By Lizbeth Solorzano
Let’s talk about mental health. Let’s talk about understanding each other. Let’s “Bring Change 2 Mind”. Seniors Amanda Wu and Saori Tejada are the co-presidents of “Bring Change 2 Mind” an club that seeks to bring awareness of mental illness to the school community.
People often assume that the term “health” only associates with one’s physical well-being and immediately disregard mental illnesses. The goal of Bring Change 2 Mind is to erase the stigma that surrounds mental health and to create a peer-supportive environment to help each other understand.
The club meets every Tuesday at lunch in A14.
Bring Change 2 Mind works with the non-profit organization founded by Glenn Close in 2010, Bring Change to Mind. Close founded the organization after discovering that her sister was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. People with mental illnesses are often discriminated against due to conditions that are out of their control, leaving them feeling ashamed of themselves. Close and those of her organization seek to help with this.
Wu believes that by educating and empowering students, they will be encouraged to fight the discrimination that people experience.
“We want to raise the awareness surrounding mental illness and to encourage students to speak up confidently to voice out their opinions,” Wu said.
This student-led club provides the opportunity for all students to learn subject matters that surround mental health in a safe environment. They engage in conversations and watch videos about mental health, then later work in groups to respond to those videos. When discussing mental health, Wu hopes that club participants will develop solutions to eliminate the misunderstandings towards people with mental illnesses.
Bringing awareness to communities allows them to open up their hearts and spread kindness, which is what the non-profit organization emphasises the most. The co-president of Bring Change 2 Mind, Saori Tejada, believes bringing the organization to campus is beneficial to these students because kindness is essential on any high school campus.
Saori and Wu also introduced an app called Headspace for their members to use. The app allows people to reframe stress in just minutes by providing mindfulness techniques and guided meditations to restore balance and wellness in their lives.
“Bring Change to Mind Club is an inclusive community and welcomes everyone. Students, teachers, mentors, mental health organizations, community leaders, families can all join together to talk about the stigma around mental illness and encourage young people to speak out,” Wu said.
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