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SAMHSA’s Resource Center to Promote Acceptance,
Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with
Mental Health (ADS Center)
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Half of Us
District of Columbia
Start Date
2006
Brief Description
Half of Us is an awareness campaign launched by mtvU and The Jed Foundation in November 2006 to initiate a public dialogue to raise awareness about the prevalence of mental health issues on campus and connect students to the appropriate resources to get help. Half of Us works to decrease the stigma around mental health and encourage students to seek help if they need it, and ultimately changes and saves lives.
Situation
In planning for the campaign, mtvU conducted extensive research on how stress and depression are affecting college students nationwide. They found that nearly half of all college students reported feeling so depressed that they couldn’t function during the last school year. Even more students reported having faced an emotional problem of some sort. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, and the number one cause of suicide is depression. But fortunately, most mental health issues can be improved with proper treatment.
Solution
Half of Us informs and engages students through several offerings, including:
- A self-evaluator screening tool—developed by the Duke University Medical Center—for multiple emotional disorders that customizes feedback based on the user’s school and available resources.
- Information on how to help friends affected by a mental disorder.
- Extended artist and student interviews designed to encourage college students to realize they are not alone in struggling with mental health issues or needing help. Artists such as Mary J. Blige, Pete Wentz of Fallout Boy and Max Bemis of Say Anything share their personal experiences with mental illnesses.
- An Action Center, enabling students to get involved in mental health awareness on their campus or in their community, learn where their representatives stand on mental health legislation, start an Active Minds student advocacy chapter, and more. Active Minds groups develop and support student-run mental health awareness programs on campuses to create environments where mental health issues can be discussed openly so the stigma is decreased. Students can also search to find existing local programs they can join to promote awareness and stigma reduction.
- Access to mood music playlists and video gifting, enabling students to access collections of songs for moods from high to low, and send videos through mtvU.com to cheer someone up or forge a connection.
Results
Half of Us runs nearly 20 PSAs on mtvU and continues to reach out to college students around the country. HalfofUs.com was the recipient of the Peabody Award in 2008.
Contact
For more information, visit www.halfofus.com.
Type
National
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