From April 6-10, Mental Health Week took place across the DU campus in the form of about 13 separate events. The main purpose of the week was to, “raise awareness of the impact of mental health issues on college students, reduce the stigma of mental illness and promote help-seeking behavior,” according to information on DU’s event webpage.
Some events were casual, such as mental health trivia hosted by the DU Psych Club and the International Honor Society in Psychology (Psi Chi). Others were more serious, such as the stress and wellness screenings held by DU’s Health and Counseling Center.
The Clarion made it to the April 8 Mental Health Symposium, which featured four panelists who each spoke about a different mental illness. It was organized by DU MIND, a club on campus that spreads awareness about mental illnesses, DU Honors Program and Pioneering Friendships, a new club at DU that focuses on helping elderly people with mental illnesses.
Pioneering Friendships was founded by Jack Spartz, a biology major from Western Springs, Illinois. He explained how the club came to be and what exactly it is that they do.
“Pioneering Friendships is an organization that aims to establish an avenue of connection between philanthropic students and elderly members of our community in home health care situations,” said Spartz. “Our volunteering usually takes place at group homes of five to seven people with a variety of mental and physical conditions. It’s a really relaxed environment and usually consists of an hour or two of board games, bingo and interesting conversation.”
Spartz says Pioneering Friendships has only been running since the winter quarter, but it came together quickly due to some help from DU’s own Dr. Phil Danielson, who put him in touch with Christina Coughlan from the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. From this point on, he was able to connect with other interested members in the community and locate health homes that need help. For anyone interested in joining the club, send an email to pioneeringfriendshipsdu@gmail.com.
The panelists at the symposium included Dr. Curt Freed, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz campus who spoke about Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Huntington Potter, the head of the Alzheimer’s Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz campus who spoke about Alzheimer’s disease, Matt Vogl, deputy director at the University of Colorado Depression Center who spoke about depression and bipolar disorder and Larissa D’abreu, a DU graduate student earning her PhD in clinical child psychology who spoke about autism.
Vogl’s presentation on depression was arguably the most relevant to the DU campus, as he often touched on how severely the disease affects college students. He told a story about how he once became suicidal due to overwhelming depression as a graduate student, and went on to explain that all college students need to be careful.
“We see a lot of people who have gone away to school and their sleep gets screwed up and they’re drinking more and all of the sudden it triggers manium that they have their first bipolar episode,” said Vogl. “So I think people should want to pay attention to that. And we’re also in a state where the suicide rates are very high, including for college students and I think that’s a particular concern.”
Vogl also supplied information for college students to avoid the road he went down.
“You really can’t overstate the importance of a healthy lifestyle,” said Vogl. “We know now that when we treat depression and bipolar disorder, medication and psychotherapy are important, but just as important is regulating your sleep, managing stress, exercising, nutrition, all of those things. So they really all work together.”
According to Spartz, mental health week was a success, and he wants to recognize the DU Honors Program in particular for helping him organize the symposium. However, he says all Pios need to pitch in to really make a change.
“The stigma surrounding mental health is stopping people from receiving the help they want and need,” said Spartz. “The only way we can alter the paradigm of thought surrounding things like depression, Alzheimer’s, autism or bipolar disorder, to name a few, is to raise awareness of the issue and begin to have dialogue regarding the normalcy and treatability of these issues.”
For anyone seeking help with a mental illness, don’t hesitate. Visit the Health and Counseling Center in the Ritchie Center or call them at 303-871-2205. Additionally, Vogl says those who are suffering from depression or bipolar disorder can also send an email to his place of work at depression.center@ucdenver.edu, or call the national suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
