Matt Dionne | Sports and Health Editor
Featured image: York’s new Mental Health Strategy aims to open discussion about mental health and destigmatize mental illness. | Jasmine Wiradharma
Last week, York launched its Mental Health Strategy, the culmination of a project initiated in 2012 by York’s Mental Health Action Group.
“York has recognized the needs of students and opened up the conversation on how they can better support their students. The first step to destigmatize mental illnesses is to understand and accept that there are students who need support,” says Aarifa Fakih, co-head of York’s Mental Health and Stress Team.
Part of the reason for the Mental Health Strategy was to combat the stigma around mental illness. Mental illness is considered by many to be a taboo subject, and the Mental Health Strategy intends to destigmatize the way we think about mental
illness.
“Having a mental illness doesn’t define who a person is, and asking how you can support someone is one of the most helpful things you can do. Seeking support for yourself, whether you have a mental illness or not, is important in caring for your own mental health as well,” says Eileen Bang, co-head of the Mental Health and Stress Team.
Part of the reason we don’t talk about mental illness is because it is often seen as a sign of weakness. People are often afraid to talk about how they’re feeling for fear of being criticized or told to “just get over it.” This is magnified by the fact that mental illness isn’t necessarily a visible ailment. If you saw someone wearing a cast, you wouldn’t tell them to “just get over it.” However, that is often how we react to mental illness, and stems from a lack of understanding.
Another reason people avoid talking about their mental health is that people suffering from mental illness can fall into blaming themselves for their condition, and can even begin to feel like a burden to their friends and family. This negative perception can cause a person to isolate themselves, which only exacerbates the problem.
Bang believes the lack of understanding of mental illness is one of the main causes of the stigma around the affliction. She feels that people who often don’t know much about mental illness hear the negative things we associate with it and develop an inaccurate understanding of what it is. This in turn causes people to feel ashamed to talk about mental illness, and creates misconceptions that are not addressed.
Fakih feels that students also play an important part in destigmatizing mental illness.
She says that some steps students can take to facilitate an open dialogue on mental illness are to be aware that mental illnesses are legitimate health concerns, to support their friends and colleagues who are suffering from mental illnesses and to be open to receiving support themselves, to keep an open mind and be willing to actually talk about mental illness and what it entails.
The Mental Health Strategy is built around the fundamental principles of leadership, planning and promotion, campus engagement and service delivery. It intends to establish a mentally healthy campus for students and staff by “embedding mental health in the classroom; developing new and improved services; building the skills of community members so they can identify when help is needed and provide direction on when and where to find it; and supporting mental health before help is needed,” according to Mental Health Strategy literature.
“I’m really excited about the recent launch, since the main goal of the Mental Health Strategy is to connect students to resources on campus by making them more accessible. There are so many resources students can reach out to, but if they are not promoted, students will never know where and how to access them. I am hoping that the increased promotion of these resources will encourage students to access whatever support they need,” says Fakih.
Thanks for intdnruciog a little rationality into this debate.