Beyond OCD Co-Sponsors National Stress Out Day
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) April 12, 2013
Jeanne Ettelson, president of Beyond OCD, announced that Beyond OCD is co-sponsoring National Stress Øut Day, along with Active Minds and Anxiety and Depression Association of America, with support from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Next week college students on over 200 campuses across the country are participating in the 8th annual National Stress Øut Day—a nationwide effort to provide pre-finals stress relief and to educate students about the difference between everyday anxiety and anxiety disorders or other mental illness. This year National Stress Øut Day is being held during the week of April 14-20, 2013.
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental health problems on college campuses. Forty million U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, and 75% of them experience their first episode of anxiety before age 22, according to Active Minds. A recent national survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA found first-year college students’ self-ratings of their emotional health dropped to record lows in 2010. And a 2009 survey by the American College Health Association found that 46% of college students said they felt “things were hopeless” at least once in the previous 12 months, and nearly a third of college students had been so depressed that it was difficult to function.
During National Stress Øut Day, Active Minds chapters will invite students to participate in stress relieving activities like water balloon fights, petting zoos, and yoga. They will also be educated about mental health issues and made aware of the mental health resources available to them. National Stress Øut Day aims to shed light on anxiety disorders while promoting a healthy dialogue around all mental health issues.
Founded in 1994, Beyond OCD works to increase public and professional awareness of OCD, educate and support people with OCD and their families, and to encourage research into new treatments and a cure. Beyond OCD is dedicated to improving the lives of people who suffer with OCD—a resource for individuals, families, mental health professionals, educators, clergy and the media across the country.
OCD is a neurobiological anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions that take up an excessive amount of time (typically an hour or more each day), cause significant distress and significantly interfere with normal life. Obsessions are uncontrollable, persistent worries, doubts, or fears, and compulsions are the repetitive activities that the person with OCD feels compelled to engage in to relieve the anxiety caused by the obsessions.
For more information on Beyond OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, visit http://www.BeyondOCD.org. On its web site, the organization offers detailed facts about OCD, resources, expert perspectives, personal stories from individuals with OCD, and free, downloadable OCD Guides in English and Spanish such as Overcoming OCD: A Guide for College Students.
For specific information on OCD in school, parents and educators may visit http://www.OCDeducationstation.org. People can also call Beyond OCD at 773-661-9530 to speak with someone knowledgeable about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Beyond OCD
2300 Lincoln Park West, Suite 206B
Chicago Il 60614
Ellen Sawyer, Executive Director
773-661-9530
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