Lighthouse goes beyond the stigma

Home News Lighthouse goes beyond the stigma

Lighthouse, Hillsdale’s mental health awareness club, is helping students combat the effects of stress and anxiety.
Beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the club will host a series titled “Behind the Stigma” on mental illnesses. The first meeting open to the public will focus on stress and anxiety, and the remaining discussions will concentrate on depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
“While Hillsdale College and its students pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful, this campus isn’t immune to mental illness. We owe it to ourselves and to those we love to fight for what is good, true, and beautiful in each one of us and in this life,” senior Jillien Baldwin said.
She, senior Kaitlin Norton, and junior Rebecca French actively represent a portion of the Lighthouse board because of their passion for the cause.
“Hillsdale is such a high -achieving place that a lot of time people are afraid to show weakness, when in reality we all struggle with different things,” French said.
Director of Health Services Brock Lutz agreed, claiming that students at Hillsdale not only suffer from academic stress, but also moral stress.
“We talk so much about morals and virtues and being great people, and so it’s not just academic stress we deal with. Very often, it’s more an existential stress related to ‘I know I want to be like this, and I’m not. Why?’ It’s so identity-focused,” Lutz said.
Lutz, French, Baldwin, and president of Lighthouse Norton, hope that the series encourages students to feel comfortable discussing mental illness.
“I think I’m just excited for people to realize that mental health is something we can talk about…that we’re able to sit down and talk about it in a light way — it doesn’t have to be lights off, doors closed,” Norton said.
Lutz, Norton, and French will all speak at the first presentation. Lutz will discuss the clinical aspect of mental illnesses, while Norton and French will provide more personal stories.
“My best friend back home suffers from crippling anxiety. I am obviously very passionate about the subject because I have seen it wreak havoc on her life. I know I’m going to be talking about my own personal experience with having panic attacks. Since I’ve been at Hillsdale I’ve had a few of them,” Norton said. French, on the other hand, will discuss a phobia she has.
The Lighthouse board hopes to use preventative actions, rather than waiting until treatment is necessary.
“We are all under stress, but what is the difference between a normal level of stress and something that becomes overwhelming to me,” Lutz said.
Though Norton started the club two years ago, this is its first experience with a great member base, and the first full semester with a leadership board in place. Previous Lighthouse activities include Suicide Awareness Night and Stress Awareness Week, both of which have been well attended.
French played a role in naming the club after one of her favorite analogies.
“I heard an analogy one time that fighting depression is like fighting the mist. You’re thrashing about, accomplishing nothing, fighting, and you look ridiculous. People don’t understand what you’re fighting because they can’t see you. Lighthouse brings light, it guides you in the mist,” French said.
“Mental illness is something that affects everyone in some way. It might not be an option to wait until next semester to talk to Brock, or to have that conversation with a friend that you think is struggling,” Norton said.
“I think students should come so they can learn how to identify and handle stress in their lives in a healthy way,” Lutz said.
“Even if you don’t struggle with it yourself, it is still beneficial to have a knowledge about these illnesses because so many people do struggle with them,” French said.