{"id":14605,"date":"2012-11-07T17:07:50","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T22:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=14605"},"modified":"2012-11-07T17:07:50","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T22:07:50","slug":"minding-our-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2012\/11\/07\/minding-our-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Minding Our Minds"},"content":{"rendered":"My first year at UofT was rough. It was my first time away from home. I was truly independent and on my own. I remember thinking the freedom would be liberating.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 Not for me, anyways.\u00a0 Adjusting to university life took me longer than I had expected. The large class sizes, the intimidating professors, the competitive environment. \u00a0I was mentally and emotionally exhausted when the year came to a close.\u00a0 The pressure completely consumed me and I remember feeling broken.\r\n\r\nI did a bit of soul-searching during the summer between my first and second year. \u00a0I remember asking myself some tough questions.\u00a0 Was UofT for me? \u00a0Was any<\/em> university for me?\u00a0 Was I smart enough? \u00a0Would I make it? \u00a0I was scared, terrified actually, to reach out to someone.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that make me weak? \u00a0Everyone else seemed to be coping just fine. \u00a0Why was I the only one who was struggling?\r\n\r\nIt took me a while, but I did finally ask for guidance.\u00a0 I approached friends, family, and my college registrar to address the academic and personal issues that I was fighting against.\u00a0 The sense of relief was overwhelming and it helped me get my life back on the right track. Looking back, I\u2019ve realized that I would have been happier in first year had I admitted to myself and others that I was mentally drained.\r\n\r\nWhy do we find it difficult or embarrassing to address mental pressures? Society promotes physical health.\u00a0 Yet, topics of mental health and emotional stability seem to have an aura of prejudice and intolerance around them.\u00a0 I suppose we are all afraid of being \u201ccrazy.\u201d \u00a0Interestingly enough, however, we are more likely to experience mental illness than physical illness during our lifetimes.\r\n\r\nOn Friday, I attended a conference at Victoria College titled \u201cMinding Our Minds: Mental Health in University.\u201d \u00a0The conference began with two panel discussions, titled \u201cThe Crisis of Mental Illness on Campus \u2013 Why Diagnoses are on the Rise\u201d and \u201cUniversity Programmes and Best Practice in Preventative and Responsive Models.\u201d \u00a0The talks addressed numerous mental illnesses, including depression, a disorder common amongst university and college students.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nA closing address was delivered by Dr. David Goldbloom, a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and the Chair of the Canadian Mental Health Association. Dr. Goldman spoke on the stigma and discrimination surrounding the topic of mental health, suggesting that it is an unnecessary obstacle for patients suffering from mental diseases and disorders.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe talks made me think about the way we view and project mental struggles or illness.\u00a0 I\u2019ve come to realize that mental distress can be just as torturous as physical pain, if not more so. \u00a0And contrary to what some believe, \u201cget over it\u201d is not very helpful advice. If you feel stressed or overwhelmed, don\u2019t hesitate to ask for help.\u00a0 Your friends, family, college registrar, and Counselling and Psychological Services (http:\/\/www.caps.utoronto.ca\/main.htm<\/a>) at UofT will be able to pull you out of a dreadful situation and give you new perspective. And we can all use that from time to time.\r\n\r\nAsking for help won\u2019t make you \u201ccrazy\u201d or \u201cweak.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019ll probably make you saner and stronger than you\u2019ve ever been.\r\n\r\nTill next time,\r\n\r\nIshita","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nMy first year at UofT was rough. It was my first time away from home. I was truly independent and on my own. I remember thinking the freedom would be liberating.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 Not for me, anyways.\u00a0 Adjusting to…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “Minding Our Minds”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
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