Newswatch 16’s Emily Kress shares how students are working to break down the stigma around mental health in their schools through Aevidum.
LEHIGHTON, Pa. — This may seem like a fun study hall at Lehighton Area High School, but the topic of discussion in this circle is something serious.
“We start with just saying, why is it important to talk about mental health, and there is a rare person that doesn’t have some level of lived experience either personally or through a family member or friend,” said Mary Pritchard, Aevidum director of outreach.
It’s part of the Aevidum talk workshop. A nation-wide school-based suicide prevention program to help create an understanding of the different challenges students may be dealing with.
“They feel like they can’t talk to other people, so that is why they bottle it in and act like everything is fine, but really it just hurts them in the long run,” said Lehighton Aevidum president, Hailey Heinbach.
“Sometimes it can be the atmosphere, sometimes it can be the social pressures put on us, or sometimes it can just be our outer lives outside of high school,” said Lehighton Aevidum member Patrick Devitt.
Mary Pritchard is the director of outreach with the program. She says more than 100 students from ten different schools across the region are coming together at this workshop to learn how to support other classmates.
“There is no way you can know everything that is going on with students in the building, so we do know that peers know what is going on with other peers,” said Pritchard.
For the students, they say the most important piece of getting a friend’s help is knowing who to turn to and when.
“Along with the app Safe2Say app as well, you can anonymously report people if you feel like they are struggling,” said Devitt.
“Getting that help early, just like with any other health condition, is so essential to prevent a tragic outcome like suicide,” said Pritchard.