You Are Not Alone #YellowIsForHello
Let’s be real, we’ve all had those moments where we stayed up all night, stressing over an assignment that is due the next morning or feeling the anxiety within us before going into an exam. Some of us may have prayed for time to slow down so we would have more time to catch up with anything we missed even though we know time won’t slow down for anyone.
These emotions and thoughts influence many students’ minds and can lead to disorders, schizophrenia, depression, and even suicide. Some of us may shy away from the discussion of mental health but it’s a serious and an important issue we must all talk about. As of now “A fifth of Canadian postsecondary students are depressed and anxious or battling other mental health issues” (Simona Chioce). We cannot hide from this truth, but rather we should all come together and help each other with this problem by supporting #YellowIsForHello campaign, so that students across the campus are well informed about this issue. Let’s talk to our professors and friends about mental health and remove any misunderstandings we have about this issue.
An anonymous student who goes by “Jancla”, attends the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. She describes her 15 years old self at the doctor’s office answering questions after questions. “Even though I knew it was his job, something about his guidance to my realization of the roots of my emotions made me feel special, and my feelings warranted. I finally felt like a normal person.” The doctor diagnosed her with social anxiety, an anxiety disorder when an individual has an “excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations”. Jancla mentions how anytime she steps outside her house, she feels nothing but people judging her, she was living in constant fear thus affecting her state of mind deeply. However, after seeking assistance and knowing the cause, she was able to seek closure and motivated her to seek counselling to discuss further issues. She applied to the university’s counselling services, and had monthly sessions with her counselor. One of the services provided from counselling is providing tools and advice in changing unhealthy thinking patterns to better one’s mind and lifestyle.
There is no doubt struggling with mental health is difficult and time worthy, however one must acknowledge their state and find solutions to conquer this situation. The following are some advices students should consider when they or know someone that needs assistance:
1. “Almost one half (49%) of those who feel they have suffered from depression or anxiety have never gone to see a doctor about this problem”(Canadian Mental Health Association). Students must acknowledge there are people/services at campus who are eager to assist with them. Each campus has an on and off counselling services that will accommodate students with their personal, mental, or situational circumstances that restrict their education.
2. Bringing awareness to Canadians about mental health, how crucial it is to take mental illness seriously and support campaigns/charity works in developing and assisting way to improve/assist with Canadians who are dealing with this issue.
3. Create and build conversation with friends, family and colleague’s in educating them about what mental health is, and how to manage situations if they ever come across this situation.
As mentioned before, #YellowIsForHello is an educational campaign using digital awareness towards students throughout their campus discussing the issues with mental health. The campaign is visualizing reminders to students to take their time to discuss to their loved ones and professionals about mental health.
This movement uses Facebook as a platform to provide motivational advice/strategies on a consistent basis to students. The reason why this is the best option to share this campaign is because Facebook has over 26.6 million student users between the ages of 18 to 24 (Statistics Portal). It allows their followers to post about their personal struggle, questions, or concerns they have about mental health. In addition, it provides people to comment back provide feedback create a discussion to help assist anyone with anything. If someone wants to discuss about an issue anonymously they have the ability to direct message TFB and will receive a confidently one on one conversation.
You are not alone, many people are going through difficult times of mental illness, including people who you admire. For instance, Selena Gomez who is battling depression took time off to seek therapy to better herself. It wasn’t until recently she made her debut attending the AMA winning an award. Her acceptance speech was one to remember, she discusses her battle with her mental illness and how she is overcoming this difficult situation. The following link below is her speech:
Works Citied
"Fast Facts about Mental Illness - Canadian Mental Health Association." Canadian Mental Health Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <http://www.cmha.ca/media/fast-facts-about-mental-illness/#.WDO0CaIrLVp>.
Jancla. "My Struggles With Anxiety." UOIT Student Mental Health Services. N.p., 27 Oct. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <https://uoitmentalhealth.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/my-struggles-with-anxiety/>.
President, BCG Senior Vice. "Facebook Users by Age in the U.S. 2016 | Statista." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/398136/us-facebook-user-age-groups/>.
SimcoRecordLabel. "Selena Gomez AMAs 2016 Acceptance Speech for Pop/Rock Female Artist Of The Year." YouTube. YouTube, 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEKJL5RIJ4>.
