In honor of World Suicide Prevention Day last Wednesday, USC Student Health Services organized events designed to initiate campus-wide conversations about mental health.
The office hosted its annual five day Suicide Prevention Week, which included the distribution of inspiring quotations at the Greene Street Farmer's Market, tabling and social media outreach efforts to inform students of campus mental health resources and a "Keep Calm and Pet a Puppy" campaign on Davis Field. The week of events concluded with an Office of Multicultural Student Affairs Diversity Dialogue to explore "Why Mental Health Matters."
Jennifer Myers, assistant director of mental health initiatives and coordinator of Suicide Prevention Services, said that this year's events were marked by an expanded focus. While dialogues about suicide remain essential, Myers said that she hopes to promote proactivity and prevention.
"That's a lot of what suicide prevention is, is getting people to talk about mental health issues," Myers said.
Many students view campus mental health resources as tools for those whose concerns have progressed to the point of severity. According to Myers, many wait to take advantage of counseling or stress management resources until they are experiencing a crisis.
However, many of the resources available to students can prevent the escalation of mental health issues by helping students manage ongoing problems or simply maintain a healthy state of mind.
"We process everything though our brains, and we have emotions that we experience everyday. So, mental health isn't just going to counseling when I have a problem. It's also saying, 'I'm going to take care of these things that I'm feeling and thinking every single day,'" Myers said. "I think having an individual but also a community responsibility to taking care of ourselves and having good mental health among us as a group is essential."
One important part of Student Health Services' vision for an open, proactive, prevention-focused campus is eliminating the stigma associated with help-seeking, Myers said.
"Our research tells us that students don't seek help in the Counseling Center or from other professionals because of fear of what other people think, and not so much what they think. So for their friends to say, 'Let's go get some help for you, and that's okay' at the earlier signs before someone is suicidal is really prevention."
Amidst efforts to establish a healthy campus, Myers said that individual students have the power to make a difference.
One way for students to empower themselves, Myers said, is to take five minutes to research the warning signs of a suicidal person, which are listed on the Counseling Center webpage as well as on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline webpage.
Students can also help change the culture on campus by being willing to talk about mental health, by expressing concerns directly and compassionately and by encouraging their peers to take advantage of the mental health resources available to them, Myers said.
"It's easy to say that you’re stressed or overwhelmed as if it's normal, but it's hard to admit when it's really impacting your functioning, or when you don't feel like yourself," Myers said. "It's important to engage in activities to actually take care of your stress rather than assuming, 'We're all stressed and it's okay to continue these unhealthy coping strategies.'"