Summary

Our Honors in Action (HIA) project explored the frontiers of mental health,
specifically the perception and treatment of anxiety disorders. We initially
formed a research team to explore innovations in the treatment of anxiety.
Based on our research, we determined three objectives:
o Increase awareness of the effects of anxiety in our community
o Educate our community about the innovations in the treatment of
anxiety
o Introduce our community to valuable resources for the treatment of
anxiety
Through an Anxiety Awareness Week, which included speakers, an awareness
fair, and workshops, our project indeed increased community awareness and
gave support to organizations committed to addressing this ever-growing crisis.
Why and by What Process did you choose this theme?
At the beginning of our year, we solicited our chapter members to review the
Honors Program Guide and propose themes or topics to explore for our project.
We were also fortunate to have several campus organizations express a desire
to partner with us on campus projects. We then formed an HIA program
committee to evaluate the proposals and pick the topic that would have the best
impact on our chapter, campus, and community. Out of the numerous ideas
submitted, our chapter decided that a partnership with the colleges Mental
Health Awareness Team (MHAT) and Psi Beta (Psychology honors society)
focused on addressing mental health issues would be best. We then chose the
theme Health and Medicine as Frontiers because it allowed us to explore
innovations in mental health while still focusing our action in our community.

Works Cited:

Source 1
Szabo, Liz. "Cost of Not Caring: Stigma Set in Stone." USA Today

This USA Today series served as the inspiration for our Honors in Action project. It opened our eyes to the problem of
the stigma associated with mental illness that exists in our own community and motivated us to help clubs on our
campus make a difference for people suffering from mental illnesses in our community.

Source 2
Lebowitz, Matthew S., John J. Pyun, and Woo-Kyoung Ahn. "Biological Explanations of Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
Effects on Beliefs About Prognosis and Responsibility." Psychiatric Services 65.4 (2014): 498-503.

The results of this research showed that there is a significant stigma in our society that
individuals who suffer from anxiety are personally responsible for their illness.

Source 3
Beljouw, I. Van, P. Verhaak, M. Prins, P. Cuijpers, B. Penninx, and J. Bensing. "Reasons and Determinants for Not
Receiving Treatment for Common Mental Disorders." Psychiatric Services 61.3 (2010): 250-57.

This article showed us that there are many people who feel that they need treatment for
their mental illness, yet they are not getting treatment. One of the reasons that we found to
be important was that they believed that the treatment options available would not be
effective for their mental illness.

Source 4
Have, Margreet Ten, Ron De Graaf, Saskia Van Dorsselaer, and Aartjan Beekman. "Lifetime Treatment Contact and
Delay in Treatment Seeking After First Onset of a Mental Disorder." Psychiatric Services.64.10 (2013): 981-89.

This article showed us that only a fraction of people who suffer from an anxiety disorder
have received treatment for this disorder in the past 12 months. This shows that there are
many people who need treatment, but do not have the ability to get it.

Source 5
Swart, Joan. "Applying Buddhist Principles To Mode Deactivation Theory And Practice." International Journal Of
Behavioral Consultation & Therapy 9.2 (2014): 26-30.

Swart showed us that many of the new treatment options for anxiety are based on Buddhist
principles. Although the concepts themselves have been around for many years,
incorporating them into the treatment of anxiety is a new concept that has great promise for
the future treatment of mental health disorders.

Source 6
Garakani, Amir, James Murrough, and Dan Iosifescu. "Advances in Psychopharmacology for Anxiety Disorders."
Psychopharmacology: Evidence and Treatments 12.2 (2014): 152-62.

This journal article showed us that anxiety disorders occur more frequently than many other mental health disorders,
yet very few new medications can immediately treat anxiety disorders. In order to effectively treat anxiety we need to
continue the research of newer medications and combine other forms of treatment to help treat anxiety.

Source 7
Roemer, Lizabeth, Susan M. Orsillo, and Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault. "Efficacy of an Acceptance-based Behavior
Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Evaluation in a Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology 76.6 (2008): 1083-089.

