UCF’s Office of Student Involvement hopes to address the stigma surrounding mental illness through an event featuring a short film and panel discussion Tuesday evening.
The Never Alone event, which will be held in the Live Oak Ballroom, near Ferrell Commons and Garage B at UCF’s main campus, will begin at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
The event will address mental health, how to combat the stigma around it, and ways to prevent the second leading cause of death in young adults — suicide, the website states.
The event will include a short welcome and introduction, a film screening and a panel discussion by Dr. Deepak Chopra, Poonacha Machaiah, Gabriella Wright, and UCF interim President Thad Seymour.
“The ‘Never Alone’ movement aims to build communities to encourage and empower young adults to reach out to a friend who may be struggling with their mental health,” the Never Alone website reads. “The goal of the movement is to reduce the stigma and allowing people to know they are not alone, build communities of wellbeing where people can speak about it and enable them with the tools to work through it.”
Students do not need to bring an ID or have previously reserved tickets, but the event will be on a first-come, first-serve basis, the Office of Student Involvement confirmed with Knight News.
For individuals unable to attend, the event will also be livestreamed on Youtube.
“Suicide is the biggest taboo of America,” Chopra states on the website. “This is the biggest tragedy of humankind, if we don’t address it , it is a testimony to our collective insanity, let’s change the world, let’s make it a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier and joyful world. We can do it!’’
