Culture & Identity

Minds Matter Magazine Volume III Issue I Culture & Identity
Letter from the
Editor
This year was one of incredible growth for Minds Matter Magazine. We grew to 41 members,
including three new editors, two new peer facilitators (an editorial role we introduced this year)
and eleven new writers. This was also the first year we used Story Circles, our in-house, stepby-step
writing class, to create our articles. Our e-Issue has almost double the stories than ever
before. In this time of great change, it is fitting that our theme is Culture and Identity.
I was also delighted by the passion I saw at our Story Circles. I worried about loading more
classes on already-burdened students. But I was met with consistent excitement, dedication
and a hunger to learn about storytelling. It made teaching for the first time - an idea that once
seemed impossible to me as someone with a severe anxiety disorder - an encouraging opportunity
for my own growth, for which I am extremely grateful.
As you read our e-Issue, I invite you to challenge your ideas of what mental health means
in the context of culture and identity, as my own views were by the brilliant people that make up
our masthead. With the guidance of the amazing Jessica Dere, who inspires me each time I see
her, we have created an issue that I am proud and excited to share with you.
Alexa Battler
Alexa is a fourth year student specializing in journalism and minoring in political science
more. Their interpretations of this theme are creative, vast and captivating.
Culture has a massive influence on the way we view the world - including others and ourselves.
Mental health and mental illness, and the ways we understand and respond to them, are
fundamentally intertwined in the culture we observe. This, in turn, changes the way we view,
unravel and treat ourselves.
When one thinks of the intersection of culture and mental health, they may think of the
ways certain cultures devalue or heavily stigmatize mental illness. I have seen it many times
within mental health communities and academic settings. Even a quick Google search of ‘culture
and mental health’ pulls up pages of sources criticizing poor or stigmatizing mental health care
across the world. There is an underlying suggestion that a Western, often medical approach to
mental health care is inherently correct.
While a critical approach to mental health is of course important, a narrow approach can
pigeonhole and stereotype understandings of mental health, instead of opening a productive
dialogue that may unite us as we pursue wellness. As we approached the theme, I worried about
reinforcing a condescending or judgmental approach from the Western-dominated perspectives
I have so often seen.
But our writers and artists explored this topic through an array of lenses. We explored
mental health and culture through its relationship to technology, education, language, and many
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