Honors Course Champions Mental Health Awareness
On Sept. 22, students in the Farquhar Honors College’s Inside Out: Exploring Population Mental Health & Well-Being course spent an emotional evening listening to stories of mental illness and addiction at This Is My Brave – The Show. The production featured 12 local storytellers who creatively expressed their mental health struggles through music, poetry, dance, and more to raise awareness of and combat stigma around mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
The class, taught by Christi Navarro, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, attended the show to witness what anti-stigma programming looks like in practice after discussing the topic during class. It was an equally enlightening and inspirational experience for students as they saw how pervasive mental illness is even in their own community.
“One of the most impactful parts of the show was at the end when the producer asked the audience members to stand if they had experienced a mental health issue, knew someone who has struggled with a mental health issue, or were an advocate for people with behavioral health issues,” said Dr. Navarro. “Nearly everyone in the audience was on their feet.”
The Inside Out: Exploring Population Mental Health & Well-Being course explores population mental health and well-being through a multidisciplinary perspective. The ultimate goal of the course is to enable students to make a positive difference as future leaders promoting healthy populations, regardless of what career they pursue.
“Mental illness is a very real, very prevalent public health issue in this country with 1 in 5 people having a diagnosed mental health disorder,” said Dr. Navarro. “This statistic is even higher in college populations, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental illness even more…This course stresses that there is no health without mental health, and mental illness and substance use disorders should be given the same time, urgency, and resources as physical health and wellness.”
Like many Honors courses, this course uses interactive methods to enhance the curriculum. Featuring a “flipped classroom” approach, students read and watch lectures beforehand to prepare for in-class discussions and activities, which they often lead.
The field trip to the This Is My Brave show, funded by the Honor College, is one of many experiential learning opportunities students enjoy during the course. Other course activities include visits from guest speakers within the mental health field, training and certification in Mental Health First Aid, and participation in the upcoming Out of Darkness Community Walk hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
Posted 10/23/22