Using film as a medium for mental health awareness
By: Skylar Bridgeforth
The Campus Activities Board’s Diversity Chair, Reem Abumeri, recently hosted an event led by Art with Impact. Art with Impact uses short films to start a meaningful dialogue among young people about mental health.
For this event, the mission statement was, without a doubt, achieved. The goal of this event was to fix the stigma that surrounds mental health and make participants aware of certain signs and symptoms surrounding mental health.
This event had a panel comprising students and representatives from various on-campus resources. Students had the option to not only choose their pronouns but also have the option to remain anonymous. Kierstan Conway, a second-year student at CSU, was on the panel and believes that because of the anonymity of the platform it was easier to discuss issues.
Another feature of this event was tackling prominent issues using short films. This gave the message of mental health a more impactful effect, as opposed to just being told what the issues/resources are.
According to Kierstan Conway, by the end of the event students were having lively discussions and sharing their own stories. This allowed students to experience some social interaction despite being stuck on Zoom (Zoom fatigue) and losing some of their humanity to the screen.
Proven by the statistics, given by Abumeri, after the event 74% of students felt they had an increased awareness of mental health. 51% of students felt they were more willing to seek support.