Ending the Stigma

Bell Let’s Talk Day sparks more conversation for the ninth year

After 2019’s Bell Let’s Talk Day, Bell reported a record 145 442 699 interactions, translating into $7 272 134.95 in donations towards mental health initiatives across Canada. This will be the ninth year that Bell commits more money to mental health, and initiates more conversation to create a Canada that is stigma-free.

Stigma, according to the Oxford Dictionary is “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.” To be more general, stigma is a negative stereotype. With regards to mental health, the biggest barrier between those suffering from problems or illnesses and recovery is the stigma they face.

About one fifth of Canadians will experience a mental health problem or illness in any given year, yet according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, “despite how common it is, mental illness continues to be met with widespread stigma: in hospitals, workplaces, and schools; in rural and urban communities; even among close friends and families.”

Bell Canada notes the 5 simple ways to end the stigma and start a conversation. It is important to note mental health is an extremely complex matter that is unique to each and every person. Bell’s five points are aimed at ending stigma, and not intending to take authority on fixing mental illnesses. The five points are as follows:

Language Matters. Words make a difference. Worlds help, but they can also hurt. We must make a conscientious effort to use the right language with others. For example, one who suffers from a mental illness is not “crazy.”

Educate Yourself. This is extremely important. Mental health is a concept that continually gets researched and studied, and our understanding of it is constantly evolving. Having the right tools and knowing the right language makes a massive difference. Supporting those experiencing mental illnesses can also be ameliorated by knowing how to correctly speak and address their struggles.

Be Kind. Kindness is the most simple and effective way to make a difference in the world. Caring for others in gestures big and small can remind them of their worth and remind them that you are there for them. By offering to speak to someone over coffee, or simply passing a smile, you could unknowingly turn someone’s whole day around.

Listen and Ask. Mental illness is a very common form of human pain and suffering. Being a good listener and asking how you can help or simply being there for people you care about can be an essential step in their recovery.

Talk About It. Breaking the silence is everything Bell set out to do when it began the Bell Let’s Talk initiative. According to Bell’s statistics, two out of three people suffer in silence in fear of judgement, rejection, or burdening others. Being open to a conversation and sparking conversation helps to eliminate the stigma.

Here at StFX there are many events and groups that aim to end the stigma during Bell Let’s Talk and throughout the entire year. During the week of January 28 to February 1, StFX Athletics dedicated their home games to mental health awareness, with athletes sporting the BellLet’sTalk blue toques, and holding posters to support the conversation. The hashtag #oneteamformentalhealth was used prominently on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. The Student Athlete Mental Health Initiative (SAMHI) was also present throughout the week, hosting events like a coffee house at local business, Tall & Small, Photo Booths at sporting events, and mindfulness and yoga sessions!

Residence Life also hosted a number of events throughout residences. On January 29, the Residence Life team also held a Health Promotions booth in the Student Union Building, where they distributed blue BellLet’sTalk Toques and other helpful resources.

On January 30, Flourish @ X, a program dedicated to students making the best of their university experience, promoted Bell Let’s Talk on its Facebook page, stating “Mental Health is something that should be nourished like physical health and no one should suffer in silence.”

In our small StFX and Antigonish communities, in our country we’re proud to call home, and across the world, mental health is something we must all be mindful of. Mental illness affects many, and eliminating the stigma will make a massive difference for everyone. Taking actions and making a difference, big or small, is what is needed to make progress.

2019 Class Presidents Interview

Sarah Comandante and Carl Miller discuss the legacy project

Bowen Assman interviewed Sarah Comandante and Carl Miller on January 24, 2019.

***

BA: Can you explain to me what the bursary is and how much money is involved in it as of right now?

