Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Our Honors in Action (HIA) project explored the frontiers of mental health,
specifically the perception and treatment of anxiety disorders. We initially
formed a research team to explore innovations in the treatment of anxiety.
Based on our research, we determined three objectives:
o Increase awareness of the effects of anxiety in our community
o Educate our community about the innovations in the treatment of
anxiety
o Introduce our community to valuable resources for the treatment of
anxiety
Through an Anxiety Awareness Week, which included speakers, an awareness
fair, and workshops, our project indeed increased community awareness and
gave support to organizations committed to addressing this ever-growing crisis.
Why and by What Process did you choose this theme?
At the beginning of our year, we solicited our chapter members to review the
Honors Program Guide and propose themes or topics to explore for our project.
We were also fortunate to have several campus organizations express a desire
to partner with us on campus projects. We then formed an HIA program
committee to evaluate the proposals and pick the topic that would have the best
impact on our chapter, campus, and community. Out of the numerous ideas
submitted, our chapter decided that a partnership with the colleges Mental
Health Awareness Team (MHAT) and Psi Beta (Psychology honors society)
focused on addressing mental health issues would be best. We then chose the
theme Health and Medicine as Frontiers because it allowed us to explore
innovations in mental health while still focusing our action in our community.
Works Cited:
Source 1
Szabo, Liz. "Cost of Not Caring: Stigma Set in Stone." USA Today
This USA Today series served as the inspiration for our Honors in Action project. It opened our eyes to the problem of
the stigma associated with mental illness that exists in our own community and motivated us to help clubs on our
campus make a difference for people suffering from mental illnesses in our community.
Source 2
Lebowitz, Matthew S., John J. Pyun, and Woo-Kyoung Ahn. "Biological Explanations of Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
Effects on Beliefs About Prognosis and Responsibility." Psychiatric Services 65.4 (2014): 498-503.
The results of this research showed that there is a significant stigma in our society that
individuals who suffer from anxiety are personally responsible for their illness.
Source 3
Beljouw, I. Van, P. Verhaak, M. Prins, P. Cuijpers, B. Penninx, and J. Bensing. "Reasons and Determinants for Not
Receiving Treatment for Common Mental Disorders." Psychiatric Services 61.3 (2010): 250-57.
This article showed us that there are many people who feel that they need treatment for
their mental illness, yet they are not getting treatment. One of the reasons that we found to
be important was that they believed that the treatment options available would not be
effective for their mental illness.
Source 4
Have, Margreet Ten, Ron De Graaf, Saskia Van Dorsselaer, and Aartjan Beekman. "Lifetime Treatment Contact and
Delay in Treatment Seeking After First Onset of a Mental Disorder." Psychiatric Services.64.10 (2013): 981-89.
This article showed us that only a fraction of people who suffer from an anxiety disorder
have received treatment for this disorder in the past 12 months. This shows that there are
many people who need treatment, but do not have the ability to get it.
Source 5
Swart, Joan. "Applying Buddhist Principles To Mode Deactivation Theory And Practice." International Journal Of
Behavioral Consultation & Therapy 9.2 (2014): 26-30.
Swart showed us that many of the new treatment options for anxiety are based on Buddhist
principles. Although the concepts themselves have been around for many years,
incorporating them into the treatment of anxiety is a new concept that has great promise for
the future treatment of mental health disorders.
Source 6
Garakani, Amir, James Murrough, and Dan Iosifescu. "Advances in Psychopharmacology for Anxiety Disorders."
Psychopharmacology: Evidence and Treatments 12.2 (2014): 152-62.
This journal article showed us that anxiety disorders occur more frequently than many other mental health disorders,
yet very few new medications can immediately treat anxiety disorders. In order to effectively treat anxiety we need to
continue the research of newer medications and combine other forms of treatment to help treat anxiety.
