I have visited many famous museums in the United States and around the world, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which was founded 30 years ago in 1993. Visit the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, founded in 1764 by Russia’s famous Empress Catherine II.
I love museums, especially ones where you actually do something rather than just look at what’s displayed on the walls. As a kid, I loved crawling through the pitch-black San Francisco Exploratorium tactile dome. The museum is dedicated to the world of senses and touch.
Reno may be better known for its history of divorce than its abundance of museums, but recently a very unique traveling mental health exhibit has been discovered at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. It’s an exhibit that gets an A+ for creativity in my book. It’s not just about uniqueness, but also about interaction. I never expected that my diagnosis results would be featured in a science museum.
Visit us at the “Mental Health: Mind Matters” exhibition. It’s literally a very fascinating exhibit on mental health. The exhibit came to the Discovery Museum in Reno via the Science Museum of Minnesota and Heureka, Finland: Finnish Science Center. where it was created. Its goal is to create a safe space for important conversations about mental illness and make it okay to talk about mental health. This is also to point out the obvious. Mental health is as much a science as aerospace or astronomy.
Encourage positive conversation
This exhibition means a lot to me. I live with bipolar disorder. I know how exhausting and repetitive it can be to explain to others what’s going on in your head. And I know how repetitive, not to mention gruesome, conversations around mental health can get.
Although I have lived with mental illness for over 50 years, this exhibit is the first time I have seen such an engaging means of educating the public on a subject that is usually subject to negative discussion. Did. Discussions about mental health these days are often made up of data, statistics, and medical jargon, which can often sound downright depressing. No one wakes up in the morning excited about being depressed. As a state, Nevada consistently ranks among the worst in mental health in the United States. Yes, that’s a reality, but that argument has gotten old.
Nevada may have finally found a compelling and engaging way to proactively discuss matters of the heart in a practical way. Forget about afternoons wandering around museum rooms and staring at paintings on the walls. The highly digital exhibit is full of buttons to press, videos to watch, things to listen to, and even things to take notes on. The exhibit has more than 20 individual components, each about the size of an oversized cubicle. Please bring walking shoes.
Help visitors understand what some people living with mental illness go through, develop respect and acceptance, and try to answer some simple questions while listening. Empathy-building experiences are on display throughout the exhibition to reinforce the fact that is real. voice.
Next, there is a “worry shredder” where visitors can write out their worries on paper. Activate the actual shredder and literally shred your worries. But because the machine is made of transparent glass, visitors can watch their troubles being shattered into pieces.
Down the hall is a family of mannequins talking about how mental illness affects the whole family. The point is, yes, mental illness affects not only individual families, but many others as well. The vivid characters are part of a living room scene, each talking about how the father’s mental illness affects both mother and son.
I was fascinated by the brief audiovisual history of mental illness treatment, dating back to the days when depressed patients were thought to have “bad blood” and were treated with leeches to suck it out. And yes, there is also talk of lobotomy and electroconvulsive treatment for severe depression.
My favorite activity is my makeshift dance studio. It’s about promoting the concept that dance, music and physical activity are good for mental health. To make the exhibit comprehensive, everything is presented in English, Spanish, and French. Patrons must press a button in their preferred language to get things started.
The exhibition is on until September
All in all, a very unique learning experience that runs through September at the Discovery Museum. My only wish is that the exhibit creators in Finland had included some positive video clips showing the artist’s well-documented history with mental illness, including bipolar disorder. He may also show a short clip of the late comedian Robin Williams, who is known for his diagnosis. Or even Lady Gaga, who says she has experienced depression and anxiety.
At the end of the program, individuals are encouraged to anonymously share their thoughts on mental illness with others in honor of Reno residents. The notes are then inserted into a clear plastic binder for everyone to read.
If I had to write down my thoughts, I would write: But I learned a lot today. This exhibit is amazing. Tell your friends. “
Kim Palchikoff is a Reno-based social worker and mental health writer.
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