SC: The emergency mental health fund is essentially a bursary that can be accessible to students in every year concerning mental health problems or mental health difficulties. It’s going to be distributed under the purview of the Health and Counseling Center. This isn’t going to be a bursary that people apply for and we’re trying to eliminate that third party in there because one of the biggest problems with mental health is breaking down that stigma. For a lot of people just applying for something to say, “I’m having a hard time” is something that’s going to deter them from even wanting to go and get help. This is something that the psychologists, the doctors and the nurses can distribute as they see fit within the Health and Counseling Center. The bursary is intentionally very open-ended, and we purposefully did not put strict stipulations on it so that it has the potential to reach as many students as possible. We’re kind of using the same examples. They’re very arbitrary but it could range from someone who is having a really hard time and isn’t able to work so they’re having to take some time off of work and this money is giving them a grocery card because they’re not able to pay for their groceries right now or if someone experiences a death in the family and needs to fly home, it could potentially cover the cost of a flight. It’s something that we’re really trying to make very open-ended. We got off to a bit of a slow start around X Ring and the Day of Giving but just in the past week and a half we’ve gotten some pretty substantial private donors and we’re speaking to all of the local businesses in town, as well as Bell Alliant, so I don’t have a number right now because there’s so much in limbo.

BA: How will the Health and Counseling Center distribute money?

CM: Yeah, so it is tough because you say, “What is mental health?” With an emergency fund, people immediately think, oh it is for counselling or therapy sessions. What it is intended for is, let’s say you broke your leg, or something really serious happened physically, ok, we have resources for that. If somebody dies in your family or you get into a really tough situation which you know everybody does, this isn’t going to fix it but it could be one more support for people who find themselves in a situation where it’s just not going to work. If income is limited in a specific time span or something you know personal happens and they just need a hand, the councilors will have access to that funding.

SC: The money is going to go into an endowment fund, and it is going to be paid out on the interest rate. The money that’s going to be given to the Counseling Center every year is going to be the fixed amount from the interest coming out of that endowment fund, and that will be the money that they can work with for the year. Essentially, they can use it on one student or they can use it on ten. If there is a rollover from year to year, then maybe the next year will have some more money. The intent is that all the money going in right now is going to go into that  endowment fund and the money coming off annually is going to be from that interest rate so that the bursary is sustainable for itself.

BA: And you don’t have to specifically ask for it? Is it given out?

SC: It’s a tricky thing that when we were discussing the terms and conditions with the Health and Counselling Center, one of the hardest things was how do we assess who to give this money to and we kind of came to the conclusion that physicians and psychiatrists and psychologists are going to be the people that are going to be best able to assess the need of individuals and so we’re hoping that by people knowing that this is a potential support for them, it can also encourage people to go get some help and to go in there. We don’t know yet if it’s going to be people going in and saying that they think they need help, but a lot of times, things that get disclosed in counseling sessions can be a trigger for a counselor to say maybe this is something where I could help make this person’s life easier. It is tricky because you really have to be careful that people aren’t going to go in and ask for this money and take advantage of it. But because it’s not going to be done by an application basis, it’s not like anyone can write themselves up a story.

BA: It’s kind of tough to balance?

CM: Yes, it is broad enough but not enough to abuse it.

SC: Yeah, this was really the best way that we could find that it was going to be distributed appropriately under these professionals. If you had a committee for bursaries and scholarships where there’s a committee of people who decide who gets what, we didn’t think it would be appropriate to have people have to disclose personal details of their life and then who are those people on the committee to decide whether or not they deserve the money right?

BA: Yes, so why the focus on mental health, especially in 2019 today?

SC: Over our last four years at least here, I think we really spoke about how this campus has seen a lot of change. There’s been a lot of major events that have happened here, and we wanted this legacy project for the class of 2019 to be something that really encompassed what we’ve experienced. Breaking the stigma around mental health as well as sexual violence has been a huge thing that’s plagued our class. We wanted to find a way to kind of bring those two things together and really work towards it, because as much as there are a lot of efforts towards breaking down the stigma of mental health, it’s something that is constantly prevalent and no matter what everyone has mental health and everyone will experience a mental health problem in their life whether or not that be a mental illness but that is how statistics are shown. If it’s not you, it’s your roommate or it’s your best friend. It really can be applied to everyone.

CM: Yeah. I think the strong point is if you’re lucky enough to get to university without it happening to you directly, it is happening to one of your friends who have found themselves in a situation where there isn’t really a noticeable change in behavior so you just hope they can kind of tough it out. I think it resonates with a lot of people, if not on the personal scale then definitely somebody close to you.