Source 7
Roemer, Lizabeth, Susan M. Orsillo, and Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault. "Efficacy of an Acceptance-based Behavior
Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Evaluation in a Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology 76.6 (2008): 1083-089.
This article further solidified that there are new treatment options available that are highly
effective. The results of this research found that 78% of those who received this treatment
no longer met the criteria for the diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Source 8
Khoury, Bassam, Tania Lecomte, Guillaume Fortin, Marjolaine Masse, Phillip Therien, Vanessa Bouchard, Marie-
Andre Chapleau, Karine Paquin, and Stefan G. Hofmann. "Mindfulness-based Therapy: A Comprehensive Meta-
analysis." Clinical Psychology Review 33.6 (2013): 763-71.
This article gave us information about what Mindfulness entails. It also showed
us that although previous research has been unclear, mindfulness is an effective
treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
.
What conclusions did your chapter reach based on your research
and how do these conclusions guide you to select the action part of
your project?
Our research efforts first indicated that we needed to narrow our topic so as to
properly focus our research questions and resulting action outlets. In addressing
this concern, we learned that anxiety is an issue that affects many individuals in
our community, yet does not garner the attention it deserves. Our research told
us that the problem is primarily caused by the stigma associated with anxiety
and the lack of knowledge about available treatment options. Upon meeting
with various mental health advocate groups within the college and community,
it was clear that a lack of awareness was a big problem that hindered them in
further exploring the frontiers of treating anxiety. Indeed, we were concerned
that the number of individuals with anxiety and those receiving care were
grossly disproportionate.
Objectives
Based on our research, we knew that spreading awareness about the impact of
anxiety disorders would be one of the most important objectives to tackle. We
also came to the conclusion that informing our community members of the
resources available to treat anxiety disorders would be another objective to
address. Finally, our last objective was to teach our community about the
advancements in the treatment and diagnoses of anxiety disorders.
Collaborations
Throughout the conceptualization, planning, and implementation stages of our
project, we collaborated with the following campus organizations:
Mental Health Awareness Team (MHAT)
Psi Beta
Learning Commons (our campus academic support center)
Counseling and Advising Department
Massage Therapy Program
Veterans Services
Art Department
Forensics (Speech) Team
Human Services Program.
We also collaborated with the following off-campus community organizations
that are dedicated to increasing awareness of mental illness:
Veterans Services DuPage County
Veterans Services Aurora
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center
Illinois Art Therapy Association
Our chapter used several tactics to quantify the attendance at our Anxiety
Awareness Fair. At the fair, over 500 squares of bubble wrap were handed out to
attendees. In fact, we ran out of bubble wrap squares just two hours into the
fair. We also handed out an additional 450 flyers with information about the
weeks worth of workshops, which also were completely distributed within two
hours. One of the most popular elements of the fair was the 40 handmade stress
balls that students were able to make and keep with them. The Counseling
Department reported that well over 30 people participated in mental health
screening. In total, we estimate that we had over a thousand students and
community members came to learn about anxiety during our five-hour fair.
Qualitatively, we hope that those who attended the fair increased their
awareness of the toll anxiety takes on their daily lives and will use the tools and
information distributed to improve their mental well-being, particularly as both
finals and the holidays were on the horizon.
As for the workshops, attendance varied from over 20 participants at the
Mindfulness Workshop to 12 at the Art Therapy Workshop to 7 at the Test
Anxiety Workshop. Unfortunately, attendance was slim to none at our public
speaking and veterans workshops. A valuable lesson learned by our chapter was
that we over-extended our efforts. Focusing on less programming would have
perhaps increased productivity, interest, and attendance.
For those that did attend our workshops, the qualitative outcomes were
significant. Nursing students who attended our mindfulness workshop
developed tools that they can use to help their future patients who struggle with
anxiety. A tutor who attended the mindfulness workshop mentioned that she
was going to use some of the lessons from this workshop to help her students.
Students who attended the art therapy workshop said that this was the first time during
the semester that they felt truly relaxed and focused.