Students with mental illness to receive connections
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 1:35PM By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com
Students diagnosed with mental illness will now be able to make connections and find support from other students starting next Tuesday.
Faculty and staff will not be part of Connection Support Group, a student-run, student-focused support group for students dealing and struggling with mental illness while attending college.
On Nov. 15 at common time, students can gather in Kinard 302 for an informational meeting about the group.
During the meeting, freshman social work major Travis Friot will gauge how many people are interested in joining the group. For Friot, the most important thing is guaranteeing respect and enforcing confidentiality.
“I want people to feel that they can come to the group and be open,” Friot said.
He also wants to make sure students will know their business won’t be all around Winthrop, he said.
Friot, who himself has a mental illness, said he feels students need some kind of support from peers who also have to adjust classes for “sick days” and other struggles he encounters completing school work.
Friot said he thinks that students will benefit from seeing someone living with mental illness successfully going to school.
Thus far, Friot is the sole leader of the group, he said.
Check out the Nov. 17 issue of The Johnsonian for coverage of “In Our Own Voice,” an event featuring individuals successfully living with mental illness.
