MARY J. BLIGE, PETE WENTZ OF FALL OUT BOY, MAX BEMIS OF SAY ANYTHING AND COLLEGE STUDENTS REVEAL MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES ON HALFOFUS.COM
Online Hub of mtvU & The Jed Foundation’s “Half of Us” Campaign
Re-Launches with Poignant Interviews on Suicide, Depression,
Bipolar & Other Mental Health Disorders
Premiere “Half of Us” Episode with Mary J. Blige Addressing Depression
and Self Worth Debuts Today on mtvU, mtvU.com and mtvU Mobile
New York, NY – April 2, 2007 – mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, in partnership with The Jed Foundation, the leading nonprofit focused on suicide prevention and mental health promotion among college students, today re-launched HalfofUs.com with Mary J. Blige, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Max Bemis of Say Anything speaking candidly about their personal struggles with serious mental health issues. These top artists, as well as a collection of college students from diverse backgrounds, recently sat down with mtvU to discuss the pain they’ve encountered in grappling with suicide, depression, bipolar disorder, stress, anxiety and other common mental health disorders. Each interviewee also describes where they turned for help and offers advice for college students dealing with similar challenges. All of the interviews are available now on-demand at www.HalfofUs.com.
Additionally, mtvU, mtvU.com and mtvU mobile today premiered the first in a series of half-hour, commercial-free “Half of Us” mental health specials – with artist and student interviews, topical, mental health-related music videos, and more information on how college students can access help. The debut episode features Mary J. Blige discussing her efforts to overcome feelings of hopelessness and struggling with her self worth, as well as a college student from Hunter College describing her battles with an eating disorder. Additional episodes – two of which are directed by acclaimed filmmaker Joel Schumacher – will roll out on-air, online and on mobile phones throughout the month of April.
Launched in November of 2006, “Half of Us” is mtvU and The Jed Foundation’s campaign to reduce the student suicide rate, fight the stigma of mental health on college campuses and connect students to the help they need. The campaign takes its name from research* showing that nearly half of all college students have felt so depressed they could not function, and addresses the reality that suicide is the second leading killer of college students. To help counter these trends, mtvU has been broadcasting a mix of nearly a dozen impactful PSAs on the subject, integrating mental health messages and themes into its original programming, and providing students with more information on how to access help at on campus events. The cornerstone of the campaign is HalfofUs.com, which offers college students a wealth of information on an array of mental health disorders and connects them to campus-specific or national resources to access help.
The re-launched HalfofUs.com will also offer new “mood music” playlists – curated collections of songs designed to accompany moods from high to low. The centerpiece of the site will continue to be its hallmark self-evaluator screening tool, an anonymous, online screener – developed by the Duke University Medical Center – which analyzes a user’s current state of mind and customizes feedback based on the student’s school and available resources. The site also features an action center, enabling students to get involved in mental health awareness on their campus or in their community, and other tools encouraging students to realize they are not alone in needing help.
mtvU launched the “Half of Us” campaign last year with a powerful disruption of both its on-air and online programming, as the network’s channel and website were symbolically eclipsed by a gray haze – reflecting that a large percentage of the college audience is overwhelmed and not sure where to turn. Recent mtvU research found that nearly half (49%) of college students feel their peers wouldn’t seek help for emotional issues because they aren’t aware of resources for help or treatment. For full findings of the "mtvU College Mental Health Study: Stress, Depression, Stigma & Students,” please visit www.halfofus.com/press.aspx.
*American College Health Association, National College Health Assessment, spring 2005.
About The Jed Foundation
Since its inception in 2000, The Jed Foundation has become the nation’s leading organization working to prevent suicide and promote mental health among college students. Guided by an expert board of mental health professionals, the organization works to identify the underlying causes of suicide and produce effective prevention, awareness and intervention programs. The Jed Foundation was founded by Phil and Donna Satow after they lost their 20-year-old son, Jed, to suicide. The organization’s major initiatives are rooted in the widely-distributed “Prescription for Prevention” model that defines a comprehensive suicide prevention and mental health promotion framework for colleges and universities. The Jed Foundation’s programs, informed by both clinical and public health perspectives, target the full range of audiences who can influence college mental health, including students, colleges, politicians, mental health professionals and parents.
The Jed Foundation’s programs include ULifeline, an anonymous, confidential, online resource center, where college students can be comfortable searching for the information they need and want regarding mental health and suicide prevention. Currently, more than 1,500 colleges and universities participate in the ULifeline Network.
About mtvU
Broadcast via satellite to 750 colleges across the country, with a combined enrollment of over 7.2 million, mtvU is the largest, most comprehensive television network just for college students. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mtvU can be seen in the dining areas, fitness centers, student lounges and dorm rooms of campuses throughout the U.S. mtvU is dedicated to every aspect of college life, reaching students everywhere they are, through a three pronged approach – on-air, online and on campus. mtvU focuses on content including music videos from emerging artists which can’t be seen anywhere else, news, student life features, events and pro-social initiatives. mtvU is always on campus, with more than 500 events per year, including exclusive concerts, giveaways, shooting mtvU series and more. For more information about mtvU, and for a complete programming schedule, visit www.mtvU.com.
In September 2005, mtvU became the first MTV Networks channel to also be distributed in its entirety online. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mtvU is simulcast and available on demand at mtvU.com, featuring all of network’s on-air content plus exclusive new music, original series and student-produced programming for college students and music fans everywhere.
mtvU also owns and operates the College Media Network, the largest interactive network of online college newspapers in the US, and RateMyProfessors.com, the Internet’s largest listing of collegiate professor ratings. The College Media Network comprises over 500 campus publications that serve institutions including Brown University, the University of Illinois, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin and Duke University, with a combined enrollment of over 5.5 million students, reaching an average of 5 million unique users each month. RateMyProfessors.com reaches approximately 10 million college students each year, via the site’s more than 6.6 million student-generated ratings of over 1,000,000 college professors.
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 120 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services – MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, with all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 100 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.
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