“Where there is life, there is hope” – Marcus Tullius Cicero.

September is national Suicide Prevention Month. On September 17, 2019, a Suicide Prevention Walk was held on the College of Charleston campus in the Rivers Green. This meeting was conducted by Mental Health in Melanin or MHM. The goal of Mental Health in Melanin is to combat stigmas of mental health in minority populations through education, mindfulness and brave spaces. The title of the event isn’t indicative of the contents of the event itself. Despite the name, there was very little walking involved. It started with introductions of all of the event’s leaders and participants. Then, we played an icebreaker in which everyone formed to lines facing one another. There was a large space left between the two. Two people instructed the activity. One person would make a statement. If the statement applied to an individual, the individual would take either a step forward or back. After each statement and movement, the second instructor would read off mental health-related statistics. The goal of this icebreaker was to educate and bring us together both symbolically and literally. Following the icebreaker, participants gave testimonials about their struggles with their mental health. Many of them were very shocking. This emphasized the ubiquity of inadequacies in mental health conditions. I personally was unable to believe how much these individuals were able to overcome. After everyone was given their chance to speak, we held a candlelight vigil in honor of those we’ve lost or almost lost. Each individual was presented a tall white candle. Along with the candle, were adhesive papers and markers. On the marker, everyone was instructed to write down something they disliked about themselves or something negative. Lighting the candles subsequently meant to show that we were burning away those things in an attempt to release them from our lives. Some people had one word or phrase, others had several. Finally, when everything was released, we said a group prayer which led to plenty of hugs!

By now, you’re probably wondering, how exactly does this event relate to sustainability? Let me explain by firstly stating that mental health has a major impact on society on a much broader scale than just the individual themselves. One’s mental state can influence many of the dietary, health-related, and environmental choices they make. I, for instance, make much poorer decisions when I am feeling down or stressed. A majority of these decisions involve unhealthy food. I either consume much less or much more than usual. Additionally, I tend to spend more money on said food regardless of if I eat more or less. This kind of behavior supports industries that harm the environment. One item that I happen to consume in particular is canned soda. Normally, I would restrain myself from drinking these; but, when I am stressed or down, I drink these as sort of a pick-me-up. These cans are made of aluminum. Do you think that I make the effort to recycle these cans? No, I don’t. I doubt I’m the only person with that mindset. If everyone made the same decisions I make, we would use up the Earth’s resources 7.5 times over. The Royal College of Psychiatrists Sustainability Summit states that sustainability in mental health is the ability to provide high value care now and in the future in the face of environmental, economic and social constraints. Doing so will; prevent mental illness, improve individual and social capital (resources), and build social and community resiliency and well being. My biggest takeaway from the Mental Health in Melanin Suicide Prevention Walk was its effort to normalize the topic of mental health. Personally, I feel as though initiatives such as these have the largest impact on improving upon public health afflictions and sustainability.