‘Senior year was hell’: The IC student’s photo campaign fighting mental health stigma

He developed bipolar disorder after a head injury

Ithaca College junior, and journalism student Chris Biehn, created a black and white photo challenge to help promote acceptance for depression. The social media photo challenge has been addressing and fighting the stigmas revolving mental illnesses.

Last year, Chris formed a student run, social media campaign called “Listen. Learn. Accept.” trying to promote acceptance for mood disorders and awareness of mental illness.

Sponsored through LLA, this black and white photo challenge allows people to post a black and white photo of themselves to social media with the caption: “Depression makes the world change from color to black and white. #LLA”.

Chris Biehn, Creator of the Black and White photo challenge. Photo courtesy of Chris.

Chris was diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder his first year of high school after experiencing a serious head injury, which doctors think triggered the dormant gene that runs in his family for Bipolar I disorder.  He told The Tab:

Over the course of weeks after my head injury, I did things that were very erratic and unlike my normal self. My parents took me to see a psychiatrist and was diagnosed then with Bipolar I Disorder, so I had to be hospitalized.

When I was put on medication, I got out of the manic episode because that entire time I was experiencing full blown mania. That lasted the entire summer into my first year of high school. I started high school and I was out of control.

After I was medicated, hospitalized and got back to school, I was bullied for a while because so many people judged me on my uncharacteristic first impressions.

Then in my third year of high school I almost died. I was toxic on one of my medications and I became really suicidal out of nowhere. I went to the hospital and it turned out I was toxic on Lithium and if I hadn’t gone to get the help I needed, I would have died.

Then senior year happened and that was the year from hell. Every other week I had suicidal depression. That had a huge impact on my life and I missed out on all the big, senior events that I was most looking forward to – all because of my mental health.

The summer after my senior year, I went to one of the leading experts on Bipolar Disorder in the country and he told me I had one of the nastiest cases of illness that he’s seen, and he was happy I was still alive.

I wasn’t able to go to Ithaca my first year, but I got treatment and came back Spring 2015. I tried to go to Ithaca last fall, but I was not able to get out of the depressed episode and, therefore, had to take my second medical leave of absence.

Last spring I was in London and that was absolutely incredible. I had some health challenges but I was able to stay over the course.

This past summer I called it the “summer of color”. Color is very symbolic to me because like the photo challenge suggests, depression makes the world change from color to black and white.

I did all these elaborate photo shoots and wore colorful clothing all the time. It was the best health I’ve had in years.

Chris Biehn did a colorful photo shoot in honor of his “summer of color”. Courtesy of Chris.

But then I came back to Ithaca and I had migraines all the time and was in two depressive episodes – one that I’m currently in.

I know my mental health is not in the right place and I made the right decision taking my third medical leave of absence.

I’m very disappointed I had to because I want to be in school, but at the same time I just need to put my mental health first and focus on coming back in the spring.

Luke Heisinger ’16

Not everyone has mental illness, but everyone has mental health. I think it’s crucial for people to have a better understanding of mental illness because it impacts about 1 in 4 American adults.

So about 25% of the population has a diagnosable mental illness. So given how prevalent it is in society, it is important for people to have a better understanding of what this is and how it affects so many people.

Hannah Blanchette, IC junior, music performance major.

I like to use ‘battle depression’ because ‘suffering’ implies that you are just giving into the illness, and for me at least, depression hits but you hit back.

It’s a fight. LLA’s main goal is to educate people because if you don’t know how to respond to a friend who has depression, that’s not your fault because you haven’t been exposed to that before.

But if you learn the best approach to help them, you can really make a difference in their lives and get them to the right resources they need.

Being in this season of struggle, it gives me hope to see people sharing those black and white photos. It gives me purpose because this project is very important to me.”

IC sophomore, psychology major, Vanessa Zimmerman said that Biehn’s campaign to bring awareness while bringing people together is an empowering thing:

“My dear friend always reminds me that “we were never meant to do this thing called life alone,” and this campaign is a great reminder that we aren’t doing it alone but together.”

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