Last week was ME Week at SFU, bringing free food, puppy time, and wellness workshops to students on the university’s different campuses.
The initiative was held from March 23 to 26 and aimed to promote mental health awareness. SFU’s Hi F.I.V.E. club collaborated with the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) and Health and Counselling Services to bring a variety of mental health-oriented activities to the SFU community.
Hi F.I.V.E. is a movement that originated at SFU and has since spread to campuses across North America, which “aims to eliminate stigma towards those who are experiencing mental health distress or illness.”
Erika Horwitz, Associate Director of Counselling, summarized the goal of Hi F.I.V.E.: “We want people to stop thinking of ‘them’ and ‘us;’ the ‘mentally ill’ and ‘us.’ To really understand that just like you have physical health and you may get sick with the flu or a virus, it’s the same with mental health.
“You can be doing great at one point and not so great at another.”
Jennifer Hoffmeister, a Hi F.I.V.E. organizer, spoke to The Peak about how she hopes the week’s events can help to reduce stigma around mental health issues. “A lot of it is awareness,” she said. “We kind of don’t perceive mental health as something we need to talk about.”
Hoffmeister hoped that events during the week might help spread the word about mental health issues on campus, as well as the resources available to students.
However, she pointed out that stigma is a barrier to receiving care. “People shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it,” she said. “You can’t get help if you’re not going to talk about it.”
On Monday, Hi F.I.V.E. set up tables in the Southeast AQ to promote the event and distribute information about the various services offered by Health and Counselling, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the BC Psychological Association. Tuesday saw a pancake breakfast that had a turnout of over 1000 students.
Hoffmeister said with a chuckle, “I think we spent almost [one and a half] to two hours flipping pancakes and serving pancakes.”
On Wednesday, professionals gave massages to stressed-out students and a drop-in yoga session was offered. In Saywell Hall on Thursday, students played with puppies brought in by Health and Counselling Services staff.
A highlight of the week was Thursday’s Careers Night in Mental Health event. The event gathered six professionals working in mental health fields to speak about their own careers as well as respond to students’ questions and concerns about mental health on campus.
The organizers for ME Week were enthusiastic about how the event was received by the student community. “It kind of opens up the opportunity to talk to students about [Hi F.I.V.E. and Mental Health],” said Hoffmeister. “We actually have the opportunity to speak with them about something that, if we just walked up, they might not be normally as receptive to.”
They also noted that turnout for careers night was triple what they had last year for the same event.
Friday was proclaimed a “Day of Kindness” at SFU, culminating in a Kindness Party in Convocation Mall. Horwitz noted, “There is very good research that has found that kindness and compassion is very good for mental health, for the person giving and the person receiving.” Hi F.I.V.E. handed out coffee and cookies, inviting students to “pay it forward.”
Horwitz summed up the day’s intent: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
