The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, is a nationally recognized grassroots organization with chapters across the United States focused on destigmatizing mental illness and creating support systems to help improve people’s mental health. NAMI Club is in contact with NAMI’s Connecticut chapter to help supply resources for students at the University of Connecticut.
“NAMI is a mental health support club that aims to create a safe and inclusive space so everyone can offer the opportunity for students to discuss their mental health struggles and support each other,” Gretl Josselyn, a sixth-semester philosophy and anthropology double major with a women’s gender & sexuality studies minor, and President of NAMI Club said.
For the Fall 2023 semester, the NAMI Club attended the annual suicide prevention walk called Out of the Darkness, which the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention hosted. The club also initiated a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the lives of LGBTQ+ people, by decorating the sidewalk outside of the Student Union with affirmations written in chalk. They also tabled in the Student Union for National Mental Health Day and other mental health-related days to promote mental wellbeing.
For the Spring 2024 semester, the NAMI Club meets on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. in Rowe 131. The club always starts its meetings with a roundtable on the highs and lows of the past week. The club leaders encourage members to always use their active listening skills and are highly responsive to both the highs and lows. They even celebrate when a club member doesn’t have a low in mind, but if they do, they are willing to listen and talk things through. The NAMI Club encourages people to share only what they are comfortable sharing.
For the first meeting this semester, peer facilitator Carissa Horton, an eighth-semester natural resources major, compiled a list of the first signs of declining mental health, ways to improve mental health when one starts to notice a decline, what to avoid to benefit mental health, what resources to contact or engage in if mental health doesn’t necessarily improve and places to go to that help one to feel safe with other members. The list also included resources within the club, such as members one can go talk to about mental health. One notable member on this list is Camila Porras, an eighth-semester political science major and vice president of the NAMI Club. This list is available on the NAMI Club GroupMe.
According to Josselyn, new members of the NAMI Club can anticipate “upcoming events including a blind book fundraiser… a self-care social collaboration with Protect Our Pack and a de-stress before finals night.”A blind book fundraiser is an event at which books have their covers obscured, and only a description of the book will be provided. It will be held at the Student Union in April. Self-help and mental health-related books will also be available. If anybody would like to donate a book for this event, they can email the NAMI Club at namiuconn@gmail.org. The collaboration with Protect Our Pack will be on March 4 from 6-8 p.m. in Rowe 131.
“NAMI is for absolutely everyone! Whether you are personally struggling with your mental health, know someone who is, or just need some support, you’re welcome at NAMI… No matter your identity, you are welcome to come and share your experiences and stressors with no judgment,” Josselyn said in a statement. She then stated that she wanted to be the president of the NAMI Club to support those who are struggling with their mental health, as she admits to struggling with mental health herself. Josselyn understands the importance of a support group that talks people through their feelings and gives them a sense of belonging.