Nurses for Mental Health Awareness Exhibit Feb. 5-9

Nurses for Mental Health Awareness, a new student group at DUSON, now nationally affiliated with Active Minds, will be sponsoring “Cranes for Life”, an exhibit in the atrium from Feb. 5-9. The 1,100 hand made cranes on the exhibit represent the 1,100 completed suicide attempts that occur on college campuses across the United States each year. The cranes idea originated from a Japanese Legend, which states that the individual who makes 1,000 cranes will be granted a wish. The wish of Nurses for Mental Health Awareness is to decrease the number of suicides, the second leading cause of death of 15-34 year-olds in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.

The goal of the exhibit is to promote awareness about suicide risk, provide information about resources and a safe space to write reflections about the exhibit. There will also be an opportunity to add names of loved ones lost to suicide on the exhibit. The goal is to spread awareness about this serious public health issue through activities and partnerships with organizations such as National Alliance on Mental Illness, Active Minds, Yellow Ribbon and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.  About 1 in 5 adults and children will grapple with a mental health illness within their lifetime, and it is important for us as future health care providers to listen and learn.

For more information, email Nurses for Mental Health Awareness at DUSON.NMHA@gmail.com.