We sat down with Deidre Kranowski, one of the student founders of NAMI at FSU.
Her Campus (HC): For starters, what exactly is NAMI? How did you get involved with it?
Deidre Krzanowski (DK): NAMI on Campus FSU is part of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest mental health grassroots organization. We have 3 main goals on FSU’s campus and those are to educate our students and faculty on the topic of mental health and mental illness, advocate for mental health topics, and support those who are affected by mental illness on our campus whether they are impacted personally or have family/friends with a mental illness.
My first involvement with NAMI was at the NAMI Florida state office which is located here in Tallahassee. I volunteered there for about a year before a group of us got together and decided to start a campus chapter at FSU. I served as President for the 2013-2014 school year. Now, I am an active member and work to guide and help the officers in their work.
HC: What are some successful events that NAMI has hosted in the past? What are coming up?
DK: Our first year on campus (last year) NAMI on Campus hosted a suicide prevention fair, called the Alive! Mental Health Fair. We exposed students to other organizations and departments on campus that serve as resources for students dealing with mental health issues or students looking to get involved in mental health focused volunteer work. We also had exhibits such as the post-secret wall, a mental health fact-or-fiction game, an art therapy exhibit, an exhibit showing different brain scans of people affected by different mental illnesses, a station at which students could take a brief suicide awareness and prevention course taught by our very own Noles CARE, and a documentary discussing the truth about suicide. The event was a huge success with over 500 students recorded to have visited all of the exhibits and tabling organizations and many more who were exposed to the event in passing.
This year we are holding a 5K entitled Race Against Stigma on November 16th. This is serving as a fundraiser and an advocacy event aimed at reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. Students can register to run the 5K here: http://raceagainststigma.brownpapertickets.com/ . On the day of the race we encourage all those participating in the race to wear t-shirts decorated with inspirational messages, or messages of hope and encouragement in an effort to overcome the stigma associated with mental illness. A survey done by NAMI National on college students has showed that stigma is the number one reason why college students experiencing mental health issues do not seek help. We would like to change this!
HC: What other organizations (on campus or off) does NAMI work with?
DK: NAMI on Campus has collaborated with the Healthy Campus 2020 Health Team, we have worked with FSU Police Department to raise awareness about suicide, we have also worked with the University Counseling Center and Student Disability Resource Center. Some of the student organizations that have worked with us on past events have been RENEW, Psi Chi the Psychological Honor Society, and Ribbons FSU. Our parent organization NAMI Tallahassee has collaborated with us in bringing the NAMI Smarts Advocacy training to FSU, and the Apalachee Center has been supportive in our goals of bringing a conclusive mental health resource guide to FSU students.
HC: If someone would want to help out with your cause but isn’t yet involved with NAMI, how could he or she get involved? What could he or she do to further exemplify NAMI’s goals?
DK: NAMI on Campus holds meetings every other Thursday, at 7:00 PM, in the Wellness Center room 2500. New students are welcome at any of our meetings or events. The best way to get involved is to follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/NAMIFSU) or to email us at nami.on.campus.fsu@gmail.com. Ultimately we want to encourage FSU’s campus to become educated on mental health topics. 1 in 4 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have a diagnosable mental illness, and 75% of lifetime cases of mental health conditions begin by age 24. Given these statistics we can see that mental illness is pretty common, and these are people with diagnosable mental illness, an even greater proportion of students may experience some symptom of depression or anxiety during their time in school. By being open and respectful to fellow students going through tough times we can encourage students to get the help they need for health issues that are not only common but treatable.
HC: If you could say something that every single member of the FSU community could hear, what would it be?
DK: You are not alone! The nature of mental illness can be scary at times, between the symptoms that accompany mental illness to the stigma that keeps us from seeking help. However, it is extremely important for our students to know that they are not alone in experiencing these things. We always like to use the analogy of diabetes: a person with diabetes has a chemical imbalance that keeps them from maintaining their blood sugar properly. As a society we do not shun people with diabetes and we do not pass judgment on them for having a biological illness that is out of their control. This is how we need to start acting towards mental illnesses; often a mental illness can be the result of a chemical imbalance within your brain. It is a biological disorder and the people affected by it can’t just “get over it” just like you can’t just get over diabetes. Struggling with mental health issues is nothing to be ashamed of and further it is an illness that you can recover from.