While normally Whitman students fill the halls of Whitman, Feb. 15 the halls bustled with professional actors to film a public service announcement for The Campaign to Change Direction, a coalition of citizens and leaders united in attempt to change American culture so that mental illness is recognized as a serious issue.
“The goal of the Campaign to Change Direction is to encourage everyone to learn the five signs of emotional suffering–so that we take better care of ourselves and those we love,” said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of the Campaign to Change Direction.
The five signs are feeling hopeless, withdrawn, agitated, unable to care for your health and not feeling like yourself. Currently, posters with the five signs are displayed in Whitman bathrooms and hallways.
The PSA encourages student to recognize these signs in themselves and others as it follows a group of high schoolers reacting to a mental health tragedy at their school. The tragedy is ambiguous so that students can relate it to any mental issue, not just one.
The commercial featured professional student actors, not Whitman students, though on the days preceding the commercial’s filming students were used to block out the filming space as well as gauge what typical high schoolers looked like to make the film as realistic as possible.
“People came in and took pictures of the cafeteria and where people were sitting,” junior Ferzam Mohammad said. “They also walked through the path they were going to film.”
As of August 2015 the campaign has 150 campaign supporters, including government agencies and public figures such as Michelle Obama and Joe Biden. The government agency in charge of developing the PSA is The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As of January 2016 it is estimated that over 176 million people have learned about the five signs. The Campaign encourages people to offer help to those in need when they recognize these signs.
“Teenagers are good at tracking each other–and this is something that is very important to pay attention to,” Van Dahlen said.
Whitman was chosen for the PSA partly because Dr. Van Dahlen is the mother of a former and a current Whitman student.
“I am very proud that Walt Whitman is the first high school in the country to join this important effort,” Van Dahlen said.