SC: Yeah, we were talking about for X-Ring is that the idea of students contributing to this bursary is a way for students to directly give to other students and to show their support to other people. So, how much more positively we can affect others when they’re going through something like this is to show that our community is behind them and that money coming from the students is going directly back to the students. So, it’s a way to keep it within where it matters.

BA: Branching on that, the decision to start the mental health bursary was from whom?

SC: It was from us, we made the idea. There was a lot of just like trying to bounce off ideas and we had a couple ideas for the bursary. This was the way we could meld them all together. Then, we put out a poll and we put out a form asking, “this is an idea we have right now. Do you support it or not support it or do you have another idea?” So that was like our best way to grasp it and we had almost unanimously people support it. We probably got around ten responses of people that had other ideas, but it was like nine out of the ten other ideas were actually for this. It was just that we hadn’t explained the bursary well enough or we weren’t able to explain it well enough in those stages. So, it was kind of a common theme.

CM: Yeah, and I think one of the good things about me and Sarah’s presence is that we had the two perspectives of a student who lives far away and a student who comes from here. I think this was a good center point and something that everyone understands because if not, it’s kind of like focused towards one or the other, but I think this really applies for everybody

SC: We found that we wanted to make a bursary for literally everyone because a lot of the scholarships or the bursaries, there is such specific criteria that it’s almost like some groups are just always not able to access it. We were like, how do we make something that has the potential for everybody to actually access?

BA: Last year’s was for refugee students?

SC: Yeah, and that was with WUSC (World University Service of Canada).

BA: Does that one continue on and then this one will continue as well so there’ll be numerous bursaries?

SC: Yeah, so this is the fourth year of the legacy project and it’s basically like they’re all always there. So, the whole point of the endowment is that in 30 years there will be 30 bursaries for 30 different things. This got started by the class presidents I think four years ago and they had the idea of leaving a legacy project. The idea was that you could do a capital project or you can do like a bursary and it’s just happened that all of the classes have found that the bursaries are most successful. They’re still even fundraising for last year’s bursary. The amount of money that bursary is providing every year is going specifically to that bursary and then when people donate, they can direct their donation. When you go to the StFX website, you can direct it to a certain year’s bursary.

BA: How long are these bursaries expected to last for?

CM: If you take the interest year-by-year it’ll always be there.

SC: The whole goal is to have as much in that endowment fund as possible so that the yearly payout is as high as it possibly can be.

BA: What are your other roles as class presidents?

CM: Right now, that was kind of the big thing (bursary), that and X-Ring really had been the first semester of, “Whoa, okay let’s get these things under control.” But now, second semester we are really trying to plan some activities for the senior class to come together one last time and meet some new people.

SC: We are having a grad fair, it’s going to happen hopefully at the end of March. We’re working it out with Alumni Affairs right now. We are doing a grad fair that’s going to be just a little thing probably in the McKay room one afternoon and it’ll be things like getting fitted for your gowns, photos, selling tickets and stuff for all the events for the weekend. Another thing we’re working on is the time capsule. All of the classes have a time capsule. We’re going to put it out pretty soon, but we were going to enlist the help of hopefully some seniors to create the physical box because it is a cool artsy project, but we’re both science students so that’s not going to work (laughs). We need people to do that. 

We’re also working on developing a digital time capsule where every senior has a chance to put in a 30- second video or some pictures or something of themselves. We’re working on that and the time capsule is like a whole event during Xaverian farewell. We’ve raised some money from first semester from some different events like one-month raffle tickets and X-Ring tickets. We’re really trying to find ideas for stuff that people would be interested in doing and planning events, but essentially from here on out there will be new senior class presidents in like a month and we will have to help plan grad. Grad is pretty low key compared to X-Ring.

BA: I hear that it is not a big deal (grad).

SC: It’s just that it happens after the fact but there’s some really cool events happening. I had no idea there was like a lobster dinner. They put on a big lobster dinner, as it is hard to get dinner reservations. If we can put some money towards subsidizing the ticket, everyone can go to that and there’s like three nights at the Inn. The last night of grad you stay up all night at the Inn as the party doesn’t even start until late and then they serve breakfast at 4am there. There’s actually a lot of cool events. The hard thing is that it happens after we have all left. The only reason I know this stuff is because I work at the Inn, so we worked grad weekend and it has the potential for a lot of cool stuff.

