Helping Give Away Psychological Science/Outreach/1 in 5 Project

The 1 in 5 Project was founded by Rebecca Burton, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in an effort to reduce mental illness stigma and increase mental health awareness in high schools across North Carolina.

Why 1 in 5?
The 1 in 5 Project is an advocacy project dedicated to raising mental health awareness, reducing the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and providing local resources to high school students. The name "1 in 5 Project" comes from the fact that approximately 1 in 5 youth in the United States suffer from a mental health disorder in a given year (Merikangas et al., 2010)

The project is designed to be a presentation given to high school students by college students. The 1 in 5 Project presentation first educates high school students on the two most prevalent types of mental health disorders in youth: anxiety and depression. Within these topics, the presenters break down anxiety into Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Panic Disorder.

The second part of the presentation is designed to analyze the effect of social media and popular culture on mental health issues. Within this, the presenters discuss with students how popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, lead to an increase in mental health issues in youth (Twenge et al., 2017).

The third part of the presentation focuses on what someone should do if they are facing mental health issues. Then, the presentation focuses on what someone should do if someone they know is dealing with mental health issues. The steps included in the section were created with the latest recommendations from scholars, therapists, and research.

The fourth part of the presentation focuses on different types of resources available to high school students. This section is broken down into two parts: National Resources and Local Resources. The 1 in 5 Project believes it is extremely important to work with guidance counselors to find local mental health resources for each school so that students have a range of options.