Prelude: Into the Light

Throughout my brief academic career, I’ve come to understand that there are various prominent and permeating issues in mental health. One of the most significant problems is the stigmatization of mental health globally. Mental health does not have equal recognition compared to physical health and in many countries, the topic of mental health remains taboo. Moreover, in our current society, there is an overemphasis placed on achievements, monetary rewards, and compensation to the point where people often prioritize that idea of success over taking care of themselves and their mental health. 

Another problem that underscores the lack of value for mental health is that accessibility remains subpar in most countries and there are limited mental health resources. One study focused on understanding insurance coverage of mental health in the US found that after contacting 360 psychiatrists from Blue Cross Blue Shields Insurance, they were only able to get in contact and make appointments with 26% of them. (Minhaj & Venkataramanujam, 2018). Moreover,  51% of US counties have zero psychiatrists (Minhaj & Venkataramanujam, 2018). For comparison, dentists in the US number around 61 per 100,000 people (Salierno, 2018) while there are only 11.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in the US (New American Economy, 2019).  

To begin tackling this herculean problem, I was inspired to start my capstone project with the following overall purpose to help guide my efforts: 

  1. Eradicate stigmatization of mental health globally
  2. Ensure that mental health is valued as much as physical health by everyone in the world

Within this overall purpose, I decided to pursue the more concrete and achievable goals of creating a podcast series where students can share mental health stories anonymously and writing an accompanying book with more detailed information that mirrors the podcast episodes. 

I believe that we need to increase global awareness and value for mental health, especially among undergraduate students who are increasingly stressed, depressed, and anxious. Alarmingly, the 2nd leading cause of death among college students is suicide, a direct side-effect of major depression (David, 2019). This statistic is reflected by another, which states that the overall rate of suicide among young adults has tripled since 1950 (Burnell, 2020). Moreover, a recent meta-analysis that sampled 67,308 university students from 108 institutions found that 1 in 4 students have been diagnosed with a mental illness, 1 in 5 have thought about suicide, 20% reported self-injury, and about 9% have attempted suicide (Liu et al., 2018). 

Furthermore, in high-achieving universities, students often feel the pressure to succeed effortlessly without showing their struggles to anybody else. The term ‘effortless perfection,’ first coined at Duke University in 2003, describes the phenomenon in which students feel a constant pressure to live up to nearly perfect expectations of obtaining good grades, maintain an active social life, and remain healthy (Peterson, 2019). This toxic mindset could inhibit students from opening up and sharing their mental health struggles with friends and family members and seeking help from professionals. Moreover, due to the high stigma surrounding mental health, students may be less incentivized to share their stories. 

Thus, to help begin destigmatizing mental health, I wanted to create something that could help students express their mental health stories without the worry of being shamed and without facing a heavy emotional toll after sharing something so personal. I began researching organizations to understand the current options that are available to students. In some platforms, like Beyond Blue, stories are shared anonymously from strangers around the world through writing (Beyond Blue, 2020). However, this approach potentially limits the emotional component of hearing someone share their story.  

 Therefore, I began to look at podcasts that had story-sharing components. In some podcast series, such as The Mental Illness Happy Hour (Gilmartin, 2020), one individual is interviewed during the episode and talks about their mental health journey. However, this method potentially distances the audience from relating personally to the story. They may not directly know the individual who is sharing, and the topics being shared may not be relevant to their life experiences. 

To overcome this limitation, I thought hearing stories from your own community members could help the audience relate more personally to the stories shared. An excellent place to start was at my own university, Minerva Schools at KGI, since I have easy access to the community. If I built my podcast series using stories from the students at my university, other students listening to the series would know the stories are coming from their own student body, which may make it easier for them to relate to them. However, I also wanted the information in my podcast series to be accessible for other college students from different universities who might obtain inspiration from this project to build similar initiatives on their campuses. Even an audience beyond college students could benefit from hearing these stories. 

The inspiration for this podcast ultimately came from talking to other students who, like me, were struggling to take care of themselves. A student’s life can be quite stressful, managing academics, extracurricular activities, and having a social life, all while trying to stay healthy. When you add a global pandemic on top of that, it can get quite overwhelming to even get through routine tasks in life. From various conversations with my classmates in university, I know that many students have struggled or are currently struggling to take care of their mental health. 

I wanted to build a project that could help students feel less isolated in their experiences. However, sharing these struggles in a public forum can be quite daunting and take a substantial emotional tax on the person sharing. That’s where the idea for anonymity arose. Anonymity provides a safeguard for people to share and protects the privacy of the individuals sharing. Thus, the anonymous component was crucial.

However, as I shared my idea with my friends, colleagues, and advisor, I realized that I didn’t just want to share anonymous mental health stories from students. I could bring together experts in mental health to talk about useful information regarding mental health topics such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, which students and other audiences may not have previously heard. My series could be an opportunity to begin normalizing conversations around mental health while listening to expert advice and knowledge on genuine issues that affect college students and millions of people worldwide. Moreover, the series could be a starting point for listeners to understand the value of mental health in our lives, or for those that already value mental health deeply, it could serve as a reinforcing loop that strengthens that value. By listening to this series, I could allow people to hear stories, listen to experts, and gain insight into more mental health issues. With that information, they could then implement it in their lives to thrive in their mental wellbeing.

I am excited to say that my work’s culmination has resulted in the podcast series: Into the Light. Although this series is primarily created for Minerva students, it can benefit any college student and is accessible to anyone who has ever wondered about mental health. This series is a place to learn about the impact of mental health and to learn from leading experts in mental health. And at its core, this series is where students can share their mental health stories anonymously, knowing that it is a safe space and that they will be heard. 

Creating this project has allowed me to research topics I was unfamiliar with and to talk to individuals who have dedicated their lives to understanding and solving these issues. Given the vast amount of information, resources, and research available on undergraduate students’ mental health, I decided to write an accompanying book for all the curious-minded individuals that would like to delve deeper into each of the issues discussed in my podcast. 

I’ve organized the following chapters so that they align with each episode of the podcast series. I recommend that you listen to each podcast episode first. Then you can read the written chapter to learn more about the statistics, research, evidence, and interventions associated with each episode. I hope that while listening to this podcast and reading this book, you gain valuable insight into the importance of mental health in our lives. 

references

Beyond Blue. (2020). Beyond Blue. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.beyondblue.org.au/who-does-it-affect/personal-stories

Gilmartin, P. (2020). Mental Illness Happy Hour – Paul Gilmartin. Retrieved December 9, 2020, from https://open.spotify.com/show/1ax4naBUwDvyB1YDRugdZo

Minhaj, H., & Venkataramanujam, P. (2018, October 28). Mental Health, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.netflix.com/watch/80991190?trackId=13752289

Peterson, C. (2019, January 29). Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2019/01/29/trying-conform-myth-effortless-perfection-damaging-women-undergraduates-mental