Mental Wellbeing week held by SU and Societies Guild | Tommie Grant
As part of an annual, national Student’s Union campaign UCC ran a Mental Wellbeing week from Monday the 12th to Thursday the 15th of November. The Student’s Union ran this campaign with the assistance of the Societies’ Guild and various societies to organise specific events. There were various aims of this campaign; including stamping out the stigma related to mental illness in Ireland today and the general promotion of positive attitudes in relation to mental health issues.A wide array of societies got involved and played their part, amongst them the Chemistry Society who screened the film “Little Miss Sunshine” in the West Wing and gave a presentation on the chemistry of depression. The Law Society also contributed holding a house meeting on the Irish Mental Health System. A highlight of the week perhaps being the attendance of Junior Minister Kathleen Lynch at a Philosophical Society’s event entitled “Student Mental Wellbeing: Issues and Challenges”. These are only a sample of the numerous and wide ranging events that took place, which according to the Student’s Union’s Welfare Officer Dave Carey were well attended and a resounding success.A key and much praised aspect of this year’s campaign was the renaming of the week, to exclude the phrase “mental illness”. This reinforces the idea that mental health is an issue everyone should consider, not just those suffering from recognised mental illnesses. As well as eliminating the stigma attached to mental illness, this more inclusive name also promotes another one of the campaigns goals according to Dave Carey. This being that we should all take time out from the pressures of university life to consider what shape our own individual mental health is in.This campaign is clearly something which is needed in universities such as UCC. The combined pressures of academic, extra-curricular and social lives can be overwhelming to any student at times. Claire Dunner, the uLink co-ordinator, specifically addressed people who are heavily involved in Clubs & Societies, in relation to properly balancing their college lives. Clearly, anyone may be affected by these pressures, perhaps the first year student that has just moved out of the parental home for the first time or even a final year student who has found that they are falling behind on the various deadlines set for them.Both Jamie Hooper, the Societies Guild President and Dave Carey the Welfare Officer of the Student’s Union agree that the primary focus should be getting students to actively engage with their mental health and make use of the various support services such as counsellors, provided by UCC, if need be. Dave Carey has praised the work of all those involved and noted that the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.Information on these support services may be found at http://www.ucc.ie/en/studentcounselling/
