One of the most pertinent issues plaguing the discussion of mental health in our society is its lack of normalization. As Bell’s annual “Let’s Talk Day”, which occurred on January 27 this year, implies, talking about mental health and the stigma surrounding it is key to increasing awareness and decreasing stigmatization. While there were certainly no shortage of detailed and encouraging posts on the topic on social media that day and in the few days following, this is unfortunately one of the only times of year where it’s an open topic of discussion.
On university campuses, especially at a university as large and academically competitive as the University of Toronto, a continuous and open conversation on the topic of mental health is incredibly important. While it’s common for students to trade stories—in person and on social media—about how little sleep they’ve gotten, how many essays they have due at the end of the week, or how far over the recommended daily dose of caffeine they currently are, there is much less open discourse about mental health and how it affects student life. While it’s evident that not everyone is breezing through their courses, it can be difficult to express or acknowledge problems that might go beyond typical academic challenges if no one talks about them.
To speak from personal experience, it took me until November of my fourth year of undergrad to seek out medical and academic assistance regarding my depression and anxiety. Now that I’ve done so, I realize how much easier these four years could have been if I had asked for help sooner. In an environment that tells you that you could always be working harder, it’s all too easy to attribute academic struggles to laziness or some other personal fault. However, mental health issues are unsettlingly common among Canadian university students: in a 2013 study published by the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services, 40% of post-secondary students in Ontario reported feeling severely depressed at some point in the preceding 12 months, while 58% reported overwhelming anxiety. A disheartening 89% reported that they felt overwhelmed by their responsibilities.
It’s a given that university students are stressed out at least some of the time, but when everyone seems to be just as stressed out and busy as you are, it can be difficult to justify asking for help—or even acknowledging that you need it in the first place. It’s important to remember that while certain levels of stress are part of the package of academia, you’re not weak or unequipped just because you feel overwhelmed or hopeless.
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