THUNDER BAY – University can be a stressful time.
Exams and expectations and just trying to fit into a new environment and make new friends can exacerbate mental-health issues, bringing them to the surface.
Students and staff at Lakehead University want their colleagues to know they’re not alone, that there are people willing to listen and, more importantly, willing to help them get their lives back on track and the help they might need.
Joining thousands of people across Canada, the school put on its own Bell Let’s Talk initiative on Wednesday, helping to raise awareness about mental health issues on campus and encourage people to take part in a social media movement that has raised $93.4 million and counting since it was first launched eight years ago.
Allison Pages, an honours bachelor of chemistry student at the Thunder Bay school, said it’s important to let everyone know that mental health illness isn’t a disease and it’s time to end the stigma surrounding it.
“If we’re aware about it, then we’ll be able to talk about it and let people know that it’s OK to have it and you’re not being judged,” said Pages, who also plays for the school’s women’s hockey team.
“It’s OK to be sad and to be alone and down one day, and that your friends are there, your family is there – students, teachers, anyone at Lakehead is here for you.”
Fellow student Harleen Bhullar, an honours bachelor of science student, said Bell Let’s Talk is essential for students, to help those who need it cope with any mental-health struggles they might be experiencing.
“It’s a way that we can tell that it’s OK to talk it’s OK to not be OK as well,” she said.
Organizers handed out tuques with the Bell Let’s Talk logo, bananas and lifesavers with inspirational messages and encouraged students to write messages to other students and staff within the familiar bubble associated with the annual awareness campaign, which were then hung in the Agora for all to see.
Irene Pugliese, a senior counsellor at Student Health and Wellness at the university, said too often by the time people seek out help, they’ve been struggling for a long time by themselves.
“Things like Bell Let’s Talk raises awareness. I’ve actually had students come and talk to me, saying ‘the reason I made this appointment is because I heard about Bell Let’s Talk,’ or ‘I saw you guys in the Agora,’” Pugliese said.
“So I think it’s important because the sooner someone comes to talk to someone, the easier it is for them to handle what’s going on and to actually recover from what’s happening.”
Bell, a Canadian media conglomerate, has pledged to donate five cents for each social media post or re-post that includes #BellLetsTalk. It will also give a nickel for each view of a video, pinned to the top of their official Twitter feed.
Last year, more than 138 million interactions took place.
