Do You Know the Signs?

Tech joins national Campaign to Change Direction focused on mental health awareness.

Georgia Tech became the first university to pledge support to the national Campaign to Change Direction this week.

The campaign is intended to raise awareness and provide education about mental health, mental illness, and wellness. It has been endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama and encourages people to learn the five signs of emotional distress: personality change, agitation, withdrawal, poor self care, and hopelessness.

“The Campaign to Change Direction comes at a time when all of us at Tech are concerned with the mental health wellness and well-being of all members of our community,” said Toti Perez, director of the Georgia Tech Counseling Center. Perez hopes that through Tech's participation in this campaign, members of the campus community will be better informed and more aware of the impact that mental health has on all members of the community and the importance of integrating mental health wellness into healthy lifestyle goals.

Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to learn the five signs and pledge their support through social media using the hashtags #ChangeMentalHealth and #GTDare2Care, and by tagging and following the Counseling Center at @GTCounseling.

Tech has put a renewed emphasis on mental health and wellness in recent years, in part due to a Mental Health Task Force convened by President G.P. “Bud” Peterson in 2013. In January, Tech established a Center for Community Health and Wellbeing that will take shape this year. The Counseling Center also recently hosted a candlelight gathering with the Student Government Association to raise awareness of suicide on campus, as well as a Dare2Care panel discussion event to continue the conversation and provide information on suicide prevention.

 

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