Irsays’ $3M helps IU scientists battle mental health stigma
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This is Indiana, and Hoosiers—by nature—pay attention to sports, so the Indianapolis Colts’ “Kicking the Stigma” campaign is shining a spotlight unlike any other on mental health stigma. An NFL franchise taking on the topic is not only a bellwether, but also a bridge to the science behind mental health stigma, which is being studied just 60 miles from the Colts home field at Indiana University.
The connection has led to unlikely teammates—the Irsays and IU scientists—drawing up a game plan powered by a new $3 million institute that aims to shatter stigma.
The Irsay Institute, made possible by a $3 million gift from Colts owner Jim Irsay and family, is opening its doors in Morrison Hall on IU’s Bloomington campus.
“It’s everything; to have the first NFL franchise recognize stigma and take it on as its cause is huge,” says Irsay Institute Director and IU researcher Dr. Bernice Pescosolido. “The name recognition really makes a lot of difference; the Colts bring to the table a trust and interest from people in the state that set a really good foundation for the science.”
Pescosolido believes there are three main causes of mental health stigma finally becoming mainstream.
The “Kicking the Stigma” effort and IU research is a marriage that just makes sense, says Pescosolido; for nearly 30 years, IU has led the U.S. National Stigma Studies on mental health and addiction, and the NFL drums up the public awareness that science often desperately needs. While the Irsay Institute will work in a variety of health areas, mental health and addictions—and the stigma around both of those—has emerged as the main focus.
“When we brought together all the scientists on the Bloomington campus who do health, it turns out there were a lot of social scientists, and there wasn’t any place for them to work together to collaborate,” says Pescosolido. “And not surprisingly, a lot of those scientists happen to be people who study mental health stigma and addiction.”
The $3 million gift not only powers research at the institute, but also creates a physical space for scientists with varied expertise to work together, because “research shows where scientists work matters,” says Pescosolido, who is also director of IU’s Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research. The roughly 20 sociomedical scientists will look at how “factors in society affect who gets sick, who gets treatment, who lives and who dies,” says Pescosolido. These social determinants of health have become a major focus at the National Institutes of Health, which is considered the steward of medical and behavioral research for the U.S.
“IU scientists who work on issues of the social determinants of health were scattered all over the campus, and that meant we were all doing our research in our own offices,” says Pescosolido. “But when you bring together the power of psychology, sociology and policy—everybody brings their strengths in understanding health and treatment into one place. We’re saying, ‘This is a bigger problem than any one of us can handle.’ It’s better to look at the whole problem, rather than parts of the problem.”
The Irsay Institute aims to also support students by expanding the U Bring Change to Mind Program in Bloomington to all of IU’s campuses. The “By Students, For Students” effort created by Pescosolido uses scientific evidence to combat mental health stigma on college campuses. She says in previous decades, the general perception was that students with mental illness didn’t—or shouldn’t—attend college.
“We now know from studies that have been done that many of our highest performing students have anxiety disorders or depression,” says Pescosolido. “We can’t afford to lose those very high-caliber people to mental health problems because of stigma.”
Pescosolido says those students become workers, and stigma influences if they’re willing to get treatment, which impacts workplaces. She believes treating mental illness and addiction “translates into workers being more productive.”
“You can have a perfectly fulfilling, high-quality life and do a great job at work if you have mental health problems or have had addiction problems,” says Pescosolido. “We just have to not lose those productive workers.”
Pescosolido is confident that by “crossing disciplinary lines,” the Irsay Institute scientists will move the needle on mental health, addictions, and the stigma around both.
“I’m excited that we’re building a community of scientists who are willing to work together to unravel the complexity of these health problems, to share their expertise and listen to others who look at it in a different way,” says Pescosolido. “I think that’s the only way we’re going to move forward.”