'I have no shame at all': mental health survivor shares experience with Bradley students
The BU Body Project and the Active Minds chapter at Bradley University worked together to organize, prepare and conduct a campus celebration of NEDA Week.
NEDA Week organizers welcomed to Bradley University’s Marty Theater, nationally acclaimed Active Minds speaker, Stacy Pershall. Pershall speaks and writes extensively about her struggles with Borderline Personality Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa. Pershall is a native of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, a predominantly Southern Baptist and evangelical town. For many years, Pershall suffered in silence with her mental health as such conversations were viewed as taboo. According to Pershall, much of the religious community in the town viewed mental and emotional health as “a symptom of not loving God enough.”
Significance of the event
The last week of February is nationally recognized as National Eating Disorder Awareness, commonly known as NEDA Week. The purpose of the weeklong NEDA Week celebration is to increase public awareness of the resources accessible to people with eating disorders. The major goal of the week is to provide educational and life-saving resources, as well as to spread information and encourage the sharing of personal experiences from those who are recovering as well as their family.
Miracle McClendon, Community Events Chair for Active Minds, explained the significance of hosting events of this nature. “There is so much that goes unsaid when it comes to mental health, a lot of people like to sweep things under the rug when in reality these are things that really need to be talked about.”
Creating a safe space
To precursor her presentation, Pershall stated, “I have no shame at all about my diagnosis and I’m thrilled to be able to talk about it with young people that might be struggling with what I struggled with.” This statement was significant in creating a free flow of dialogue between Pershall and audience members, who became comfortable enough to discuss their own personal struggles and seek help.
In response to the presentation, Dani Schenekel, an intern at the Bradley Counseling Center, commented, “I think that she [Pershall] very accurately and honestly depicted her experience…which is important for people who are in their healing process.”
To close the presentation, Pershall called for those struggling with mental health to “come out and change the world.”