PROVO, Utah — It’s not unusual for students at Brigham Young University to blame themselves for their mental health struggles.
“Sometimes, the conception is, ‘I wouldn’t be struggling with my mental health if I were praying harder, or if I were doing everything perfectly the way I was supposed to be doing,’” Brooke Adams, a senior who is part of a group that surveyed students about mental health and is trying to change the attitude surrounding it, told the Daily Herald.
“Like, this could be my fault for not being the best (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) member that I can be. There is this idea, and combine that with the optimistic side of (Mormon) culture where people mentioned sometimes if you are feeling depressed or have depression, they could say, ‘Well, you just need to smile more, or serve, or do these things and it will fix it.’”
Adams said those misconceptions she heard from students can be isolating because it places pressure on the individual who is struggling.
It’s an idea she and four other BYU seniors are trying to change through a campaign to get students talking about mental health.
The team of five seniors is running the campaign for the Bateman Case Study Competition, an annual competition put on by the Public Relations Student Society of America.
The team is working to teach the BYU community about the five signs of emotional suffering: personality change, agitation, withdrawal, poor self-care and hopelessness.
