Yale Student Mental Health Association (YSMHA)

Our Mission:

MISSION STATEMENT:
Mind Matters is a student organization that aims to raise awareness about mental illness and mental health resources and advocate for changes that promote mental health in the Yale community.

GOALS
To educate students about mental illness through guest speakers, film screenings, and discussions
To advocate for policy and culture changes that promote mental health
To reduce stigma surrounding mental illness by creating a platform for students to share their experiences of mental illness at student panels
To create a forum for open discussion of mental health issues on campus

Our Activities:

General Yale Community Engagement and Events
Direct Service
We host Pizza Study Socials, open team meetings to discuss mental wellbeing at Yale, occasional mindfulness and speaker events, and more from semester to semester.

Curriculum development for Mindful Exchanges
Direct Service
Students will work on community service and outreach by developing the curricula for our partnership with Mindful Exchanges, which is an organization that runs interactive mental health workshops for students in the local community. We will help create modules for Mindful Exchanges to use. We will engage in discussion about mental health/mindfulness and ways to make it more approachable, design flyers and promotion materials, and outline goals in preparation for Mindful Exchange to work with the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven. Both virtual and in-person. This action does not include the actual working with New Haven youth, students interested in helping with the workshops should contact Vivian Wang with Mindful Exchanges.

Mind Over Matter Mental Health Fair
Advocacy, or Activism
Mind Over Matter: Exploring Mental Health at Yale, is an annual mental health fair that YSMHA holds on Cross Campus to spread awareness of and share resources relating to mental health. The event includes a number of booths from Yale and community mental health organizations, as well as visits from Heidi and Handsome Dan, performances by Yale musical groups, and food.

Mind Over Matter: Exploring Mental Health
Advocacy, or Activism
Mind Over Matter: Exploring Mental Health at Yale is a celebratory fair-like event that includes peer-run interactive expo booths, free food, music, and prizes to engage students in discussion about their mental health and suicide prevention in an approachable manner. With this event, YSMHA hopes to create a positive atmosphere for open dialogue on mental health and mental illness, educate the Yale community on the vast array of mental health resources available to them on campus, and spread awareness of mental illness.

The Bandana Project - Yale Chapter
Advocacy, or Activism
The Bandana Project is a nationwide mental health awareness &
suicide prevention movement. YSMHA is home to the Bandana Project @ Yale.

Recurring Mental Health Speakers
Advocacy, or Activism
YSMHA hosts a variety of different speakers throughout the semester that help the student body better understand the mental health climate at Yale, in the Greater New Haven Community, and in other places across the United States. We will discuss how mental health intersects with various aspects of our life & how sociological factors affect current mental health practices and services.

The Bandana Project at Yale
Advocacy, or Activism
The Bandana Project aims to destigmatize mental health by distributing bright green bandanas and mental health resources to students. The bandanas are tied to backpacks and signify that a given student has the resources on them and is a mental health advocate.

Student Leaders:

Shruti Parthasarathy - Co-Coordinator/Co-President Peyton Meyer - Co-Coordinator/Co-President