General

February 11, 2020 — Since it was established, Active Minds at Occidental College has been an active organization in terms of tabling and programming, and we strive to give mental health a voice on an institutional level. We aim to work with administrators by sharing information about college students’ mental health and relevant policy to strategize ways to ensure […]

February 5, 2020 — Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide statistics. Imagine this: You don’t have enough time to get to class in the six minutes you have between periods, so you have to dip out of class to run to the bathroom. You are either in a huge rush, trying not to miss any important instruction […]

January 31, 2020 — Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicidal ideation. If thoughts come with wings and enter our minds from outside ourselves, conceived and born in a great nameless abyss that holds everything possible, good and bad, within it, that is how and from where my first thought of suicide, at age thirteen, came to me. […]

January 27, 2020 — For college students all across the country, classes are starting back up, and it can be both an exciting and nerve-racking time of year. New classes, new syllabi, new routines, and new friends/classmates are a feature of this time of year, and adjusting to that takes time. It can also be difficult when you’re forced […]

January 22, 2020 — I remember when I moved into my first place that was truly my own. It was the beginning of September, and my dad and I had driven 400+ miles to move into my college apartment before classes started. It was hot and muggy. I remember driving and thinking the streets in Davis were too narrow […]

January 15, 2020 — This week, Dr. Richard Friedman wrote an opinion piece asking the question, ‘Why are young Americans killing themselves?’ He presented the unknowns, and some of the knowns around the suicide rates and prevention methods. Then he ended with this solution: “To start, we need a major public campaign to educate parents and teachers to recognize depression […]

December 19, 2019 — It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or at least that’s the idea. After a long semester of hard classes and a finals week full of sleepless nights, going home to Mom and Dad waiting with your favorite meal and a smile sounds like just what you need. However, that isn’t the case for […]

December 13, 2019 — It’s been about two years since my five-year battle with anorexia ended. Five years of waking up to the sunrise, praying the day would end sooner. Five years of hating every inch of my reflection. Five years of pure isolation. Five years of counting every scarce calorie I let myself eat. Five years of trying […]

December 11, 2019 — Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. As we head toward the end of 2019, we mark the end of another semester that, sadly, brought many stories of students lost to suicide this year.  CNN and other news outlets reported in recent weeks that several college campuses have experienced multiple suicides this semester, as […]

December 10, 2019 — Last week marked the end to an incredible internship at Active Minds that spanned two semesters. What I have learned in this past year is far more valuable than a simple preparation for my professional career; it provided me with the opportunity to convey my own experience with mental illness to a community that supports […]