ETSU’s Buctainment has partnered with Frontier Health behavioral health and addiction counseling services to host actress Ashley Judd, known for her roles in “Double Jeopardy,” “Kiss the Girls,” “Someone Like You” and “Big Stone Gap,” on Nov. 4.
Frontier Health is a set of facilities that work with patients dealing with mental illnesses and addiction.
Ashley Judd is not only an actress but a humanitarian who has spoken out about mental illnesses in the past. She entered Shades of Hope in 2006 to receive help for codependency and depression.
On Friday, Nov. 4 at 2:30 p.m. Judd will continue to speak out about this topic in the ETSU D.P. Culp University Center Auditorium.
(Courtesy of Wikimedia)
“She has had a lot of experiences dealing with mental illness, and she’s gone to recovery… [and] gotten treated for it,” said Secretary of Buctainment Rachel Smith. “Now she goes and talks about the stigma that’s associated with mental illness, because there’s still a lot of people who don’t think it’s OK to talk about it, or afraid to talk about it.”
Buctainment was asked by Frontier Health if they would be willing to assist with getting Judd here. In exchange, Buctainment could host Judd for the afternoon as she presents her lecture, “Stigma Stops Now.”
“They [Frontier Health] were wanting to bring Ashley Judd, and they’re having their own gala that night but they offered to let us bring her here if we kind of fronted some of the cost for it,” Smith said.
ETSU is a campus that has been open with students about mental illnesses, and Buctainment is hopeful for the response from students.
“We’re hoping that they [the students] can kind of share her views that there doesn’t need to be a stigma on mental illness, and that it’s OK to get help if you have problems and that to be open to other people who have those kinds of issues also,” Smith said.
Counselors will be in attendance for students who want to talk with someone about the topics covered during Judd’s visit.
You must be logged in to post a comment.