New Group Seeks to Support Students with Mental Illness

For the estimated one in five Americans who live with some type of mental illness, it can be easy to feel alone or isolated, even when resources are within reach.

Now, students at Rockhurst University are forming a new group specifically for geared toward educating their fellow students about mental illness. Active Minds is part of a national network of groups led by college and university students that seek to further the conversation surrounding mental illness on college campuses. Senior Tori Zanaboni said she was inspired by a friend at another Jesuit university to launch the Rockhurst University chapter of Active Minds late in the fall semester.

“I have a lot of friends who have struggled with mental illnesses,” she said. “And the hardest part for me was not always being able to talk to them and not being able to understand.”

Zanaboni knew she could not do it alone, so she enlisted the help of two fellow students, senior Jack Reid and junior Gracy Kubicki, to help.

“I wanted Jack and Gracy to be a part of this because they have both been role models to me for how to talk and listen to people who are struggling with mental illness,” she said. “And I knew that they were involved and could get things done.”

Reid said Active Minds is not a support group; instead, he said the group aims to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness through programs that the members themselves design to address specific aspects of mental health. More recently, members collaborated to create a video that visualizes how students might feel like they can’t relate to their peers because of their mental illness.

Reid said that kind of education is important for getting students the help they need. He shared the story of two people close to him who both had mental illness, but dealt with it in completely different ways — one becoming withdrawn as a result and feeling isolated, the other up front about their struggles and ultimately feeling more accepted.

“We want to educate people, we want to make sure that no one feels like they’re alone in facing mental illness and we want to make sure that people get the help they need when they need it,” he said.

Active Minds’ leaders are able to point students toward number of resources, like the University’s own Counseling Center, should they need additional help.

While Kubicki said the group is not aiming to replace existing counseling services, the meetings, which usually feature guest speakers or roundtable discussions on different topics, also offer an opportunity for students to learn and share about their own struggles with their peers in a less formal setting, which can be therapeutic.

“I think that it’s comforting in itself for it to be a conversation,” she said. “And I think it’s important for people who maybe have never experienced mental illness themselves to learn.”

Because Active Minds is currently finalizing the process of becoming an official student group at the University, Zanaboni said they partnered with other groups like Student Senate and Student Activities Board to get the word out on their first couple of events. The response surprised them.

“At that first meeting, we had 50 people show up, all through word of mouth,” she said. “We currently have 100 people on our email list — I don’t think any of us expected the group to grow this fast.”

But the growth extends beyond simply numbers. All three of the group leaders say they’ve been surprised, too, at the number of students who have approached them individually and opened up about their own struggles mental illness.

“It was a really surprise to me to have people come up to me and say ‘I do have a mental illness, but I’m not totally ready to talk about it,’” Zanaboni said. “We want to be there for those people.”