Jessica Teixeira – Special to the Southern News
NEW HAVEN, Conn—The movie was over, but the sound of sniffling and quiet sobs could still be heard in Farnham Hall’s programming space from students like Ashley Garcia.
“I enjoyed the movie so much,” said Ashley Garcia, freshman early childhood education major. “It made me sad, but it was so relatable.”
A special screening of the documentary “Call Me Crazy” was shown on behalf of the counseling center. The film focused on the everyday struggle of living with mental illness and how it effects the lives of others.
Garcia said she often attends the events held by the counseling center, these past weeks in particular, because it’s Depression Awareness Week.
“I come every Wednesday during the semester,” said Garcia. “I enjoy it. I feel like it definitely helps me.”
The film featured big name actors—well known celebrities, all recognizable to the audience, said Garcia. They portrayed people battling illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder.
“It opened my eyes to things I was unaware of,” said Garcia.
The weekly events hosted by the counseling center are so inspirational, said Garcia, and sparked an interest in her to start her own group.
“It is going to be a mindfulness group,” said Denise Zack, counselor at the counseling center. “We teach people how to be mindful and about mediation and how to self soothe and self regulate.”
According to Mental Health America, one in five adolescents have a diagnosable mental problem, and almost two thirds of them get little or no help.
Zack said the choice to screen “Call Me Crazy” was to promote awareness, connecting with individuals around you, and hope.
The film was divided into four stories featuring an individual’s struggle of dealing with their mental illness, and their steady rise to hope and faith, said Zack.
“All of the vignettes end in a particular way where everyone gets the help they need,” said Zack. “There is always hope and people do not need to feel like victims.”
The movie was promoted by The Jed Foundation, a national organization sought out by a family who lost their son to suicide in college, and they allowed Southern to screen the film for free, said Zack.
“We are part of active minds,“ said Zack. “So they allowed us to screen it for the students here.”
Active minds is a student run organization whose main goal and focus is to educate people about mental illness and de-stigmatize how college students experience what mental illness is all about, said Zack.
Even when Depression Awareness Week is over, students seeking a non-judgmental place to talk should attend weekly Wednesday sessions from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in the Farnham Programming Space, said Cate Barber, counseling center graduate intern.
Barber, who is receiving her graduate degree in social work, said they usually have a good turnout of students who come to the sessions.
“Mainly residents because it is easier for them to manage sessions around their class schedules,” said Barber. “But we have had commuters as well.”
Anyone who wants to talk and open up in a relaxing environment is always welcome, said Zack.
“I am a certified yoga instructor as well,” said Zack. “Every Friday from 12:30 to 1:30
p.m. I teach a free yoga class at the fitness center and all of the poses are designed to decrease anxiety.”
Barber said although not every seat is filled for the events held; it does benefit those in attendance.
“I think that it really reaches the people that it needs to,” said Barber. “And those are the people who come.”
