Last week the Brandon University Students’ Union hosted Mental Health Week. From Monday, January 28th to Friday, February 1st various activities took place for student’s to partake in and enjoy. The weeks activities brought forth a new level of awareness for mental health issues, which are often shot down as being unimportant or even nonexistent. As many students have come to realize, your mental health is just as important as your physical health! In order to properly and effectively tackle the semester, students have to have a good grasp on their mental well being.

Kicking off Mental Health week on Monday, January 28th was some De-Stress booths. The booths were set up in the mingling area, inside the KDC building, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Many students and faculty of the Brandon University campus took advantage of the De-Stress booths as a chance to sustain their mental health and let go of some of life’s worries. Things didn’t stop there. On Tuesday, January 29th BUSU hosted a free yoga session from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The session was put on in partnership with Campus Recreation and the Healthy Living Centre. Students who attended the free yoga session had the opportunity to de-stress and learn more about the mind freeing exercise. Therapy dogs also visited the campus last Tuesday to assist students in carrying on, despite what life throws at them. The dogs were located in the mingling area from 10:00 a.m. to noon and received lots of company throughout the morning.

On Wednesday, January 30th the campus was, once again, a hotspot for mental health activities. The Brandon University Students Union hosted a grab and go breakfast station in the mingling area. The breakfast started at 9:00 a.m. and continued until the food was gone! January 30th was also Bell Let’s talk Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of mental health. In recognition of this day Student Services and Student Wellness Leaders gathered in the mingling area from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to discuss mental health issues with students. Like the previous Mental Health Week events, this one was also well attended. Moving into Thursday, January 31st, the mingling area was once again in use. From 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. community mental health organizations from around the Brandon area set up booths in an effort to assist students in any mental health difficulties they were facing. Organizations that took part included Prairie Mountain Health and Westwind Counselling. The various community booths had information on everything from depression to eating disorders, and various resources to assist in eliminating them. Finally, on Friday, February 1st free massages were offered on campus. On of the best ways to kick back and relax is to get a soothing massage, something many people took part in from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Library. To make the first day of February even better, BUSU hosted a cookie decorating session in the mingling area. The delicious and delicate activity saw packs of students take part.

It is fair to say that the 2019 Mental Health week was a tremendous success. Like usual, it brought awareness and understanding to various mental health issues. These issues can make even the simplest of tasks impossible for some people. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that students know what resources are out there and how to access them.