Welcome to Active Minds at Maryland!
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Founded in April of 2004, Active Minds is a student-run mental health awareness, education, and advocacy group. Through peer outreach, we work to
- Make students more aware of mental illness, learning disability, and substance abuse issues
- Reduce stigma by promoting open dialog, education, and awareness
- Provide students with information about mental illnesses, learning disabilities, substance abuse, and available resources
- Serve as a liaison between students and the mental health community
- Promote "self health" by emphasizing the need to care for the body as well as the mind
To promote education and awareness, Active Minds strives to host guest speakers, provide informational fact sheets, organize charity fundraisers, maintain a comprehensive website, and organize events designed to reduce stigma and raise awareness.
Freshman Seminars - In fall of 2004, we will add a mental health education mini-unit to GEMS100. During this unit, a guest speaker with mental illness will share his or her experience with the students and answer questions about mental health. In the future, we hope to add this unit to other freshman seminars like UNIV100 and HONR100.
Coffeehouse - We are planning an open-mic night for people to share how mental illness has affected their life. It is not necessary that you have been affected to attend, and no one will be forced to speak. It is an opportunity for our members and community to share, and for everyone to learn. Please check back for a date, join our mailing list, or keep a watch on the listservs to which you subscribe for detail.
Out of the Darkness - On Sunday October 3rd, member of Active Minds participated in a walk to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the only national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to funding research, developing prevention initiatives and offering educational programs and conferences for survivors, mental health professionals, physicians and the public. The “Out of the Darkness” community walks are the organization’s first signature fundraising event. Donations of all sizes are greatly appreciated. Credit Cards are accepted.
Follow this link to help prevent suicide.
Candlelight Vigil - We held the vigil on Thursday October 7th on McKeldon Mall by the sundial. We had a great turnout. Many people stopped by to light a candle, sign our dedicated banner, or just take a moment to reflect on how mental illness has affected themself or those they care about.