App State’s National Alliance on Mental Illness On Campus hosted Fall Fest Friday at the Greenway Trail for students and community members. Focused on stress relief and mental health awareness, the event offered pumpkin smashing, painting, warm cider and baked goods as a way to help attendees decompress while connecting them with support and a pamphlet with resources for mental health.
According to its website, NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. The App State chapter has been active since 2014. They work to provide support, resources and awareness surrounding mental illness, with a mission to end the stigma around mental health.
NAMI’s past events have included social gatherings such as picnics, walks, dinner and movie nights. More interactive events were a flower-making workshop on Valentines Day, and a bowling night. NAMI has hosted mental health focused activities with icebreaker exercises like Rose, Bud Thorn, where participants share their experiences. Peer-to-peer support programs are in development, where participants can access NAMI training.
Mimi Allen, a senior interior design major and the president of NAMI On Campus, said they’ve been trying to host this event for three years and are “so excited to finally be able to do it and give back to the community.”
Charly Fischl, a senior interior design major, has been a part of the chapter for a year and participated in the event’s stress-relief activity, taking a turn to smash a pumpkin with a bat.
“It’s something about physically just being able to kind of let out that energy,” Fischl said.
“It’s really important to take care of your mental health,” Fischl said. “Healthy coping mechanisms are really important, and it’s good to explore that.”
Lindsey Ferguson, a psychology major who graduated in the spring, also attended the event. She picked out a round, medium-sized orange pumpkin and swung the baseball bat, smashing the pumpkin till it was only seeds.
“I just feel like once I started it, I just had to really go ham on it. I think it definitely helps relieve stress,” Ferguson said. Ferguson is completing her master’s degree online in psychology.
“This helped me with school in general, and the stress of finals is tough. Having to deal with that is a lot, and I know everybody is excited to be done with school,” Ferguson said.
As the event wrapped up, smashed pumpkins and painted crafts were seen scattered across picnic tables at the greenway.