*t—- Yo \ E 7 oa’ @ bi 7 . * q % x a Grant Bachand Contributor et us talk about mental health and sexual assault. How do UNBC, Prince George, and Canada deals with mental health. We are going to look at these two topics from different perspectives, and go into to detail about both during a three- part series. How can students deal with mental health issues when they are at university and on campus? UNBC has plenty of services that can help with that. Sarah Hanson, manager of the UNBC Wellness Center says: “Any registered student can access our services without charge.” UNBC has several relevant services for those who needs them. There is the Wellness Center, First Nations Centre, Peer Support Center, Access Resource center, and a new program, Counselor in Residence. The Wellness Centre is focused on helping students in long, and short term counseling services. If you need to talk or simply need information, then this is where the students can go for help. Informal services like the peer support center is for students to talk with other students, while Counselor in Residence is for students living in residence for after hours service. To utilize the services at the Wellness Center you can phone or attend one of their walk-in sessions. When you come in they look at what help you require and then they determine how best to give you the help you need. This can be short term or long term and they can even help get support from the community after you graduate. According to Hanson the largest group of people they see are dealing with anxiety, which is similar in universities across Canada. Jack.org, is a student group on campus that helps students deal with mental health issues and other mental health situations. Their main goal is to combat the stigma around mental health. They have initiatives in order to accomplish WOMEN'S CENTRE J] Student Voice 7 Counselling Services this like their recent “Sleeve the Stigma Behind,” initiative. With this initiative they used coffee sleeves which had puns on them like “Espresso yourself”, to help make people feel safe to talk about mental health. Jack.org’s message is that discussing mental health issues should be as normal as discussing something like a broken ankle. Universities can give students a lot to focus on like assignment and tests and this leads to a lot of stress on students. How big is mental illness on campus and are we addressing the problem adequately? A study from 2013 by the American College Health Association, looked at the lives of university students in Canada. The findings of the study varied but one of the least surprising findings were that over a 12 month period 89.3% of students felt overwhelmed by all they had to do, and 86.9% felt exhausted. Deadlines, and pressure to do well are part of the life of a student. The key is how we deal with the pressure. According to the study, the amount of suicide rates are low: 9.5% for seriously considered suicides while 76.2% have never considered it. Drinking amongst students was also an interesting area of the study. According to the study 70.8% of students had gone out and drunk within a 30-day period of the study and 58.3% drinking with 1-9 days. The amounts of drinks that they had when they “partied” was, 51.3% had less than 4 drinks, 12.1% had 5 drinks, 9.9% had 6 drinks and 26.8% had more than 7 drinks. Sexual assault is another aspect to university life that has been gaining a lot of infamy south of the border in the United States. It is important to understand that only 10% of sexual assaults are reported and this means 90% of victims are left alone to deal with this very serious issue on their own. That does not have to be the case. The UNBC Wellness Center can help as well as the Sexual Assault unit at the hospital (250-564-8302) they are available 24/7 to help. It is important to understand that there is help available in the community for victims who want to help anyone in their time of need. The information in this article is one part of the larger picture, and to better understand it we have to do more digging, and talk with more people. Part two and three of this series will hope to bring more light to the climate of mental health and sexual assault in our community and our country. If you are someone who is going through a crisis right now, or you know someone who is, and don’t know what to do. Go to the UNBC Wellness Center, or reach out to Jack. org. UNBC services are friendly and welcoming. Mental illness or stress does not need to be a huge thing to deal with and these people can help. If you have been a victim of sexual assault there are people who can help you all you need to do is reach out to them and they will help. If you want more information about any of the services offered at UNBC, here is a list of contact information: Jack.org, email unbcjackproject@gmail.com, UNBC Wellness Centre (Room 5-196, Monday - Friday, 9am-4pm) or call 250-960-6396, Health Services (Room 5-106, Monday -Friday, 9am- 4pm) or call 250-960-6370, First Nations Centre (Room 7-111, Monday - Friday, 9am-4pm) or call 250-960-5772. If it is an emergency: UNBC Security (room 7-207) (250- 960-7058) (Emergencies 250-960-3333), Crisis line 24hr (Confidential) 250-563-1214, Community Response Unit 250- 565-2668, University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (250-565-2000), S.0.S. Society (sexual assault counseling services) (250-564-8302), Victim Services (250-561-3329).