According to Global Medical Education, 1 in 4 people in the world are affected by mental or neurological disorders.

One victim of mental illness battles every day.

“I have a bunch of them. They work together in a way that makes it unique to me and makes it harder to treat. In class, my mind just goes to depressive thoughts. It makes my life a lot harder,” she said. “I’ll be laying on the floor, not doing anything, knowing I should be doing something, wanting to do something. There’s a lot to deal with.”

Unfortunately, several of the people affected face harmful stigma regarding their illnesses.

“A lot of people say ‘It’s just a phase. You’re going through a rough patch. Just give it time, it’ll get better. You just need to be stronger.’ But there’s a biological base to a lot of the mental health issues, you can’t just snap out of it. You can’t just get better,” guidance counselor Gavin Engel said.

As the way to fight the stigma, Engel decided to take part in the Mental Health Awareness Month event.

“This is something new. I was talking to the counselors and social workers and told them that it would be good to bring awareness to it. I found the myth versus fact (in the announcements) online. I did it because there are a lot of misconceptions out there. We also have pictures on the monitor in commons to bring awareness to it,” Engel said. “I hope it helps get rid of the stigma. I think anything positive like this is always going to help bring change, even if it changes the minds of a few students, I’ll think it was well worth it.”

Engel hopes the announcements and pictures do not only eliminate the misinformation about mental disorders but comfort students who are suffering and battling through mental illnesses.

“We’re telling the student body that this is where they can come for anything related to that. We’re here to support them in whatever ways possible. This is a safe haven,” Engel said.

Engel plans on continuing this in the future.