Throughout the month of September, James Madison University has offered several workshops, student passport events, and informative sessions/discussions relating to mental health and self-harm prevention. September is National Suicide Prevention Month so awareness and resources certainly peak at this time of the year. In just the past week alone JMU held over 10 events related to Self-harm prevention and how to identify and resolve these kinds of issues.
While this is great for the JMU community, it is crucial to continue these efforts throughout the year, instead of designating a month to annually flash serious concerns. Year round efforts must become more normal and accessible, specifically for teenage and college aged students.
While September is just designated as the month, this is the time of year when awareness is spread and resources become most available. Even though September can be challenging for some students to adapt into their new environment whether it is a new house, new roommates, new classes, and specifically for Freshman, a completely new lifestyle. However, there are certainly times of the year where stress can have a tendency to rise.
Within each school year, there are one to two weeks during the months of October, December, March, and May known as midterms and finals. For college students, these can be some of the most devastating and brutal times of the year. A schedule crammed with multiple exams, papers, and presentations leads to hours of studying and work. This leads to poor health habits such as poor nutrition, irregular sleep schedule, and minimal exercise. All these factors create a very difficult time for an individual’s physical, mental, and social health.
Another time throughout the year where self-positivity is repeatedly tested is over the summer. Constant comparisons occur from long time hometown friends who have a variety of experiences in their new college environments. Comparing the hometowns and upbringing to all of an individual’s college peers. Even more body-focused issues as people post themselves at the beach and on the water, promoting individuals to share their bodies which can lead to unhealthy concerns and comparisons. Social media has allowed for this time of the year to become so competitive amongst individuals being able to show all the highlights of their life, which can be damaging to the communities overall mental health.
Both time periods just discussed are only two of the many instances and times of the year where our generation’s mental health is truly challenged. There are so many other situations that can cause anxiety or uncertainty in individuals which can lead to very serious and negative consequences. Only fully committing resources to such a large issue for one month is an issue that needs to be changed quickly in our community.
Already in the first week post September, there are only four events related to self-harm prevention compared to ten last week. Assuming this pattern only continues, it is very easy to see why awareness goes away as we continue past the month of September. While suicide can sometimes be called a “male issue,” the female rate is continuing to grow, especially with issues such as body-positivity and social media and any available resources can offer the hope students need.
JMU should continue to steadily implement workshops and events that offer assistance to students to the point where they are regularly available for students. While JMU can do more as far as providing more services for students, the JMU student community is just as responsible to do their part. Student run clubs and organizations can often make the biggest differences in a community and there is always positivity that can be spread on campus, digitally, or in person. Suicide is too big of a problem to reserve to one month, it’s time to commit to stopping this issue and helping our community.
A link to JMU’s event calendar to see upcoming events.
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