Next Thursday, join walk out of darkness

The United States declared May to be Mental Health Awareness Month in 1949. Although the dedication of a whole month of the year to mental health awareness gives the impression that mental health has been a widely recognized issue in the United States, even the stigma around mental illness in United States is still being broken down. 

The faulty perception of mental illness within American society not only causes a phenomenon called social distancing, whereby people with mental issues are isolated from society in one form or another, but it also makes it more difficult for people to seek out and find the necessary professional care in order to heal. 

Mental health is just as important as physical health, if not more—the inability to have full control over one’s mind is a painful process of internal struggle for the person who is going through mental issues that also highly affects one’s physical health. This struggle may lead to one wanting to take their own life in some cases. 

Fortunately, the youth who are sick of lack of action when it comes to the issue of mental health have taken the matter into their own hands and have been using every platform they have to spread mental health awareness. A group of teens have gotten on board to spread this message in Cedar Falls. 

The Active Minds group have been meeting to discuss ways to create a safe space to talk about mental health alongside organizing events to spread awareness. The group has organized a walk out on Thursday, May 16 at 11:17 a.m., right before power hour. “Walking with us will show everyone dealing with mental health struggles that there is support at our school and that knowledge gives strength to those who feel alone,” junior Active Minds member Sofia Muñoz said. 

The power of change lies in the hands of the youth; join the walkout to show your support and be a part of spreading awareness on mental health. Students who sign up to join the walk out through Schoology will be excused from class within the time period. 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.