After years of her own mental health struggles, USC Caboolture student Chloe Bochow is determined to help others dealing with stress, anxiety and depression.

The 23-year-old has formed a Caboolture branch of Active Minds, a student-run, not-for-profit international organisation that aims to remove the stigma associated with mental health on university campuses.

“It is a big passion of mine to make sure students at USC’s Caboolture campus dealing with mental health issues realise they are not alone and can reach out,” Chloe said.

“Managing my own mental health journey with the pressures of university can be a struggle and that why I knew there would be other students facing the same thing.”

Active Minds will hold regular meetings to offer students a safe space to talk openly about mental health, and provide help to access USC’s network of support services.

The first-year Nursing Science student and former volunteer at the Prince Charles Hospital’s Mental Health unit said she had struggled with mental health, including anorexia and depression, for as long as she could remember.

“In many ways, these events and illnesses have made my life hell but I also would not be the person I am now without them,” Chloe said.

“I choose to study nursing as I have always wanted to help people and spending so much time in hospital surround by some amazing nurses inspired me to be that for someone else,” she said.

“Part of my recovery journey also included an intensive outpatient program where I had the chance to meet others who had recovered and who became massive influences on my life.”

USC Active Minds will hold regular meetings at the Caboolture campus for students and host events to generate awareness about mental health. For details visit USC Active Minds Facebook or email uscactivemindscaboolture@outlook.com

Active Minds groups also operate at USC’s Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast campuses.

— Clare McKay