In previous years, Nothing to Hide was a day-long celebration in the Fireplace Lounge in early October where members of the Marywood community would congregate to help eradicate the stigma of mental health disorders.This year, there was only a table outside of the Dining Hall for a couple of hours with students hosting Nothing to Hide on a much smaller scale.

“In past years, there was lots of planning for this event with 33-35 groups at the event,” said Laura Chickson, a staff counselor at the McGowan Center for Graduate and Professional Studies. “This year, it worked a lot differently than it has in the past.”

The department decided to make decisions to cut back on the scale of the event. Instead of one large event, smaller promotions will occur throughout the month of October to promote awareness of and treatment for mental health disorders as October is Mental Health Awareness Month.

“We are addressing reallocation of resources,” said Chickson, who also noted that there is a dearth of work-study positions in the psychology department.

POW (Peers on Wellness) already held Meditation Monday on Oct. 6.

Barbara Decker, associate director, is the Peers on Wellness adviser and was happy that POW members held Meditation Monday.

“People made stress balls, made trail mix, and distributed pamphlets about dealing with stress,” said Decker.

There will be a flag campaign in which pictures of celebrities with mental health issues will be displayed as a way to allow those suffering to know that their issues do not have to be hidden.

Meditation Monday and Nothing to Hide Day are not the only events to break the stigma. Later on in the month Katie Koestner, founder of the Take Back the Night Movement, will be speaking at Marywood on Oct. 29 at 9 p.m. in the Latour Room.

Take Back the Night is a movement focused on preventing and raising awareness for sexual assault.
“Mental health is a huge issue,” said Chickson. “We want to be involved to help people know that they are not alone.”

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Twitter: @ADuncklee_TWW

Corrections: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Barbara Decker’s title as chair of Counseling. Likewise, the name of the McGowan Center was incorrectly listed as McGowan Center for Clinical and Professional Studies.