May is labeled ‘Mental Health Month’, however, fighting mental health stigma is a year-round battle. This year, Niles West took strides to put more emphasis on mental health than ever before.
In previous years, Niles West has introduced a policy that allows students to take a maximum of five mental health days off per semester. This year, the football program partook in an end-the-stigma game. On Friday, Sept. 20. Niles West students filled the stands in lime-green attire to help spread the message. Throughout the week, the National Alliance on Mental Health Cook County North Suburban (NAMI CCNS) provided lime-green wristbands and spoke to students about mental health.
Brianna Hoekstra is now the Director of Programs for NAMI after working for the company for two years. On Sept. 19, Hoekstra spoke to students about mental health and handed out “fight in the open” bracelets to students passing by. Hoekstra was happy to share some details regarding NAMI’s mission and purpose.
“We really believe in prevention. We like to work with youth and teens to just raise awareness to fight to end the stigma that does surround mental health. We think the earlier we teach teens and youth about this cause, the earlier that they will get the support if they do need it. We want to make sure that the students don’t feel like they are alone and silently struggling,” Hoekstra said.
NAMI opened its first office in 2007 and has been working on breaking the stigma ever since. Heather Kendall is the outreach manager for NAMI CCNS and is dedicated to speaking with teenagers because she knows what it feels like to feel the stigma surrounding mental health. Kendall shared that making mental health a topic that is no longer taboo is a mission she holds close to her heart.
“I have my own mental health lived experience and for a lot of years, I had a lot of stigma and discrimination against me, so it’s really important that I go into schools and talk about this and hope other people understand that mental illness or mental health conditions are not anybody’s fault,” Kendall said.
But it’s not only Kendall who holds breaking the stigma close to her heart. Hoekstra repeatedly mentioned that one of NAMI’s main missions is to make sure students feel safe and heard.
“We teach that one in five youth ages 8-15 will experience or have experienced a mental health condition at some point in their lives. Of those one in five, only 50% receive treatment, and that’s because of stigma because people are afraid to talk about it and share what’s really going on,” Hoekstra said.
Both Hoekstra and Kendall were present during lunch periods and were engaging with everyone who walked past to pass on NAMI’s ideology, “fight in the open”, to Niles West students.
“All mental health conditions are treatable and sometimes it takes a little bit longer to find the right kind of treatment or the right kind of strategy to be able to help you do the things that you would like to do, and also that mental health conditions, you can recover from them, and there is always hope,” Kendall said.
However, NAMI CCNS is not the only organization attending Niles West this year in hopes of reaching students who may need assistance with their mental health. Sophomore health classes had a mandatory presentation regarding “Signs of Suicide (SOS)” this fall. Assistant Director of Student Services Sophia Sartori organized for the program to be implemented into health classes for the first time.
“…Our hope is that by implementing SOS with our sophomores [is that] they will not only have the knowledge and tools their sophomore year, but also all throughout high school and beyond to ACT (Acknowledge you or a friend may be depressed or suicidal, respond with Care and tell a Trusted adult)….” Sartori said.
This year is Sartori’s third at Niles West, and she can already see how the focus on mental health grows year after year.
“…It is inspiring to see mental health being discussed within so many different departments, teams, student activities, and clubs…My hope is to continue to bring awareness to the importance of mental health through all avenues at West and highlight all the resources we have both at school as well as within our surrounding communities.” Sartori said.
To learn more about mental health, students can visit the psychologist’s office, attend Mental Health Matters club, speak with a representatives from NAMI and even learn more about signs of suicide during health class. Every year, the focus on mental health and Niles West continues to grow as we work on breaking the stigma.
