Mental Illness Stigma Treatment (MIST)

Mental health is becoming an increasingly prevalent issue in today’s society, and research has shown that reducing the stigma surrounding mental health is a key step in improving mental wellness among youth nationwide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five teenagers have or will suffer from a serious mental illness, and the high pressure and lack of awareness from parents further contribute to this issue. Our solution, Mental Illness Stigma Treatment (MIST), aims to mitigate this disparity by targeting adults to reduce the stigma around mental illness to increase the mental wellness of high school students. MIST will initially provide education and awareness programs targeting high-school parents of the Aurora area to promote the UN Sustainable Development goal of good health and well-being. We plan to give parents a deeper understanding of the prevalence of mental health while providing key resources to help their child. Our programs will be presented through partnerships with local school districts, integrating them into the orientation curricula, and our content will be heavily influenced by partnerships with mental health organizations such as NAMI. We also plan to create bi-monthly online seminars to give interested parents additional support throughout the year. With MIST, we are taking one step towards destigmatizing mental illness, ensuring that parents are aware and prepared regarding their child’s mental health, and ultimately, ushering in a generation of healthy minds