Mental Health Awareness Week
During the week of October 7th through October 11th, a fraternity on campus paired up with Miner Health for Mental Health Awareness week. Delta Sigma Phi, with the help of Miner Health, planned a week of activities to promote mental health awareness. They had activities Monday through Friday at the Havener Atrium and Lawn.
Miner Health’s mission is “Through health education and promotion, we can help you strengthen your well-being by helping you reinforce healthy habits and showing you how to reduce the impact of high-risk behavior.” They do this through peer education, wellness consultations, wellness trainings, bystander intervention, miner well-being certification, and miners care committee on well-being. The Miner Wellness office is open Monday through Friday from 8-4:30pm. The Miner Oasis, which is a place for students to destress, is also open during this time. They have coloring books, essential oils, coffee, snacks, yoga mats, and many other things for students to take a break and destress.
During Mental Health Awareness week, the duo planned a fun week of events. On Monday, they had ribbons at havener from 10-2pm. On Tuesday, they had Free Mochas and Pop the Stigma from 11-1pm. Tuesdays event was planned with the idea that a free mocha might put a quick smile on everyone's face. On Wednesday, they had screening day from 11-1pm, where Miner Health screened students and let them know if they were at risk for a mental health issue. On Thursday, they had take a compliment and pass it on from 11-1pm. Miner Wellness and Delta Sig handed out compliments in Havener, and gave students the task of passing on a compliment as well. On Friday, they ended their week with Delta Sig Dog Days from 10-2pm. The puppies were provided by Tri County Humane Society. This event was to improve the days of students and promote their prolonged mental health.
Monday, Tuesday, and Friday’s events were done strictly by Delta Sig. Wednesday and Thursdays events were done in collaboration with Miner Wellness. Delta Sig provided volunteers on Wednesday and Thursday to help with the events. They also handed out their ribbons at each event.
Devin Keen, the philanthropy chair of Delta Sig, said they had a great turnout for the week and that he believes the week went really well. On Friday, the weather did not cooperate with their event “Delta Sig Dog Days.” It was very cold, so after a couple hours they took the dogs back to their house. However, they still had some people come visit the dogs at their house.
This event is important to a college campus because so many students are plagued by mental illness. Students struggle with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, and others. Mental Health is a growing issue across the globe, but especially on college campuses. One in five college students experience some sort of mental health issue, but the amount of students that get help is low. Most students are afraid of the stigma of mental health, and that is their biggest barrier when reaching out for help. Events, like Delta Sigma Phi’s, are trying to break this barrier for college students so that getting help is common practice.