Anyone interested in donating to this year’s bursary can visit the website stfx.ca/class0f2019.

A New Approach to Mental Health

Flourish @ X

When the discipline of psychology began, it was much closer to philosophy than a hard science. Early critics of the field stressed the importance of objectivity, for psychology to ever be taken seriously as a science. Of course, this was a positive change in many ways, as understanding the human mind requires rigorous and replicable study. Yet, there is something profound in the writings of the psychological pioneers like Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow and Viktor Frankl. It is worth questioning where the old approach to psychology may have had merit, and whether anything is being overlooked in the current approach.

In many ways, the relatively new subfield of psychology, Positive Psychology returns to the disciplines roots while maintaining scientific rigor. Though much of modern psychology is focused on retroactively treating those with mental illnesses and disorders, Positive Psychology takes a proactive approach to mental well-being. The study is concerned with identifying what it takes to lead a happy and fulfilled life.

In recent years, some universities across Canada have initiated programs which apply the findings of Positive Psychology to help the general student population maintain mental well-being. Now, StFX has launched a new concept which follows in that spirit. So, I sat down with Ivan Drouin, clinical psychologist here at StFX, to get the low-down about his exciting new project on campus this semester.

The program is called Flourish @ X, and it’s a large-scale approach to self-actualization. It is made up of a variety of events, workshops and informative talks - for students, for free. In Ivan’s words, “Just like we try to have activities to promote a good physical health, we’re trying to now have activities on campus to promote a good mental health.” Currently, the first of many workshops for Flourish @ X are underway focused on mindfulness, stress, and procrastination management. Anyone interested should not delay!

At the core of Flourish @ X is a Positive Psychology literature review of world philosophies and religions which has described 6 “cardinal virtues,” comprised of 24-character strengths which span cross-culturally, and which have direct impact on one’s happiness. Flourish @ X is aimed at helping students identify and develop these character strengths within themselves.

As mentioned previously, workshops are only one small piece to Flourish @ X. In addition, there will be Ted Talk style presentations by students, for students, meeting on the second floor of Mini Moe’s cafe. Ivan elaborates, “That’s kind of the basic of the flourishing program, offering exercises, workshops and events, to promote a better mental health for the students.”

These talks will take place on Tuesdays from five to six o’clock, on February 5, March 5, and April 2. Conversations will revolve around three main topics as of now: 1) Healthy lifestyles, 2) Healthy relationships and 3) Success at X. Presenters will be current students and recent graduates. Anyone interested in giving a talk is encouraged to contact Ivan Druin at idrouin@stfx.ca with a short, half page summary of what they would like to speak about.

Flourish @ X is in practice, but it is still developing. Down the road there may be other offerings like a collective art project, among other things. Ivan recommends that those interested visit the Facebook page, Flourish at StFX, and drop-in on an upcoming workshop. Dates for which include: January 31, February 7 and 14 from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. in Bloomfield 427.

More Than the Winter Blues

Examining seasonal stress

Imagine you’re a young child again, it’s winter time and you’re putting on your big coverall splash pants. Plastic bags tied to your each of your feet so the snow doesn’t soak your feet. You’ve got so much padding that movement is limited but you’ve got your crazy carpet sled and a massive grin on your face. Where did the time go? Why does the present seem so much more stressful? We can argue climate change, the aging process or responsibilities, but there is a lot that impacts our mental health.

You might suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, where every winter (although it can affect people for the spring and summer months) you experience more than just some seasonal blues. There are different symptoms related to the disorder including depression, fatigue, problems sleeping, lack of concentration and more. I am not a doctor, and I am not here to tell you a sure-fire way to solve your problems, but if you are experiencing prolonged periods of symptoms such as depression, it may be time to reach out to someone. StFX provides medical services in the Health and Counselling centre, and there is the local Mediplex for walk- in appointments after 5pm.

In the interim, there are things that you can do to help alleviate symptoms of those seasonal blues or other anxieties you may be suffering.

