Graduate students walk for mental illness awareness

Saturday, October 11th started off as a dreary, rainy day.  However, four graduate students braved the weather to participate in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Walk of York County. Rachel Little, Jannessa Miller, Carly Stull, and Sarah Williams walked to raise awareness of mental illness and to promote the role of occupational therapy for people with mental illness.  The students were featured in a news article in the York Daily Record.  The students are featured in a video interview at the bottom of the article. Good job, ladies!

Jannessa Miller, B.S., MOTS (’15) shared her thoughts about the experience.

“Before completing my first fieldwork rotation at Springfield Hospital Center this past summer (an inpatient psychiatric hospital), I never really gave mental illness much thought. I knew that it was an important part of our profession and that it tragically affects multiple people and their families throughout the world, but I didn’t know how much help this population really needed and the ways that I could contribute. Last summer I realized just how unique and fun it can be working with this population, as well as all of the lessons I can learn from them. Because of this, participating in an awareness walk with the NAMI association was a no-brainer for me.

Throughout history and still today patients suffering from a mental illness face a marginalizing stigma and it continues to be a hushed topic in our society. I joined this awareness event in order to show my support in ending this stigma and increasing the help this population receives. As a bonus, it was also an opportunity to come armed with an OT shirt and OT brochures to talk about our profession and the role we play by providing these patients with a little extra help so that they can become the best versions of themselves possible.”