MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
ABOUT#BEHINDTHEFACE:
What is #BehindTheFace?
#BehindTheFace is a space for sharing our experiences of stress and mental illness. It’s a campaign to fight the stigma that mental illness still carries in our culture. It’s a movement to build solidarity in our struggle against stress, mental illness, and a world that offers neither sympathy nor accommodation to those affected.
The Facts:
Colleges Students face an array of mental health issues including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and relationship problems. It is reported that anxiety is the top presenting concern with 41.6% of college students suffering from it, followed by 36.4% suffering from depression, and 35.8% dealing with relationship problems (American Psychological Association June 2013, Vol 44, No. 6 Print version: page 13). The National Eating Disorder Association estimates that 25% of college males and 32.6% of college females struggle with an eating disorder (http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/CollegiateSurveyProject).
Who We Are:
We’re a group of undergraduate students at the University of Cincinnati examining social media activism. Recognizing the pervasive mental health issues among students on our own and many other college campuses, we decided to create a campaign aimed at drawing attention to and decreasing the stigma associated with mental illness. By creating this campaign of support and de-stigmatization, we hope to spread the message that mental health issues are an everyday occurrence. Having mental health issues is nothing to be ashamed about. We hope that others learn about our campaign and realize that asking for help and guidance is the healthy and best thing to do.
How You Can Participate
Share your own experiences of stress or mental health issues on social media with the hashtag #BehindTheFace. Read what others have shared, share their stories, and recognize these sites as safe places to share your own stories!! We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and Tumblr. Also, check out our resources page for more information.