This week is Mental Illness Awareness week, but the University’s Health, Counselling and Disabilities Services (HCDS) don’t have anything planned because they didn’t know about it.
“It’s unfortunate, to be honest, but we certainly will be doing something later on in the year,” said HCDS Director Mike Condra. “That was the first I heard of it, and usually I would know.”
Condra added that he will be holding training for of the AMS Mental Health Awareness Committee on Wednesday, and HCDS will organize more awareness events later this semester.
Jenny Glozman, the AMS’ Mental Health Awareness Committee co-chair, said the committee’s main goal is to inform the students and provide them with knowledge about mental illnesses.
“One in five Canadians has a mental illness. Almost everyone is affected at least once in their life,” Glozman said. “Five out of 10 people with mental disorders are too afraid to it to it due to the lack of education.” The committee will be organizing several educational events for students in the last week of October. Each day of the week will provide information about a specific mental illness, from depression to eating disorders, as well as sexual health.
Students will have be able to ask questions anonymously by calling CFRC radio show during that week or at the information tables set up in the JDUC, she said.
Glozman said mental disorders can pose risks to individuals’ physical as well as mental health.
“Out of all disorders, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate,” she said. “People have to understand how serious mental health is.”
Glozman said the committee takes an active role in raising awareness about mental health issues, distributing information flyers to students throughout the year.
Glozman added that the committee is planning on setting up its own website soon, and will also schedule special seminars for residence dons to help them provide students with resources and advice.
The week of Oct. 1 to 7 is dedicated to Mental Illness Awareness, a Canada-wide educational campaign.
Barbada Roberts, HCDS advisor, said that out of the 500 students ed with Health, Counselling and Disability Services each year, 90 have a mental illness.
Roberts said issues of mental health pose a real risk for students.
“With the amount of stress in our everyday lives, mental health is at risk,” she said. “It’s all about managing breaking points. Everyone has them. Students should know that there are ways to cope.”
“Mental illness occurs when [our] individual emotional and environmental stressors overwhelm [our] coping strategies,” Roberts said. “It’s important not to judge people when they are having a tough time, not to be critical of others, to be comionate, understanding… Being misunderstood just contributes to the problem.” Students face a number of different mental health issues, she said.
“Most common ones are anxiety–ranging from severe to more common everyday anxiety–depression, bipolar illness, and eating disorders. Some students [have] schizophrenia,” Roberts said.
Roberts added that it’s important to provide an open and ive environment for people with mental health issues.
“Whether a student has an existing disability coming to Queen’s or not, we’d like to normalize their experience, to show students that it’s OK to talk about their problems,” Roberts said. “No particular group is affected more than the other – there is a wide range of students with mental illnesses across university years and levels.”
Roberts encouraged students to take advantage of the University’s counseling services, which are open to all students and are confidential.
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