Our Second Meeting 9/24/14

During the short break today, Chase, Anika, Scott, Robert and Mary Beth met briefly in relation to Lindsay’s suggestion that we narrow our topic, stigmatizing mental illness, but we were unable to all meet at the same time. The discussion went to the possibility of targeting children and/or adolescents specifically, working with NAMI to recreate some form of their now defunct Stigmabuster program, or simply advocating for destigmatizing efforts in schools. One concern that arose surrounded the wisdom of targeting only children when their parents themselves so often need such education. The consensus is, however, that focusing on children and schools is more important. Over the next week, we will all consider this question and concerns that surround it in preparation for making a final decision on 10/2. At that meeting we will also share what each has already learned through research and community contacts with regard to the problem of stigmatizing mental illness. Submitted by Mary Beth Fitzpatrick

The begining of the journey

Over the last week, we have formed our Macro project group.  Our group formed over our shared interest in mental health.  When we broke up into groups with shared topic interests, the group we started with, was the group we will move forward with.  Our group consists of Chase Knaphus, Robert Kagab, Anikka Hoidal, Scott Hove, and Mary Beth Fitzpatrick.  We were all present, and we all participated in a lively discussion about the direction and topic of our group, eventually setting on the topic of mental health stigma.  We all believe that the stigmaization of mental health disorders is a major problem, and we hope that there is something we can do to remedy the problem in some way.  To get the group wheels moving forward, we decided as a group that each of us would do some initial research on the topic, and we would also try and tap into each of our contacts in the field.  We also decided that we would take turns writing the blog post, with Chase going first.  We are excited to begin this journey, and hope that we can do something that will have an impact.

Mental Health Stigma Group- Chase Knaphus