Written by Jack Meltzer
Willimantic, Conn. - Alison Malmon, founder of Active Minds, a nonprofit mental health advocacy group for young adults, will speak on Sept. 15 as Eastern Connecticut State University in observance of Suicide Prevention Week. Malmon will lecture at 1 p.m. in the Student Center Theater. The public is invited and admission is free.
Malmon started Active Minds in 2001 after her older brother, Brian, took his life while attending Columbia University in New York. Realizing that few people were discussing mental health issues on campus, Malmon decided to combat the stigma of mental illness.
Since then Malmon has been featured on CNN and in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Chronicle of Higher Education and other publications. Active Minds has more than 200 campus chapters across the United States. Malmon hopes to encourage students to seek help when they need it.
Last year, Gov. M. Jodi Rell declared the first week of September as Suicide Prevention Week in Connecticut. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students.
