We are two months into the new school year and lots has happened in mental health at Carleton.
On October 4, the office of the vice-president (students and enrolment) held its launch of the new Student Mental Health Framework II during Healthy Workplaces’ “Thrive Week.” The week prior to that was the Carleton University Students’ Association’s “Pop the Stigma” campaign, and the week before that was the Student Alliance for Mental Health’s “Mental Health Orientation Week.” In the same timeframe, the Health and Counselling Services Advisory Committee was struck, and the Mental Health Champions, Jack.ORG Carleton, and other campus mental health groups held a few of their own events.
As a mental health activist on campus, I was aware of all this programming, but was the average student? Were all the mental health resources available to students shared at these events? Were all these events and opportunities cross-promoted amongst the different groups? The answer is no, and the reason is a huge lack of co-ordination and communication amongst all the different clubs, groups, and departments on campus that improve mental health at Carleton.
The situation is a near-perfect reflection of the actual lack of coordination and communication between the various services on campus, such as Health and Counselling and the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities, among others.
In of both these situations, what students are left with is confusion—“Wait, there was a mental health week last week? I thought it was next week!”—frustration—“Urgh, but I was just told to come to this office and now you’re sending me to another one?!”—and eventually, disengagement—“I’m not sure what’s going on or where to go for help, so forget it.”
This isn’t anyone’s fault in particular. There are many amazing individuals and groups on campus that do a lot to educate, advocate, and provide support for student mental health, but it always feels like something is missing. There isn’t one person or office responsible for co-ordinating all the mental health programming and services at Carleton. We all operate in silos doing our own thing, hoping that we’re doing the right thing, and not fully aware of what other things others are doing, which makes things disjointed.
With the rise of mental health issues amongst post-secondary students, and the lack of dedicated funding and willingness to build capacity within our healthcare system, universities are expected to address student mental health needs however they can, with whatever resources they have.
There are many issues with the mental health services at Carleton, but it’s hard to address them all when we don’t even know what one another are doing. Carleton needs to begin by establishing a centre responsible for overseeing all mental health-related programming on campus—similar to the Centre for Student Academic Support recently established to bring all academic-related services under one umbrella.
The umbrella I want to stand under is one for all mental health services. Not only would this increase communication and connection amongst different groups, but it would also help identify gaps in programming and services, as well as prevent unnecessary duplication of these programs and services. This will save valuable time and money in the long run, and offer an excellent paid opportunity for students who are passionate about mental health and student engagement.
If Carleton and all its bodies want to effectively improve student mental health, they need to build meaningful collaboration. Mental health is relevant to all members of the university community, which means it is our shared responsibility to work to improve it together, not apart.
