While Iowa State has resources available to help people with a mental health illness, a newer, more student-run resource has joined their ranks. 

NAMI on Campus was formed in spring 2016 and aims to reduce the stigma around mental health issues among students.

“What we try to do is raise mental health awareness on campus overall, educate the community about what mental health is, where the resources are on campus,” said Leah Beman, junior in elementary education and NAMI on Campus president. Beman got involved with NAMI because she wanted to find an organization that advocated for individuals with mental illnesses. 

“I was diagnosed in my senior year of high school with generalized anxiety and panic attack disorder and agoraphobia,” Beman said. “I didn’t know about mental health then and I slowly realized the stigma around it. I had teachers that were not very understanding and it was really hard to get through high school.”

NAMI stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness and is a nationwide organization that dedicates itself to helping people with a mental illness as well as educate people about mental health.

While the club is still new and trying to gain more members, one of Beman’s goals is to raise the club’s numbers and continue to spread the world about them. Another one of her goals is to work alongside Iowa State Police Chief Michael Newton.

“We’re really looking forward to working with him this year. He’s our new advisor and he’s gonna help us try and spread the word,” Beman said. “That’s our goal: to work with him, to get us more well-known and more present on campus so we can actually help more people and end the stigma about mental health.”

NAMI on Campus meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m., with a different speaker each time to talk to them about issues surrounding mental illness.

“We’re having someone from the Wellness Center come in and we’re also having someone from NAMI of Central Iowa come in to talk about what she does for NAMI,” Beman said. 

In addition to having speakers participate in their meetings, the club plans to participate in other NAMI events, like organizing a team for NAMIWalks, a 5K put on by NAMI Iowa to celebrate their 14th anniversary.

The club is also planning their bandana project during the first week in October. 

“If you have a green bandana on your backpack, it means you’re someone who wants to help end the stigma about mental health, willing to talk and be an advocate for mental health,” Beman said. 

Club members will be giving everyone with a green bandana mental health resource cards that they can hand out to people so they know where they can go for mental health help. This helps the club advance their goal of getting the word out about the club. 

Anyone can join NAMI on Campus if they want to help advocate for mental health issues. To learn more information about NAMI, visit Iowa State’s student organization database, email them at [email protected] or get in touch with them on their social media platforms.