This article further solidified that there are new treatment options available that are highly
effective. The results of this research found that 78% of those who received this treatment
no longer met the criteria for the diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Source 8
Khoury, Bassam, Tania Lecomte, Guillaume Fortin, Marjolaine Masse, Phillip Therien, Vanessa Bouchard, Marie-
Andre Chapleau, Karine Paquin, and Stefan G. Hofmann. "Mindfulness-based Therapy: A Comprehensive Meta-
analysis." Clinical Psychology Review 33.6 (2013): 763-71.
This article gave us information about what Mindfulness entails. It also showed
us that although previous research has been unclear, mindfulness is an effective
treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
.
What conclusions did your chapter reach based on your research
and how do these conclusions guide you to select the action part of
your project?
Our research efforts first indicated that we needed to narrow our topic so as to
properly focus our research questions and resulting action outlets. In addressing
this concern, we learned that anxiety is an issue that affects many individuals in
our community, yet does not garner the attention it deserves. Our research told
us that the problem is primarily caused by the stigma associated with anxiety
and the lack of knowledge about available treatment options. Upon meeting
with various mental health advocate groups within the college and community,
it was clear that a lack of awareness was a big problem that hindered them in
further exploring the frontiers of treating anxiety. Indeed, we were concerned
that the number of individuals with anxiety and those receiving care were
grossly disproportionate.

Objectives
Based on our research, we knew that spreading awareness about the impact of
anxiety disorders would be one of the most important objectives to tackle. We
also came to the conclusion that informing our community members of the
resources available to treat anxiety disorders would be another objective to
address. Finally, our last objective was to teach our community about the
advancements in the treatment and diagnoses of anxiety disorders.

Collaborations
Throughout the conceptualization, planning, and implementation stages of our
project, we collaborated with the following campus organizations:
Mental Health Awareness Team (MHAT)
Psi Beta
Learning Commons (our campus academic support center)
Counseling and Advising Department
Massage Therapy Program
Veterans Services
Art Department
Forensics (Speech) Team
Human Services Program.
We also collaborated with the following off-campus community organizations
that are dedicated to increasing awareness of mental illness:
Veterans Services DuPage County
Veterans Services Aurora
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center
Illinois Art Therapy Association

Describe the leadership of chapter members that contributed to the

planning, preparations, and implementation of this Honors in Action
project. The exercise of leadership may come from groups/committees,
officers, and non-officers. Leadership roles are not necessarily those
that come with "titles."
Direction for our project came primarily from our HIA committee, which was
headed by our chapters Vice President of Academic Programs and met weekly.
Many of our committee members became delegates to different organizations
both on and off campus. When working with so many groups, it can be difficult
to keep track of what each group has said and with whom they have spoken. In
order to keep communication clear and consistent, we had a single person in
charge of being in contact with each group to ensure that all groups remained
informed and knew who to contact if they had any questions.
Committee members were also delegated specific responsibilities in implementing our action
components. Some members served as logistics chairs, ensuring that each workshop was
properly scheduled and had the resources necessary for its success. Other members served as
promotional chairs, ensuring that the public knew of our activities and efforts.

Describe leadership education and training activities taken to

specifically help chapter members be more effective leaders for this
Honors in Action project.
One skill that we learned is how to effectively brainstorm. Our advisor dedicated
one of our first meetings to teaching the group how to properly brainstorm
without judgment, and then assisted us with brainstorming our first ideas about
what our topic should be. This training was crucial to focusing and choosing our
theme and project.
Another of the main aspects of the HIA project is finding and analyzing scholarly
research. We reached out to Jennifer Kelley, one of the faculty librarians, to help
us find scholarly research that is relevant to our topic. As a part of this meeting,
our members learned how to evaluate sources and how to determine whether or
not the source is credible.
When it came down to selecting our theme and action outlets, our advisor introduced us to
the concept of SMART goals. He encouraged us to set objectives that were
specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. This skill helped us to
identify the steps that needed to be taken to quantifiably raise awareness of
anxiety on our campus. It also aided us in event planning by helping us to set
timetables for the different workshops planned throughout the week.

