Every year, Uni invites a representative from Rattle the Stars, an Illinois nonprofit aimed at preventing suicide, to speak at an assembly. The opportunity to learn and be able to discuss these difficult topics creates a more open environment for those experiencing distress. Learning opportunities such as assemblies or P.E. health seminars are aimed at the entire student body, rather than individualized concerns. While Uni has increased this type of education, we are still more focused on the group than the individual. Providing mental health care and education to the group makes it more difficult for students who are struggling to feel like they can speak up.
At the latest assembly, the speaker from Rattle the Stars walked students through creating a personalized list of things they could do if they were in crisis. Students were asked to write down the names of people we could talk to and things that make us happy, as ways to take a step back from a stressful situation. Many students were hesitant to write down their real answers, and some even discarded these lists when the assembly was over. Students couldn’t get the benefit of the exercise because they were uncomfortable participating in a group environment.
In a recent health seminar on eating disorders and imposter syndrome, juniors and seniors were asked to raise their hands if they’d ever been to therapy. The aim is to prove that these awkward topics can become normalized if students are able to communicate openly about them. However, students were hesitant to share information about themselves, even when it was as simple as raising their hands.
While events that try to break the stigma of talking about mental health are a good first step, there is a gap between students’ willingness to talk about the subject and students’ willingness to talk about how the subject affects them. Uni and the Student Services Office team have done an excellent job addressing the public stigma surrounding mental health, but it is still difficult for students to make the leap between thinking abstractly about mental health, and being able to apply that thinking to themselves.
“Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders,” writes the World Health Organization. “It exists on a complex continuum, which is experienced differently from one person to the next, with varying degrees of difficulty and distress[.]” Education and awareness about mental health can be a very general topic, providing everyone with a baseline of knowledge. However, there are many different ways to experience mental health challenges, and a baseline isn’t able to address every single one.
This semester, the SSO added posters of crisis and lifeline numbers to Uni’s bathrooms. This allows students to ask for the help they need without having to do so publicly. In spring of 2022, Uni students took an anonymous mental health screening which was sent out by the SSO. This survey gave collective feedback on students’ mental health to the SSO, allowing them to better shape the baseline of teaching students. It also had a section where students could specifically ask for someone to reach out to them if they were struggling. This allowed them to ask for more individualized care, without it being part of a larger group discussion.
Having a form of this survey that was open throughout the year would allow students to ask for help whenever they felt they needed it. Instead of an overall feeling of well-being, students could use this to address their immediate concerns, and ask for help as problems or stress arise.
Asking someone to reach out is a less daunting task than walking into the SSO and asking a counselor for help, especially for students who are worried about their peer’s opinions. Making a more private avenue for receiving mental health care would encourage people to take the first step by removing the fear of others’ perceptions. Instead of being worried about how other students see them, they could focus entirely on asking for the help that they need.
Uni is working hard to reduce the public stigma surrounding mental health, changing students’ mindset to be more accepting of these topics. But, until every student feels comfortable talking openly about their own mental health, we should provide further support for individualized concerns, meeting every student where they are by giving them more private opportunities to ask for help.