Students Combat Mental Health Stigma at 14th Annual BrainDance Awards

The BrainDance Awards encourage high school students to learn about psychiatric conditions and develop a more tolerant and realistic perspective toward people with severe psychiatric problems. The competition also aims to promote student interest in careers in mental health care.

“Each project celebrated at the BrainDance Awards encompasses our mission of decreasing stigma and discrimination, and increasing the involvement of students in the lives and issues that face those with mental illness,” said Dr. Harold I. Schwartz, psychiatrist-in-chief and vice president of behavioral health at Hartford Hospital. “This is an important part of getting students involved not just in mental illness, but in mental wellness for a lifetime.”

Awards and cash prizes were given to first, second and third-place finishers in the Art, Academic and Mixed Media categories, and the students presented a brief overview of their projects.

The projects were judged by expert clinicians and researchers in the field, who determined winners based on creativity, accuracy, scientific rigor and relevance to the issue of mental health stigma. Mrs. Michelle Papa, an advanced creative writing teacher at Woodland Regional High School, was also honored for her support of the BrainDance Awards and the work she has done to help stop the stigma of mental illness.

Awards were presented by Dr. Godfrey Pearlson, director of the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living and Dr. Philip Corlett, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University.

“The BrainDance Awards are designed to make students more aware – and get them more passionate and caring about – mental health issues while having fun and being creative,” said Dr. Pearlson. “Stigma is kind of a polite word for discrimination. So what we strive to do is encourage students to research psychiatric diseases they might not be familiar with and, based on what they discover for themselves, develop a more tolerant and accepting attitude toward people who have them.”

Winners joined their teachers, families and classmates for the award ceremony celebration and participated in complementary educational opportunities, including a panel discussion with mental health professionals and a Grand Rounds Lecture from Dr. Corlett entitled, “Perceiving and Believing: Understanding Hallucinations and Delusions.” Attendees were also invited to visit the Myths, Minds & Medicine museum that highlights the history of mental health care and a tour of the neuroimaging research center.