Describe the service or "action" components of this Honors in Action

project that were inspired by your Honors Study Topic research. (Action
can also include advocacy.
Our chapter created an Anxiety Awareness Week which not only promoted the
need to address mental wellness but also introduced new frontiers of
conceptualizing and treating anxiety disorders. This series of events was held
during the first week in December, when many students and community
members were recognizing the amount of anxiety in their lives. Our efforts led
us to engage in the following action outlets:
Anxiety Awareness Fair
To increase the attention paid to this growing crisis and introduce new frontiers
of identification and treatment, we invited 11 different organizations to
participate in this fair, eight of which accepted our invitation. Participating
groups went beyond the usual distribution of information and also included
interactive elements, such as mental health screenings performed by our
Counseling and Advising Department, creating your own stress ball, and chair
massages. To promote the fair, flyers were distributed attached to squares of
bubble wrap, which served as a unique symbol of anxiety awareness and
treatment.
Workshop Series
Workshops conducted by both campus and community experts were also held
during our Anxiety Awareness Week. These workshops focused on both
increasing awareness and introducing new frontiers of identifying and treating
anxiety.
To increase awareness, we hosted speakers from the National Alliance on Mental
Illness. Scott Turner presented information about a new community center that
will centralize mental health services in one location and enhance the lives of
individuals by providing job training and other resources. We also had two other
speakers who shared their stories about how anxiety has affected their life and
how they have overcome their obstacles.
In promoting new frontiers of anxiety reduction, a psychologist from Samaritan
Interfaith Counseling Center held a workshop on how a new technique called
Mindfulness can be used to help reduce anxiety and stress. A counselor from
our college taught students meditation and other relaxation techniques that are
used to decrease anxiety during a test. He also taught them planning methods
that can help alleviate anxiety before it becomes a problem. The President of
the Illinois Art Therapy Association used techniques that combined semantic
psychotherapy with art therapy that can help to reduce stress and manage
anxiety. Our Forensics (Speech) program held a student-run workshop on coping with public
speaking anxiety. Finally, our Veterans Services Department held two workshops focused on the
unique anxiety challenges experienced by our military veterans.

What were the quantitative and qualitative outcomes of your project,

including the lessons learned by your chapter members and others?

Our chapter used several tactics to quantify the attendance at our Anxiety
Awareness Fair. At the fair, over 500 squares of bubble wrap were handed out to
attendees. In fact, we ran out of bubble wrap squares just two hours into the
fair. We also handed out an additional 450 flyers with information about the
weeks worth of workshops, which also were completely distributed within two
hours. One of the most popular elements of the fair was the 40 handmade stress
balls that students were able to make and keep with them. The Counseling
Department reported that well over 30 people participated in mental health
screening. In total, we estimate that we had over a thousand students and
community members came to learn about anxiety during our five-hour fair.
Qualitatively, we hope that those who attended the fair increased their
awareness of the toll anxiety takes on their daily lives and will use the tools and
information distributed to improve their mental well-being, particularly as both
finals and the holidays were on the horizon.
As for the workshops, attendance varied from over 20 participants at the
Mindfulness Workshop to 12 at the Art Therapy Workshop to 7 at the Test
Anxiety Workshop. Unfortunately, attendance was slim to none at our public
speaking and veterans workshops. A valuable lesson learned by our chapter was
that we over-extended our efforts. Focusing on less programming would have
perhaps increased productivity, interest, and attendance.
For those that did attend our workshops, the qualitative outcomes were
significant. Nursing students who attended our mindfulness workshop
developed tools that they can use to help their future patients who struggle with
anxiety. A tutor who attended the mindfulness workshop mentioned that she
was going to use some of the lessons from this workshop to help her students.
Students who attended the art therapy workshop said that this was the first time during
the semester that they felt truly relaxed and focused.

What is left undone or what opportunities remain for the future?

One element we found most surprising was the lack of coordination and
networking between the different clubs, departments, and organizations on our
campus At our fair, the organizations in attendance voiced that they had not
collaborated in the past and that teamwork, such as was on display at our fair,
would be useful in the future. Because the groups have a common goal and
relatively no conflicting interests, the organizations could essentially work as a
team to teach our community about the resources available more effectively
than if they were working on projects on their own.
Additionally, we have built future opportunities to work closely with other
community groups. Our growing reputation as a community-minded chapter has
opened doors for us to create new opportunities to shed increased light on the
resources available in our community.