Due to numerous students who expressed interest, LBCC is forming a chapter of Active Minds, an organization aimed at targeting suicide prevention. The organization’s website states that Active Minds is a “national non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of mental health issues amongst teens and young adults.” According to the National Safety Council, suicide is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
The leader for the LBCC chapter of Active Minds is Sharon Sielschott, a second-year psychology major. Sielschott said she first heard of the organization after reading about an Active Minds speaker at Oregon State University – a person who had attempted suicide.
Sielschott could immediately see, “Active Minds is an organization people are passionate about.”
In order to form the chapter at LBCC, the club must be student-run and have an adviser/sponsor. Psychology instructor Greg Jones became the adviser for the LBCC chapter.
Sielschott says, “The goal of our chapter is to promote awareness, understanding, and remove stigmas associated with mental health issues; bring attention and respect to the conversation, hopefully empowering other young leaders to become advocates and educate.”
Although Active Minds is new to LBCC, it has touched numerous colleges and people.
“We’re the 304th chapter of Active Minds to be formed.”
Active Minds was originally started in 2001 by Alison Malmon, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania. Malmon lost her older brother, Brian, in 2000 after he committed suicide. After searching for existing groups that worked against issues such as suicide, she found none that she could bring to her campus. As a result, Alison created her own example: Open Minds. Open Minds became so popular it expanded to other campuses and was renamed Active Minds in 2003.
According to the Active Minds website, it is the “only organization working to utilize the student voice to change the conversation about mental health on college campuses.”
Jones said the club will benefit students by allowing them to have “a fluid transition between students and resources.” He believes, “Students should know exactly what resources are in their neighborhoods.”
Or, as Sielschott puts it, “Someone with a heart problem isn’t afraid to talk about it, so why are we ashamed to talk about mental health issues? It’s time to get the conversation going.”
Active Minds’ first meeting will be held in North Santiam Hall, Room 110, at noon on Friday, Jan. 21.
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