The University of Connecticut’s Student Health and Wellness department is holding activities all week to support student mental health and suicide prevention.
September is nationally recognized as Suicide Prevention Month. Within that month, the week of Sept. 7 to 15 is highlighted for suicide awareness.
The events began on Sunday with “Paint the Spirit Rock” at noon. Students were invited to “kick off the week with a message of hope and solidarity,” according to the SHaW website.
Monday hosted “An Evening with Monique Coleman“ from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Student Union. Monique Coleman is an award-winning actress recognized for her performance in “High School Musical.”
Coleman “was awarded the first and only United Nations Youth Champion title and traveled to 24 countries to learn about and shine a light on the most pressing issues facing young people globally,” according to SUBOG’s description of the event.
On Tuesday, there was a Food Is Love event at the Asian American Cultural Center. This event centered on food as a cultural expression, particularly within the Asian community. There was an open community discussion during the event, according to the SHaW website.
Today, SHaW is holding a Health and Wellness Fair on the Student Union Lawn from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event features a number of free activities and amenities for students. Some of these amenities include a five-minute professional massage, flu shots and campus runs, according to the SHaW Instagram.
There will also be a Stomp Out the Stigma Walk from 5 to 6 p.m. This event is hosted by Active Minds and will begin on Fairfield Way. According to Instagram, this event will “help raise mental health awareness” and combat stigma.
While there are no facilitated events on Thursday, there are regularly scheduled Let’s Talk events every day.
“The Let’s Talk: Mental Health Office Hours program provides informal, confidential consultation with therapists from SHaW. Services are free of charge and offered on a first come, first served basis and are about 15-20 minutes,” according to the SHaW website. Specific times and locations for each day can be found on the website.
On Friday, SHaW and Active Minds are presenting a Field of Memories on the Student Union Lawn. University Student Government will plant 1,100 flags to represent college suicide deaths, according to Instagram. UConn Active Minds will be offering information about mental health and suicide prevention at the event.
The final activity for the awareness week will be on Monday, Sept. 15. The event is called “Healing Thru Art” and is hosted by USG and Holistic Huskies. The community-centered painting event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m.
Although the official events end on Monday, SHaW has services for students’ mental health throughout the entire year.