Back to school blues, especially in the winter months can be a challenge for many students, but it’s not always easy to admit.
“I know it’s difficult for students to talk about it.”
Maryanne Simm, vice president of students at Brescia University College, says staff notice many students struggling with mental health heading into both second semester and the winter months.
“For students it’s often very stressful because their plan may be getting adjusted or where they thought they would be at this time of year and there may be lots of questions. So this is the time of year we really try to connect with our students.”
When it comes to mental health and wellness Simm says there are a lot of resources at Brescia that students can tap into.
“The most significant program that we have is our Care Program and essentially it’s an early alert program where our Brescia community, predominantly staff and faculty, can identify students who are struggling and can submit an early alert where there is an assessment and then there is an outreach plan created.”
Principal at Brescia Susan Mumm says mental health can’t be stigmatized in post-secondary institutions like it used to be in the past
“People who struggled dropped out and disappeared, now we want those students to achieve, we want them to graduate and have a good successful program at Brescia, and that means not only do we support them academically but also support them in ensuring we have the right resources around mental, psychological health and well-being”
Information on mental programs available at Brescia can be found at: brescia.uwo.ca
