Carleton held its fourth annual Thrive Week from Jan. 29-Feb. 2 which coincideds with Bell Let’s Talk Day for the first time.
Thrive Week was moved from the fall term to the winter to cross-promote both events, according to Samantha Munro, Carleton’s healthy workplace co-ordinator and Thrive Week co-chair.
Bell Let’s Talk encourages individuals to talk about mental health by using the hashtag or filter #BellLetsTalk on various social media platforms. On their website, Bell said the initiative works “to create a stigma-free Canada!”
This year’s Thrive Week featured a variety of events, including guest speaker Kendra Fisher, a Canadian hockey player and founder of mentallyfit which is, “a movement aimed at presenting hope, education and a safe place for people struggling with mental illness,” according to its website.
Munro said Fisher’s speech about mental health was one of the best parts of Thrive Week.
“The most memorable [parts of her experience] are events like today, where I see people from all parts of the university coming out to listen to someone share their story and they’re really actively listening and engaging and just seem genuinely thankful that mental health is being talked about on campus,” she said.
Other new events include epic bingo and resiliency workshops.
Munro said she thinks the timing of the two mental health awareness initiatives helps to bring discussions about mental health to the forefront. She added, “It also presents a bit of a challenge just because there are so many things happening.”
“I think the challenge is just helping people make the time to participate,” Munro noted.
While the school tracks participation, Munro said it’s difficult to determine the impact of events geared towards improving mental health. She also said the turnout has been comparable to previous years.
“In terms of the awareness, if people are thinking more about or talking more about it, that’s pretty intangible,” she said.
Thrive Week also includes workshops such as suicide prevention SafeTALK training and a Resiliency Awareness Session. Munro said the mindfulness meditation workshops have been the most popular.
“It always is a room full of people.” she said. “It’s a skill that needs to be practiced and people appreciate having that space set aside to practice.”
Munro said Thrive Week tries to target everyone on campus through different groups—students, graduates, and faculty—as well as cross-promotion with events by other associations on campus.
“Some of these events were already happening, but they fit well with the Thrive theme,” she said.
One of these events was the Mental Health Champions open house put on by residence counselling.
According to Thrive Week’s webpage, the event included adult colouring, bracelet making and students learned about other resources available on campus.
“We’re trying to promote positive psychology,” said wellness co-ordinator Tolu Oyegbola. “So just trying to encourage students to come to counselling, get to know the counsellors.”
Whether Thrive Week will coincide with Bell Let’s Talk next year hasn’t been decided yet, Munro said. She also said there’s still more to be done in terms of mental health awareness.
“I think there’s still a long way to go both on campus and as a society,” Munro said. “I guess I would like to see mental health be talked about as easily and as openly as we talk about our physical health.”
Munro said there’s still stigma around mental health from a lack of understanding and fear.
“The more that we can do weeks like Thrive . . . it kind of brings a certain level of understanding and it connects it to the person. It helps people understand that we all have mental health,” she said.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
