With October being Mental Health Awareness Month, students are encouraged to be more open about their mental health problems. What started off as a campus activity of sharing confessions turned into a conversation of the importance of not suppressing emotions.

In many cases, there is a high number of new and returning students struggling with mental health problems. This includes students attending College of DuPage (COD). According to the U.S. News & World Report, 70% of college students experience mental health problems when starting college. Generally speaking, college students are more prone to mental health problems than other people because of the stress, expectations and pressures they face on a daily basis. 

According to Psychology Today, suppressing negative emotions and experiences can lead to long-term mental and physical problems. Suppressed emotions could lead to an increased risk of long-term depression, anxiety and weakened immune systems.

When people are open about their negative experiences, it normalizes vulnerability and self-expression. This creates a safe and comfortable environment where others feel comfortable sharing alongside one another. According to the Open Society Foundation, communities with individuals expressing themselves build trust and connection. A community that expresses itself builds empathy and connection. While a community that suppresses its emotions enforces shame and isolation.

COD students were encouraged to freely express themselves through confessions in interviews with the Courier. Participants were informed of the full-disclosure agreement and received candy as compensation, which helped promote open sharing of emotions, embarrassing moments and mistakes. Hearing these confessions helps others feel more comfortable sharing their own experiences.

Claire Thurber shared an embarrassing moment and said, “When I went to Claire’s to get my earrings—my singles—put in, I was so nervous that it would hurt, but I sat on the floor because I needed to use the bathroom and I peed my pants. And I blamed it on the little kid next to me.”

Vince Bartilotta confessed, “When I was about six years old, I was messing around with one of my cousins, and I ended up grabbing a light bulb and taking a bite out of it. As a joke, I didn’t expect it to break,and it shattered in my mouth. I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t tell my parents.”

Ryne Oesch recalls when he was in middle school at a party. He explained that he asked the DJ to play a song. Oesch said, “It was probably some really corny song. And I remember, like getting up on the dance floor and just dancing. But I was the only one there dancing. And everyone else was just sitting to the side, staring at me, and it was super embarrassing.”

Carina Howard confessed to an embarrassing moment when she was in elementary school. Howard said, “When I was younger, I would have to cough up mucus and spit it out cause it was just bad to keep it in your body. We had our heads down because we were napping, and I had to cough really badly, but I didn’t want to get up and do it because I felt like it would be embarrassing. So I coughed, and I just let it go on my desk, and one of the teachers came over. I lied, and I did everything I could to try to make it seem like it was just vomit or something. It was embarrassing. I remember regretting that.”

Gracie Swier had a more personal confession and said, “I confess to being too hard on myself to the point where I take out my frustration on other people. If I’m hard on myself and something’s not going the way I wanted to, then I get frustrated at myself and then take it out on the people around me.”

Most of these confessions are about embarrassing stories they have experienced in the past. But note that the participants have all grown from their experiences by sharing them. 

The participants were willing to share these experiences because they are no longer ashamed of them. And therefore no longer emotionally suppressed by them. According to the National Institutes of Health, building an expressive and open community can reduce those suppressed emotions.

By sharing their experiences, people relieved themselves of suppressed feelings and embarrassing moments. These stories aim to show that everyone has embarrassing moments and to foster a less shaming, more open environment for students at COD.