Painting over the stigma

​Five Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) students are using a unique medium to fight the stigma of mental health: paint.

The group of seniors make up a campaign called MSUM 4 Change. On March 1, they hosted a "Canvas the Change" event at First Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes, where they worked to educate Detroit Lakes High School (DLHS) students about mental and emotional health.

MSUM 4 Change embarked on their public relations campaign this fall on behalf of the Campaign to Change Direction, a client that was assigned to them at the beginning of the year for The Bateman Case Study Competition. The Campaign to Change Direction is a national initiative that aims to bring together a "collection of concerned citizens, nonprofit leaders, and leaders from the private sector...to change the culture in America about mental health, mental illness, and wellness," according to its website.

MSUM 4 Change's Media Relations Coordinator, Haley Foster, said that the students spent their fall semester doing research and are currently executing their campaign, which runs until March 15.

"Ultimately, our campaign is about changing the conversation around mental health," Foster said. "We wanted to let everyone know that one in five people has a diagnosable mental illness of some sort and we wanted to raise awareness about the five signs of emotional suffering, which are personality change, agitation, withdrawal, decline in personal care and helplessness."

Foster said that the group chose to focus on high school students and college freshmen, primarily working to educate students ages 14-19 years old. She said that, when MSUM 4 Change surveyed DLHS students, 23 percent of students said they had been personally affected by a mental health condition. Fifty percent of students over the age of 14 years old with a mental disorder, according to the Campaign to Change Direction website, drop out of high school, a statistic that places importance on the need for events such as "Canvas the Change."

"Our thought process was, 'Who can we impact the most?' We were thinking about transition years--so from 14 to 19--and you go through a ton of changes," Foster said. "Young adulthood is when mental health issues primarily start to arise and, with painting, we wanted to see how students would interpret those five signs of suffering. We also wanted that part of our population to know that they're not alone, so doing an event with a group of people is a really effective and cool way to promote our message."

MSUM 4 Change will host a final "Canvas for Change" event for students at DLHS on March 7 from 4 to 6 p.m. Their ultimate goal, Foster said, is to raise awareness.

"We want to normalize the conversation surrounding mental and emotional health and wellbeing, and we want to make it a priority in society," she said. "Mental health is as important as physical health. Taking care of yourself physically is important, but your mental health is crucial."