Life can be hard sometimes, but the WPI community is here with a helping hand and support. In our continued efforts to #BeRealTogether, students, faculty, and staff shared their real-world experiences, insights, and quotes, all touching upon how they effectively navigate their own mental health and wellness.
How You Can Help Those in Need
The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers several suggestions about what we can do as individuals to help reduce the stigma of mental illness:
- Talk openly about mental health, in person and on social media
- Educate yourself and others—respond to misperceptions or negative comments by sharing facts and experiences
- Be conscious of language—remind people that words matter
- Encourage equality between physical and mental illness—draw comparisons to how they would treat someone with cancer or diabetes
- Show compassion for those with mental illness
- Be honest about treatment; normalize mental health treatment and treat it just like other healthcare treatment
- Let the media know when they’re using stigmatizing language or presenting stories of mental illness in a stigmatizing way