Depression Discussions
Alison Malmon was a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania when she got a call from her mother that would change her life: Her fun, outgoing older brother, Brian, had taken his own life.
When Malmon returned to school after Brian’s funeral that spring of 2000, she was still grieving. But when she looked for help on campus, there was no place to turn. Back then, says Malmon, “students weren’t encouraged to talk about their mental health. I started reflecting on the fact that there was an immense need to get that conversation going.”
She was only 19 and had no experience with mental health issues, but that didn’t stop her from launching Open Minds at Penn. Now, 20 years later and with a new name—active Minds—it is the largest young adult mental health advocacy organization in America, with more than 550 chapters at high schools and colleges. “What I’m most inspired by is that my generation and the generations coming behind me are taking on mental health as a social justice issue,” says Malmon. “Our tools are changing not only their campuses, they’re changing their families too.” Active Minds’ peer-to-peer education techniques are more important than ever. The American College Health Association’s 2019 National College Health Assessment found that 45 percent of students reported feeling so depressed in the previous 12 months that it was difficult to function; 66 percent felt overwhelming anxiety; and 13 percent seriously considered suicide. Malmon’s goal has always been to destigmatize mental illness, down to the language we use to talk about it. An example that hits close to home: the word suicide. You don’t commit a heart attack or cancer, says Malmon. “Suicide is the only death where we use that pejorative word of ‘committing,’” she says. “If we take that word out of our vernacular, we can make significant changes in how we think about suicide to the point where people reach out for the help they need as soon as they need it.”