Group to bring campus-wide mental health awareness

Clemson will be the site of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Out of Darkness Walk on Sunday, April 10. The event will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Jervey Meadows. Its purpose, according to Clemson Newsstand, is to raise awareness for suicide prevention, or, more specifically, for the efforts of Clemson's Tigers Together.

Tigers Together is Clemson's suicide prevention program with goals to, as their website states, "provide information and resources, reduce stigma, and promote a community of caring."

Tigers Together provide many forms of information about suicide prevention, including suicide prevention tips, information about Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and other resources for faculty, students and families on a local or national scale. The organization is run by faculty, staff and students who participate through various committee groups.

One such group is a Creative Inquiry Team. The team receives funds from the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Campus Suicide Prevention grant and collaborate with multiple administrative faculty members and organizations on campus, including CAPS.

Counseling and Psychological Services offers education about suicide, among other topics, and efforts to prevent it through its outreach services.

Like Tigers Together, the purpose of CAPS's outreach services is to openly discuss mental health. Counseling services are also provided through the CUNow Clinic at Redfern Health Center. More information about CAPS and their services can be found at www.clemson.edu/campus-life/campus-services/redfern/mental-health/.

While Katie Gilstrap, a sophomore computer science major, is not attending, she did express her feelings on having events that bring awareness to mental health such as this one.

"Mental health is such a tough issue to address ... There are many ways to bring awareness to mental health, which I believe is what this event does."

However, she was unsure about the event's addressing of mental health issues.

"Every human is different and needs different attention to detail."

Anyone interested in participating in the Out of Darkness Walk can register online until noon on Friday, April 8. Runners can also register on-site between 12 p.m. and the start of the run at 2:00. For more information, the primary contact for the walk, Cayley Balser, can be contacted at 440-785-5438 or cbalser@clemson.edu. Anyone interested can register for or donate to the effort at afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=3728.

For more information about suicide prevention, CAPS appointments can be made or outreach services requested through their appointment line at 864-656-2451, or students can visit during walk-in hours, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tigers Together also provides options to talk, chat or text on their website, www.clemson.edu/campus-life/healthy-campus/suicideprevention/.