First up we have the outdoors, but more importantly daylight! Opening the blinds, sitting in the light of the window, going outside and soaking up as much sun as you can. These are all things that can help, and the earlier the better. In the case of Seasonal Affective Disorder, Timo Partohnen and Jouko Lonnqvist, authors for The Lancet medical journal, write “The best treatment regimens include 2500 Ix of artificial light exposure in the morning.” However, they later explain there is no causal relation to a shortage of light and rather that the disorder is driven by a disruption of circadian rhythms (the physiological processes of living beings). These ideas ultimately suggest the idea that light early in the morning can help to trigger the body awake and help to regulate the circadian rhythms.

The second is exercise. I know, it’s the worst. The last thing we want to be told when we’re feeling sleepy and sad is to get up and move. Exercise has multiple positive effects and can help to balance hormone levels such as serotonin (happy) and cortisol (stress). The other perk is that by working out, you’ll be in good shape for those summer swims at the beach!

Apart from these treatments, many modes of relief include coping and support for stress. These include attempting to rest and making healthy food choices. It’s important to socialize even if we feel disconnected or not up for it, because of the impact that others have on us. They can unknowingly increase our moods, sync bodily rhythms and offer support through those tough times. Learning breathing techniques can help during those stressful moments.

No matter what route you take to avert stress during these winter months, know that there are supports in place to help you get ready to blossom in the spring. Stress is something that we all face, but it is what we do with it and how we cope that determine how it affects us. If we perceive stress as a motivator, it can heighten our abilities to do tasks and overcome difficult feats, but it can equally diminish our abilities if we choose to let it. There may be times when it becomes too much and that is when you must reach out to a friend, a family member or your local medical professional.

May I Have Your Attention Please

The importance of mental health literacy in the teaching environment

Today our attention is in constant demand. Demand from work, demand from family and friends, demand from the endless onslaught of notifications on our phones and computers, and of course demand from ourselves. Everything that we do requires our attention at the cost of something else. With these constant demands stimulating our brains, inevitably things will reach a boiling point. For many that may be fatigue, for some this leads to anxiety, and for others it may come to a tragic and fatal conclusion. These responses are a result of our overly stimulated environments waning on our mental health each day. In particular, when our focus and attention is taken away from the most important demand of all, our personal health, it is then that such negative responses can occur.

While some people do have strong mental health, it is important for all to engage in the conversation of mental health literacy and be aware of resources available for support.

Recognizing the importance of mental health, a team of experienced educators and mental health experts hailing from Teenmentalhealth.org and several universities including Dalhousie, UBC, Western, and StFX joined together to create a resource for future and current educators to learn mental health literacy for the teaching environment.

Dr. Chris Gilham of the Faculty of Education at StFX helped to create the seven module resource to increase educators’ knowledge of mental health and how to support those in need of help.

The module’s two goals are to “enhance mental health literacy of teacher candidates in Canadian Faculties of Education and other educators” and “enhance mental health literacy of teacher candidates in Canadian Faculties of Education and other educators.”

Dr. Gilman and his team hope to achieve these goals in the free online resource. As an aspiring future educator myself, this resource stands as a valuable tool to help support future students’ mental health needs.

To give some perspective on the severity of mental health issues in Canadian society, the Canadian Mental Health Association has several facts about mental health.

For instance “by age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness,” and also “suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds and 16% among 25-44 year olds,” and so on. The latter truly exemplifies the degree to which mental health, especially amongst our high school and university students, is of crucial importance. It seems that at the ages of 15-24 so many factors come into play that have an effect on mental health.

Photo: teach/educ.obc.ca

Expectations for grades, social relationships, university applications, moving away from home, deciding on your path for the future, and even simply learning more about yourself are but a small list of the changes that occur largely throughout high school and university. In these environments, educators are a large contributor to the academic stresses that some students may take too harshly. The busy schedule of balancing class upon class as well as one’s social life and personal health is a juggling act that many students have difficulty managing. However that is not to say that educators are the cause of such difficulties that students face, after all students are students for a reason, and classwork, assignments, and tests are all a part of the job. Having future and current educators be experienced with the Teach Mental Health resource will lead to them being better able to oversee students as they navigate the turbulent waters of the education environment.

For any future educators, social workers, or whoever may be interested, the free online resource is available at http://teach.educ.ubc.ca/mental- health-literacy/. For mental health resources on campus and in Antigonish visit https://www.stfx.ca/student- life/health-and-wellness.