By Humphrey Musila
Staff Reporter
hmusila@jccc.edu
Stacy Pershall, author of “Loud in the House Myself: Memoirs of a Strange Girl,” gave a presentation at the college on Wednesday, April 28. The presentation, hosted by the Active Minds club, was based on topics such as bullying, suicide, eating disorders, stigma reduction and Borderline Personality Disorder.
Pershall grew up in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, a small town with a population of 1,000 people that had a major effect on the emergence and severity of her disorders. This is the town where she started feeling a profound sense of displacement. She said at times that she could force herself to sleep in her closet because she didn’t feel worthy of the comfort of her bed. She was later diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, anorexia, Borderline Personality Disorder and depression.
“By the time I was 25 years old, I had seen 17 different clinicians and taken 27 different psycho meds,” said Pershall.
Students who are going through mentalissues in life or those who have experienced any disorders should stay engaged in organizations that advocate for mental health issues. Pershall advised the need to find correct diagnoses and treatmentsand find the way to get the treatments.
“The first step for college students is to find Active Minds and finding out if there are other people who are going through the same things that you are going through and feeling the same things that you are feeling and starting to join together with those people and build an army of activists,” said Pershall. “Every time you come out to one person about what you are struggling with, you are changing the world. It really is that concrete. Just saying I have this diagnosis and using the correct words for your diagnosis is activism.”
Several students, faculty and staff at college gathered in the Hudson Auditorium for the presentation. Those in attendance gained a lot from Pershall’s presentation.
“I really learned more information, especially to do with suicide and how you could help someone who is going through hard times in their life,” said student Wafaa Younes. “Now I know how I can direct such people to seek help from the right people and also the right books to find more information.”
The active Minds club has weekly meetings at 12 p.m. in Carlsen Center 232.