Black Flag Campaign calls attention to mental health

NEWS TWLOHA, Z Society raise suicide awareness by Mairead Crotty | Mar 24 2015 | 18 hours ago

The University chapter of To Write Love on Her Arms placed 1,100 black flags on the South Lawn Monday to represent the 1,100 college students who die by suicide every year.

TWLOHA is a nonprofit organization seeking to fight the stigma surrounding mental health, create a better and safer conversation about mental health and educate and inform people about the importance of receiving treatment.

With the help of the Z Society, TWLOHA placed the black flags, both to respect student lives lost to suicide and to raise awareness. TWLOHA Vice President Arianna Trickey, a Curry graduate student, said the campaign is a way to bring attention to the conversation surrounding mental health.

The Black Flag Advocacy Campaign is a way to break the stigma, Trickey said. Suicide is not something that anyone wants to talk about, even though the ripple effect of a suicide affects everyone.

The Black Flag Campaigns goal is to encourage students struggling with their mental health to seek the medical attention they need.

That being said, its not meant to be a bandwagon, Trickey said. Its part visibility, but weve also made sure that resources are available. We want to stress that suicide is not the answer there are other avenues to get help here at the University.

Trickey also explained the purpose of the University chapter of the organization.

As an organization we try to do a lot of advocacy work to end the stigma and discuss what being a college student in a culture that stigmatizes mental health is, Trickey said. Were trying to show that U.Va. is not alone in this problem, and that there are so many people who have faced these issues.

The main goal of TWLOHA is to educate and advocate for people struggling with mental health. Ten percent of students have depression, and an estimated two-thirds of those students are untreated, Trickey said. TWLOHA aims to connect people to the resources they need to combat mental health problems.

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Black Flag Campaign calls attention to mental health