Andrea Diaz

Staff Writer

On Mind Tap, the newest show at KISU, they talk about mental health, the stigma behind it, how to improve it and the issues that affect Southeast Idahoans in particular. The hosts of Mind Tap are Christian Powell, Jessica Whitaker-Fornek and Scott Greeves, who are all biology students here at Idaho State University. The production staff of Mind Tap also are students.

In the first episode of Mind Tap, they mention that they wouldn’t have known each other unless they started talking about mental health and how it affected them. The hosts then move onto defining what mental health is and Powell says, “The term mental health is used to describe someone’s emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing, kind of comprehensively.”

The hosts mention that this is a very technical term so they try to relate it to real-world situations. When Greeves asks Whitaker-Fornek about her experience as a graduate student at ISU she replies, “Well I notice, Scott, that when experiments are not going well I feel super bummed, which can actually influence how I interact with my family, at home. But, when my lab members are playing 80’s rock music and experiments are smooth sailing I feel happy.”

Whitaker-Fornek also mentions that she has experienced a lot of stress in graduate school and that she considers it a long time stressor. To which Christian replies that long term stressors are a big mental health concern.

This is just a small part of the first episode that aired on September 16, 2020. Since then they have aired an episode every Friday at 7:35 a.m. In the episodes, they have talked about topics that range from substance abuse, opioids, suicide, mental health amidst COVID-19 and mental health among minorities.

In the Mind Tap episode called, “Cultivating Good Mental Health in an Indigenous Community: The Power of Dance” Whitaker-Fornek talks to Mia Murillo, who is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe. Mia mentions that she uses dancing as a way to help her mental health. Dancing and being on a reservation creates a sense of community. “Dancing is in every culture, every heritage. We all dance. It’s something that makes us feel good and it gives us that energy that you can’t get from anywhere else. And it is really good for your mind.” Murillo said.

The hosts of Mind Tap are not afraid to open up about their own mental health and talk to others about mental health. These topics can be difficult to talk about, but talking about them is important because it lessens the stigma around mental health and creates a healthy dialogue among peers.

Getting opinions and experiences from a variety of people in our community that specialize in mental health, as a profession, can help the listener get a better understanding of what mental health looks like from minorities and mental health professionals. The listener then gets a more rounded knowledge of mental health as a whole.