Awareness Awareness Week

There was a lot to be aware of at Harvard last week: Islam, Mental Health, probably something else I missed the e-mail about. One thing that seemed to escape everyone’s notice, though, was self-awareness.

Indeed, awareness-raising, as an entirely logical and un-ironic pursuit, is ubiquitous in our generation. Back in the 70s, people went awareness-raising because they wanted to shake up their complacent neighbors by doing something radical and “far-out.” Now everyone does it as a matter of course. There are awareness bracelets, awareness pins, awareness weeks, even awareness frying pans. And this long after other trends like the bell-bottomed pant and Richard Nixon have gone the way of the dodo. So what explains awareness’s continuing popularity?

Perhaps it is its ease and convenience. Anyone can raise awareness. Simply by buying a t-shirt, you can feel like a knowledgeable and enlightened member of the community without having to accomplish anything too concrete. But being aware of something and actually doing anything about it are two very different things. For instance, I am always aware that I have homework.

This is not to say that awareness, per se, is a bad thing. If I were in a burning theater, I would definitely appreciate someone who showed up in a Fire In Theaters Awareness Week t-shirt and shouted at me. But I would appreciate a fireman even more. In an age of mass media, e-mail lists, and Youtube, when information travels faster than ever, it is not difficult to be aware. But it is difficult to move from awareness to action.

Harvard students love raising awareness because it makes us feel as though we are accomplishing things. But we have to be careful not to wash our hands of our causes after the week is over. Islam does not stop on campus once March rolls around, nor do students’ psychiatric issues. One study break to raise awareness of mental health is valuable, but not as valuable as the students who spend many nights and weekends manning crisis hotlines.

If “Speak Out: Mental Health at Harvard” was a success, it was not because of the awareness it created. As an editorial in The Crimson pointed out, students tend to be aware of their own mental states. In 2006, 56 percent of Harvard students reported needing mental help but not seeking it. Awareness is not the issue. Action is. Increasing student knowledge about mental health is only a useful measure because there is a support structure already in place that they can be aware about. Taken in itself, a mental health week of “Rock Concerts For Your Sanity” and lectures on dealing with stress sounds something like Sex Week at Yale. The people who would benefit most from it have no time to attend. But coupled with the network of people actively interested in making certain that Harvard students have somewhere to go when they need assistance, this program of awareness may work. Harvard’s efforts to guarantee its students’ mental well-being often seem to rely overwhelmingly on good intentions and free Nalgenes. No matter how depressed you are, the logic seems to run, a free water bottle will inspire you to get up and be screened for depression! And what better way to cheer up someone just diagnosed with clinical depression than to offer him or her a free water bottle? In this sense, “Speak Out” is a step forward.

Awareness weeks are here to stay and growing more numerous by the hour. Last week’s plethora of awareness subjects was only the beginning. This week we have pharmacies, sleep, and disabilities to consider. Indeed, awareness weeks usually have the unfortunate effect of making me worry about all the other things of which I may be unaware. When a cursory search of Facebook revealed over 500 separate awareness events in the coming week alone, I was reduced to a quivering wreck. I had no idea about Canadian Landmines or International Plankton. Ignorance had been bliss. Awareness was torment. I nearly sent Undergraduate Council President Matt L. Sundquist ’09 a detailed letter about my mental state. Until last week, I hadn’t been aware I could do that. I guess we are making progress.

So as we shift our awareness from Mental Health to Canadian Landmines, let us take a moment to be aware of ourselves. Are we aware of our own awareness? Are we aware of the call to action? Are we aware that the word “aware” occurred over 35 times in the course of this column? Now we are. Enjoy that knowledge.





Alexandra A. Petri ’10 is an english and classics concentrator in Eliot House. Her column appears on alternate Tuesdays.