How do you know what is going on inside someone’s head? As I’m sure we all know by now, the answer is, you can’t. The only way to find out what someone is thinking is to ask them; such a basic concept but one that is easily overlooked. Assumptions are made based on fake smiles or other mechanisms of disguise, and lives are being lost because of it. The facade of a perfect life is just that, a facade, unattainable for almost anyone.  

The discourse around health, both mental and physical, requires some vulnerability, so I thought it’d be best to interview my close friends here at UD. While I know of some of their woes with mental and physical health, this assignment certainly allowed me to gain more perspective and insight. 

Inspired by the pieces I read for Wednesday’s class, I asked Hannah, “what more could be done for suicide prevention on college campuses?” She replied, “More signs could be put up. Not the lame 8×11 signs, but more interactive and large signs, something that stands out.” Another friend, Ryan, answered similarly, saying, “It’s always so corny and dumb. All the stupid posters and shit that the administration puts up… It doesn’t motivate people to seek out information or help.” I hadn’t considered the physical resources that the school uses but their responses made me think. The picture I’ve attached shows the barren “Mental Health Corner” on my floor. 

To Hannah’s point, nothing in the signage grabbed my attention or offered any sort of motivation to seek help. The information is there but could be presented in a much more visually stimulating way which would grab the attention of a student in need, or anyone for that matter. To Ryan’s point, I would say that the way the information is presented by administrators could probably be delivered more genuinely. Less time should be spent on making up acronyms, and more time should be spent on removing the stigma around mental health. Without the stigmatized environment, students will feel more motivated to seek help or get information. 

A question I asked everyone was, which is more important, mental health or physical health? All three of the boys I interviewed answered quickly with physical health. “Physical health is more important because I don’t have any issues with mental health… I just cruise.” Ethan answered, emphasizing the last part. Do they truly believe that physical health is more important than mental, or are they just saying that because of societal expectations? I think it’s the latter. The speed in which they answered reveals how little thought was put into the response like its common knowledge. There’s no right answer to that question, but the constant expectation of being stone-cold made them confident that there was.