Mental Illness Awareness Conference Reflections

On Tuesday, March 20th, medical students gathered to discuss mental illness. The focus of mental illness amongst medical students is frequently centered around patients, diagnostic criteria and proper, empirically based treatment; however, this night was different. This evening focused on the medical students themselves. Lucas Labine, a member of the sponsoring student organization, the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS), and a co-organizer of the conference along with Rose Olson, Nicki Noyes, and Michael Downey, initiated the conference with some startling data. 25% of medical students have experienced depression at some point during their medical training(1). Of this population, only slightly over half of these students seek treatment, and of those patients, medical students tend to seek treatment during crisis, rather than early on in their depression(2). 10% of medical students with depression consider suicide(2). The discrepancy between the amount of students reporting depression and the amount of students who receive treatment (and when they seek treatment) is a strong indication that the stigma of mental health is darkly prevalent amongst healthcare providers.

During a GHHS general meeting early in the school year, members were discussing the wellness they have seen on their clinical rotations, and how we all wished it could be better. This led into more sharing about how mental illness overall is dealt with in medical education and the stigma around managing it. In order to address this stigma, GHHS held its first Mental Illness Awareness Conference. In this conference students shared personal stories with mental illness and written poetry. Medical school administration spoke about their experiences with mental health. University resources, including the Aurora Center, Student Counseling Services, Boynton Mental Health, and National Alliance on Mental Illness were present. Small group and large group discussions shared ideas about the prevalence and pervasive features of mental illness stigma, and how students themselves can battle this stigma and support each other. Some of the strongest points of the night came from within the small groups, where students recognized how those students that shared simply put into words how many students feel. We were able to relate to the struggles the students expressed at some point in time, and how we as medical students have found various ways to function with these disabling feelings as we go through the rigors of medical school.

In a group of people who have dedicated their lives to healing others, we questioned why the stigma of mental illness is so strong amongst us. Do we fear seeming incompetent amongst our colleagues? Are we viewing depression as a weakness? These critical questions were discussed in small groups. We hope these questions continue to be asked and we continue to push ourselves as providers to not only heal our patients, but our colleagues and ourselves.

References:

1. Rotenstein LS, Ramos MA, Torre M, et al. Prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation among medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2016;316:2214-36. 2. Rosenthal JM, Okie S. White coat, mood indigo — depression in medical school. N Engl J Med 2005;353:1085-8.