Warwick holds Mental Health Awareness Day

Mental Health Awareness Day was held in the University of Warwick Students’ Union (SU) on Wednesday 19 February.

A range of societies, such as Warwick Mind Aware, Warwick Meditation and Warwick Allotment Society came together to raise awareness of mental health issues within the university.

The day was based around the concept of a mental health ‘Five a day’, in relation to the five pieces of fruit people are encouraged to have for the maintenance of their physical health.

In the context of mental health, the five things that are encouraged are connecting, being active, taking notice, learning, and giving.

Stalls were set up in the SU Atrium aiming to show how mental health relates to a variety of things and to promote activities and methods to improve one’s mental health.

Meditation and aerobics sessions took place in the Copper Rooms on the day, and Warwick Allotment Society ran several tours of the allotment, as examples of some such beneficial activities.

Additionally, Warwick Meditation held daily meditation sessions in the Humanities building for the duration of the week.

Sarah Meharg gave a talk entitled ‘Living Sensationally’, which focused on paying attention to one’s senses to manage one’s well-being.

Shaan Jindal, campaigns officer of Warwick Mind Aware, stressed the importance of raising awareness of mental health issues for all members of society.

“Why we do it is to raise awareness that anyone can have mental health problems”, even if undiagnosed, “and that keeping on top of one’s mental health is important for everyone, not necessarily just those who have mental health issues.”

Mr. Jindal outlined what the organisers aimed to achieve through Mental Health Awareness Day.

By raising awareness of mental health issues, they hoped to “reduce the stigma and stereotypes” that surround the topic, as well as improving “access to and awareness of support etc. for people who may want to seek help or maybe help a friend out.”

“Mental health is something we rarely talk about and is usually ignored or brushed under the carpet as we don’t like talking about it.”

“By doing this week, we hope to get more people talking about it, which is often something that can really help people suffering from mental health problems [especially anxiety disorders or depression].”​