Staying Healthy and supporting your mental health

This month kicks off with Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW),  which runs Oct. 4 to 10 and is focused on raising awareness for mental illness and the importance of mental health. The week ends with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Mental Health Day 2020. This year the WHO is hosting the Big Event for Mental Health, which will be streamed on their Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as other social media platforms.

To round out the month, the Campus Mental Health Strategy (CMHS) team is again presenting UFlourish, a campus-wide mental health initiative. UFlourish will help you develop positive mental health, resiliency and community connection through a series of workshops, seminars and events. This year UFlourish runs for a month from Oct. 13 to Nov. 13. View the full listing of UFlourish events.

Taking care of your mental health is important, especially as we face so much change and uncertainty this year. Find out more about how you can support your well-being and others’.

Join a workshop

Student Wellness Services (SWS) offers a number of workshops that focus on mental health. A list of them are below, and you can click the link to learn more about each one:

• Stress management – Oct. 5
• Healthy thinking – Oct. 9
• Discover your self care – Oct. 13
• Move over, anxiety – Oct. 16
• Motivation and procrastination – Oct. 20
• Healthy thinking – Oct. 20
• Inquiring mind training – Nov. 24

View all of SWS’s October events.

Learn how to support others

Community Helpers training covers everything to do with helping. You’ll learn when to offer help, barriers to helping, how to develop communications skills, and how to recognize your limits and set healthy boundaries. The course runs over seven weeks and is interactive.

The Question, Persuade, Refer workshop is a science-based suicide prevention program. It will give you tools to recognize warning signs in others, as well as teach you how to speak to them and refer them to both on- and off-campus supports.

Know the resources available

If you need to speak to someone, you have options. SWS offers appointments with student support advisors (SSAs) who’ll talk to you about any concerns you have. They’ll also connect you with resources on campus and in the community that could include self-referral to online training, joining a peer-counselling session, or participating in single-session counselling. You can also speak to a counsellor in an informal group setting to discuss topics like relationships, student life or your general well-being.

Learn more about all of the mental health services offered at UCalgary.