The Movies for Mental Health event was held to raise awareness and offer support for students who may struggle with mental health issues. The event, put on by Disability Support Services (DSPS) and Equity & Inclusion was held Oct. 2.

Many students deal with issues related to mental health and the stigmas surrounding them. The event was offered to students to help shed some light on, and hopefully eradicate, those same stigmas.

The movies shown were short films based on different struggles one may have with mental health.

Vanessa Solis, a licensed clinical social worker and speaker for the event had a great review of the occasion.

“The event was a success,” Solis said. “Students showed up as their true selves to have meaningful discussions on mental health stigma, and people brought in their real stories and connections with what we were talking about and each other.”

The first movie, “Gladys,” was made by Jessica Jones. “Gladys” won the DiBattista Art With Impact (AWI) award in November 2013, which covers an individual’s struggle with depression and what someone might do to get through it.

The second film, titled “The Gift,” by Steve Bastoni, was an AWI winner in August 2016. It was based on suicide prevention.

The last movie was titled “A Short Film About Anxiety,” by Lily Rose Thomas and Stephen Isaac-Wilson; it covered the topic of anxiety and how to recognize some of its symptoms and a few tips on how to prevent them.

These movies aimed to leave a positive impact on those who attended and offered helpful insight on these issues with a detailed discussion after each one.

Many students expressed appreciation for the event and found it to be a success.

LMC Student Senator Priscilla Tatmon reflected that the event was “very informative, inspirational.” She continued, “It was good to see the services available to students. I wanted to let students know the Student Life Center and Equity offer a resource for mental health titled A Place to Talk.”

DSPS Manager Ginny Richards was also pleased with how the event turned out, and said she was “thrilled to see so many students, and the student participation.”