General

August 27, 2020 — After months of stay-at-home orders, social disconnection, and remote learning challenges, many of you put your hope in a safe, meaningful, in-person college experience. You did what you needed to do so that you could live out what you were told would be the best years of your life. You applied for your loans. Paid […]

August 18, 2020 — For years, mental health has been a growing issue among students. Even before the pandemic, research showed a rise in mental health issues among students over the past decade. And among BIPOC students this increase was even more pronounced. Experts and research predict that mental health challenges will continue to rise this fall, and will […]

August 12, 2020 — I barely remember attending my masters graduation. I’d been in a heartbroken haze for months, somehow finishing my thesis between breakdowns. When I look back on photos from that day, I’m sporting a giant, toothy grin that would fool anyone as being authentic – but I remember feeling empty. Today, when I see smiles on […]

August 4, 2020 — PostSecret is a community art project I started on a whim over a decade ago. I printed up a few thousand postcards, handed them out on the streets of Washington, DC, invited people to write down a secret they had never told anyone before, decorate the card, and then mail it to my home in […]

July 29, 2020 — Special thanks to our friends at Kognito, a health simulation company serving higher education with solutions that build life skills for students, faculty, and staff, for collaborating on this post.   Three college students and mental health activists involved with Active Minds share what the last few months have been like, advice for their peers, and […]

July 27, 2020 — Terms you might be unfamiliar with: BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color The coronavirus pandemic isn’t affecting all students equally, and historically, education hasn’t helped all students in the same ways.  BIPOC students are at higher risk for both mental and physical health problems, and as schools across the nation respond to […]

July 24, 2020 — I’ve always been surrounded by strong women. In fact, I spent the first few years of my life with my grandmother in India while my parents settled down in the United States. My grandmother is most unbreakable in my eyes. Despite dropping out of school early and marrying my grandfather as a teenager, she sacrificed […]

July 16, 2020 — Everyone experiences mental health differently. Sometimes, our differences are small, forgettable even. But in others, they span cultures, languages, and histories. July is BIPOC Mental Health Month, and we’re taking an extra moment to listen, to reflect, and to share the stories of individuals who are underrepresented and oppressed. Changing the narrative around mental health […]

July 9, 2020 — When I joined my Active Minds chapter during my first year of college, I was one of the few people of color on our leadership team despite the racial and ethnic diversity present at my university. I joined to decrease stigma for others. Although I strongly believed this, I still held a lot of stigma […]

July 2, 2020 — From January to June, the 2020 Active Minds’ Emerging Scholars conducted research on the topic of mental health programming and resources in high schools through a literature review, surveys, focus groups and informant interviews at the Active Mind’s National Conference. The Emerging Scholars Fellowship focuses on empowering emerging mental health researchers. This year, the scholars […]