The Western community celebrated a showcase of mental health events during March. Historically, Mental Health Awareness Week is a University Students’ Council initiative, however, this year Health Services, the School of Nursing, Communications and Public Affairs and the Faulty of Health Science worked together to create a larger-scale event.
The events ranged from ‘Stand up for Mental Health’ (a comedy troupe breaking down mental health stigmas) to Dan Savage’s compelling presentation reminding teenagers in the LGBT community that happiness, potential and positivity are within reach. It all wrapped up with Western community members raising awareness for mental health by wearing green T-shirts on March 23.
The Jack Project gave a workshop spearheaded by Eric Windeler, the father of Jack, who committed suicide in 2010 at the end of his first year at Queens University. I was moved during Windeler’s talk as he reacted with visible emotion when he recognized a childhood friend of Jack’s in the audience. This was a sobering moment for me as I tried to integrate the prevalence of mental health issues. It is estimated one in three people in Canada will experience a diagnosable mental health problem in their lifetime. After the events of this week I am compelled to reflect on the fact every single one of us are directly or indirectly affected by mental health and mental illness, whether it be a colleague, family member, friend or individually.
Mental Health Awareness week is over, but mental health issues and stigma are not. I have had pause to ask, “Are we doing enough on campus?”
A multidisciplinary group recently conducted a landscape scan of mental health initiatives at Western. It became clear that as students and staff members of Western, we were unaware of the programs, resources and initiatives being offered on our own campus. I would credit some of the success of Mental Health Awareness Week to the co-ordinated approach that guided it.
As we move forward, implementation of a coordinated approach to mental health is beneficial. We need to delete duplicity and maximize our resources. Western provides good service; however, we need to address awareness of these service and access to them. Therein lies a tremendous opportunity to expand mental health prevention, early intervention and skill development.
Health Services is engaging in the development of a comprehensive mental health strategy for the entire campus community. Components of this strategy include a review of policy, improving mental health literacy and training needs assessment.
One cornerstone of this task is to promote communication across and within academic and support units, and to create synergies and opportunities among teaching, research and campus services. A mental health strategy need not be about the costly development of infrastructure, rather a reorganization of current resources within a context of best practice standards.
Effective mental health promotion involves not only attending to the needs of those with mental health difficulties, but also promoting the general mental wellbeing of all staff and students. As Western moves forward in addressing mental health concerns, it is essential information about mental health be structured into campus life and it be guaranteed the entire campus community is aware of this information.
So, as we look ahead to Mental Health Awareness Week 2013, it is my hope Western will be leader amongst Canadian universities in addressing mental health. We are well on our way to accomplishing this goal, with a commitment to our shared responsibility for student, staff and faculty health and wellness being the first step of the journey.
Nicole Versaevel holds a position with Health Services as the health promotion manager. She has a diverse background, having worked as a social worker and midwife. She is passionate about health and wellness and enjoys working in ways that integrate these goals on campus.