Raising mental health awareness on campus

Anxiety, distress, feeling overwhelmed: These symptoms can happen to anybody and for all kinds of reasons, but college and university students are particularly at risk.

Université de Montréal (UdeM) and its federation of student associations (FAÉCUM) have launched a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and being kind to one another. Under the slogan “Ça va aller” (“It’s gonna be alright”), the campaign makes use of posters, murals, social media and a website to promote activities and share messages encouraging people to speak up and combat feelings of isolation on campus.

A shared responsibility

In addition to running the joint survey with FAÉCUM, UdeM also set up a working group to address the issue of psychological well-being. In December 2016, this group came up with several recommendations, such as creating an awareness-building campaign about mental health and associated stigmas.

In recent months, a working group consisting primarily of representatives from FAÉCUM and SAÉ developed the Ça va aller campaign, with messages and tools that will be rolled out from February 4 until the end of the semester.

“The university and its student services department have a responsibility to help students succeed,” said Louise Béliveau, vice-rector of student and academic affairs. “In light of rising demand for mental health services, we have expanded our offerings in this area and launched new initiatives, such as Défi Soi and the Sentinelle network, to help students.”

Added Allali: “FAÉCUM obviously can’t check in with every student to ask about their mental health, but we have worked with student services and various community members to create a safety net – and we hope the Ça va aller campaign will promote it.”

Feel-good campaign

The joint FAÉCUM/UdeM survey yielded a goldmine of information and identified three factors that correlate with episodes of psychological distress: poor nutrition, sleep disturbances and feelings of isolation.

“Correlation isn’t causation, but students often list at least one of these factors as a reason for their state of mind,” said Benoit.

The campaign was built around several “It’s gonna...” messages that will address these factors and be displayed in various places around campus. Here are a few examples:

It’s gonna...

• be nice to make time for myself.
• feel good to help each other out.
• do them some good to know you care.
• make a difference to be a little less judgemental.
• feel good to hang out together.
• be helpful to make introspection a priority.

“The idea behind this campaign is to encourage students to look out for themselves and for each other, with kindness, so that everyone gets help in learning to live with their problems and improve their mental health,” said Benoit.