his disorder prevented me from doing the things I wanted to do.
 |
| My pledge to support Active Minds and "stomp out stigma" |
The point of this is simple; if you really care about changing something that's plaguing our society, do something about it. Or better yet, do everything you can to fully grasp the scale of the problem, and don't let anything get in your way once you're ready to make a difference.
SIDE NOTE: Georgetown and D.C. are absolutely wonderful and the travel lover in me has a few tips for anyone interested in visiting.
1) You MUST see the Star Spangled Banner (and yes, I'm talking about an object and not our nation's great anthem).
If you go to D.C., it's a given that you have to visit as many Smithsonian museums as physically possible. However, whoever planned my eighth grade trip to our nation's great capital must have overlooked the National Museum of American History. Here you can see movie artifacts (like Dorothy's red slippers!), good old Abe's favorite hat, and most important, our nation's first flag (which is actually called the Star Spangled Banner, which many people actually don't know). I swear I'm not just trying to be cheesy when I say that seeing that flag made me feel more patriotic than ever before. There's something about seeing such an enormous artifact which literally made history with each individual stitch. The flag is stored in a room where you're not supposed to take pictures because of the special light that they use to preserve it, but you can get away with a quick snap on your iPhone without the flash. Just edit it later and make it brighter (see my poor excuse for photography below).
 |
| The Star Spangled Banner in all her original glory (minus a star) |
2) The actual town of Georgetown is one of the most quaint places you will ever visit. Just walk down M Street and all the streets running parallel and you will find a town caught in a web of old and new America. I developed a slight obsession with the old pastel colored buildings, wrought iron fences and cobblestone streets. Oh, and you have to find the Exorcist stairs (from the movie) that are ironically placed in one of the most peaceful neighborhoods Ive ever been in (and don't be afraid to take a cheesy picture where you pretend you're falling...I mean, I did).
 |
| Take a step off M Street and see the colorful neighborhoods surrounding |
3) It's okay to skip Chinatown. I could walk around D.C. for weeks. Between the monuments, government buildings and numerous college campuses (and with the ease of the metro) it's easy to find yourself entertained without spending a dime. My fellow group members and I visited the Lincoln Memorial on our first night in town and suddenly were overcome with hunger, so we decided to leave this dreamland of American history and venture off to Chinatown, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. I think we walked for fifteen minutes before we found a real restaurant among all the American chains with Chinese signs. The food was great, but I could have found the same quality at my favorite Chinese restaurant back home. Find a restaurant in downtown instead, and spend some more time walking on the same grounds as our founding fathers.
 |
| The Mizzou crew plus our adopted member Sarah being ourselves outside the most beautiful building on campus |
You are the world's best sister. Some day you will hear your brother tell you so!!! And.....when are we going to DC???? You are definitely my tour guide!
ReplyDeleteWinter break next year? Or senior year? We'll make it happen:)
ReplyDelete