Dozens of USC students gathered on the lawn of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority to celebrate World Mental Health Day this Tuesday.
The USC Panhellenic community, a collective representing all USC sororities, hosted a resource fair and sound bath for students both in and out of Greek life. This fair partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, Hillel, and WisdoMania, which are organizations at USC and in the LA area dedicated to mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
These organizations, namely Didi Hirsch, spread awareness about accessible ways to get involved with mental wellness practices and provide free resources that help students nurture their mental health, including providing education surrounding suicide prevention.
“One of the things about Didi Hirsch is that it provides service to those who can’t afford it….Where there is injustice in communities, Didi Hirsch will be there,” said Bobby Narayan, a volunteer for Didi Hirsch.
For those struggling with their mental health, or those who have loved ones living with mental illnesses, organizations such as Didi Hirsch can provide places of refuge and community.
After losing his dad to suicide, Narayan said “life [looked] pretty bleak.” He was in search of a supportive community he could lean on in his time of need and he found that in Didi Hirsch. Narayan is now a member of the organization’s speaker’s bureau and came out to Gamma Phi Beta’s resource fair to represent Didi Hirsch and showcase the lifesaving work they do.
Didi Hirsch partnered with Gamma Phi Beta on World Mental Health Day in aim of “[having] a place on the lawn to let people know that someone is here to listen to whatever it is they may be going through, if they have a friend who’s struggling with anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide…. I’m here just to be a vessel for that message,” Narayan said.
Taylor Ryan, a junior at USC majoring in NGOs and social change, got involved with Didi Hirsch after experiencing a similar loss. Losing her mom to suicide in 2017, Ryan turned to organizations like Didi Hirsch and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, as they provided her a necessary support system.
Ryan began volunteering for both organizations, creating the “Team Sabrina” fundraising initiative to honor her mom’s legacy and prevent others from suffering her mom’s fate. Her work with these organizations is ultimately what led Ryan to her current role as the director of the Panhellenic Health and Wellness Council.
The motivation in hosting this resource fair was “to make sure that our community [is] aware of this day, because mental health is important every single day, but days like this are really important in raising awareness because of the stigma around mental health,” Ryan said.
Ryan is also focusing on mental health year round. As part of her work as the the director of the Panhellenic Health and Wellness Council, she hosts roundtables with the wellness representatives from every sorority.
The goal of these round tables is to “make sure that they know how to lead individuals through making appointments with mental health services on campus or reaching out to any resources they need, as well as making sure they’re up to date on the awareness events coming up,” said Ryan.
“My mission is that everybody at least knows that they should value their own wellness and that if they can’t be well, it’s going to be hard to support community wellness,” Ryan said.
Ryan also invited USC’s Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services to the resource fair, as she is very passionate about everyone having an avenue to feel seen and heard and to seek help.
RSVP provides students at USC who have experienced sexual violence with resources and both legal and medical support. Since there have been several instances of sexual assault in Greek life at USC, Ryan said she thought it would be valuable to have the organization present at the resource fair.
WidsoMania, one of the other organizations at the resource fair, led a sound bath to cap the evening’s events. WisdoMania is a non-profit that offers unique mindfulness experiences, like the sound bath they organized at the resource fair, to schools and communities across Los Angeles.
Sound baths are a meditative practice that use the sound and vibration from instruments to reduce stress and provide a sense of relaxation to those listening. According to the Mayo Clinic, “meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine and… can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind,... resulting in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.”
“I very much love listening to frequencies and different music to calm my anxiety,” said Ryan.
Having been involved with mindfulness practices since losing her mom, Ryan has been a driving force in creating more welcoming and accessible mental health awareness spaces.
According to Ryan, “wellness is a new category you are starting to see in a lot of different places, workplace clubs, E-board, everything like that…. I would say not just in the Greek life community, but in all different realms, mental health awareness has gotten better…as a whole and in the Panhellenic community.”
The role Ryan holds as the director of the Health and Wellness Council within the Panhellenic community is relatively new, as she is only the third person to hold the position.
“Obviously we can’t end mental health conditions, but I think it’s really important that you start embracing mental health conversations with everybody around you, and [know] that those conversations are going to be harder sometimes than others, but they’re also ongoing,” Ryan said.
Ryan said she hopes that with her volunteer and advocacy work she encourages people to not only pay more attention to their mental health, but to proactively improve and nurture it, before it’s too late.
“If you are or you know someone who is struggling with thoughts of depression, anxiety, or ultimately even suicide, there is help. 988 is an easy way to reach out if you don’t know where to go, because sometimes your family can’t give you what you need, your friends can’t give you what you need. Didi Hirsch [and organizations like it] provide a community and a really safe, non judgmental channel for help,” said Narayan.
The Suicide & Crisis Hotline national number is 988. The service provides confidential support for anyone in emotional distress or in a suicide crisis. The hotline is available any hour of the day, every day of the week.