On February 23, 2015, Active Minds had Frank Warren—the man who created PostSecret—to come to Pitt. Active Minds is an organization that fights the stigma behind mental illness. Frank Warren created PostSecret so people could send in their secrets to him so they don’t have to hold onto that burden anymore. He posts new secrets that he receives every Sunday.
Active Minds has a tabling event called PostSecretU, which gives students the opportunity to write down their secrets and have them posted anonymously to Active Minds Facebook page. I loved this idea so I got permission from Natalie Zazula, the President of Active Minds, to use some of the secrets in order to promote awareness of mental illness. Here are a few postcards we received from students all over campus!
Postcards that had to do with depression were surprisingly common. Especially about self-harm.
Postcards about self-esteem problems or lack of confidence was another common theme I noticed when looking at the cards. You are worth it and amazing! Don’t let anyone tell you anything different!
The cards about abuse were really inspiring to me! Being able to pull through and grow from that is amazing to hear!
I feel like most girls can relate to this one. Who wants to shave when you can’t show off your smooth legs?
I also brush my teeth in the shower. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
OWN IT.
Advice about mental illness was on a few cards! They are a good reminder that you aren’t the only one out there going through what you might be going through!
PostSecretU is a great tabling event that Active Minds does! Showing that mental illness is more common than most people think and showing others that they aren’t alone is so helpful when people decide to talk about it!
If you are interested in ending the stigma surrounding mental illness visit Active Minds’ Facebook page or go to a meeting in 114 O’Hara every other Wednesday at 7 p.m!