De-stigmatizing Mental Health at Hotchkiss

Posted: 15 August 2019

IDEALS

• Leadership
• Service

Discoveries

• Communication skills
• Problem solving
• Courage
• Self-awareness
• Compassion

Overview

‘Bring Change to Mind’ (BC2M), is a national non-profit organization that promotes mental health awareness with a chapter at The Hotchkiss School. Students started the club in order to give their peers a platform to share their voices and raise awareness around mental health. The goal of BC2M is to empower students to educate one another, and their communities, and to create a culture of peer support within their schools.

The Hotchkiss chapter of the club partnered with the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Council to host a Community Conversation focused on mental health awareness at Hotchkiss. Members of the community submitted anonymous letters to share their stories, which were read by a volunteers. The discussion was one of several initiatives organized by ‘Bring Change to Mind’ and the student-led Diversity and Inclusion Council in May of 2019 in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month. Senior Gill Duquette helped start the club, which is the first high school program in the Northeast of the United States under the auspices of the national Bring Change to Mind organization.

Planning

The planning for Mental Health Awareness Month began with an open meeting for students to brainstorm events. Given the spring weather in May, outdoor activities for advisory groups and more food trucks were a few ideas discussed at the meeting.

The Council also met with counsellors at the Hotchkiss Health Centre during the planning process and learned that many students don’t know how to initiate a relationship with a counsellor.

Planning the activities was a coordinated effort by the Student Council on Diversity & Inclusion, adult counsellors, adult administrators (Head of School, Class Deans, etc..) to help carve out time and support for these activities to boost participation and lessen any anxiety about engaging in the activities.

Activity

Events included a film screening to introduce students to the School’s health counsellors and demystify misconceptions about the counseling process.

Guest speaker, Dana Drost, Hotchkiss Class of 2007 and graduate of Wesleyan University, also shared his story about mental illness and recovery from substance abuse. Dana was a varsity-level swimmer and Human Development Teaching Assistant during his time at Hotchkiss, so he is familiar with the pressure of trying to keep up with social and academic life. After his talk, BC2M hosted an activity where people wrote encouraging letters to others who are going through difficult times.

“Experiences with Mental Health” was the fourth “Community Conversations” of the school year. The open gathering gave students a space to ask questions and listen to people’s personal battles with mental health. Volunteers in the community shared other people’s stories, so stories could be told while retaining anonymity. The event was held in the Faculty Room.

An all-school painting activity took place as a form of relaxation, where art students directed members of the community to help paint an image of a green ribbon, the symbol of mental health awareness month.

Challenges

The student leaders wrote: “The topic of mental health was our first challenge, one that we were adamant to de-stigmatize. The stigma surrounding mental health creates a wall of judgement, isolation and shame for those who deserve more of our kindness. This can stop people from seeking help, so it is all our responsibilities to help end the stigma by breaking the silence.

We needed to find ways of establishing a conversation in a way that would engage our school community but remain sensitive and respectful to the topic.

Time was our other main challenge, so we made sure to schedule things and get approval from the right people so that all activities could happen.”

Impact

Students reflected that “This event has helped to create a more positive atmosphere around the subject of mental health within the school.

We didn’t do any formal surveying of the community to see what the impact was, but I know that students and adults in the community are appreciative of more acknowledgement about the realities of mental health. It’s always good to acknowledge that we are not “machines” and that not all days feel good. By talking about and normalising the subject of mental health this hopefully creates more confidence in those students who are going through something, and more compassion in their peers”

Long term

We now have a relaxation space on campus and students know how to access the counselling centre. We also have a beautiful piece of artwork made by our community celebrating mental health awareness.

The Council and BC2M have also worked to make sure the phones in every room are able to reach suicide and support hotlines 24 hours a day. Previously, the room phones could not reach hotlines after lights out, which a student brought to BC2M’s attention in April.

Advice From Student Leaders

• My biggest advice is to invite the people that grant permission for things to the table for conversations. When people really understand the need, they are more likely to say yes.
• Every conversation about mental health brings us closer to a world without stigma and there are lots of ways to get conversations started. Sometimes, it’s as simple as asking someone ‘how are you doing?’, and really listening to the answer.

Author: Rachel Myers, Director of Diversity and Inclusion and David Thompson, RS Rep at Hotchkiss School