by Maxine Friedman
The University of Maryland Counseling Center held a week of programming, consisting of both online and in-person events, from Monday, Oct. 5 to Friday, Oct. 9 for Mental Health Awareness Week.
In an effort to help combat the stress and anxiety that has come with the ongoing pandemic as well as the heightening racial tensions in the country, the counseling center worked alongside campus partners such as RecWell and MICA (Multicultural Involvement Community Advocacy) by holding events on each day of the week that work to address the needs of students from all different backgrounds.
The awareness week is nationally recognized after being established by Congress in 1990 in response to the efforts of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. It has taken place every year during the first full week of October. At the University of Maryland, it is annually recognized in October as well but only during the school week.
Normally, the programming at UMD happens in-person, with a mix of interactive activities and events going on around the campus. This year, though, Mental Health Awareness Week looked a little different. As a result of the pandemic, nearly all of the events were held via Zoom.
Chetan Joshi, the director of the counseling center, explained that the organizers were met with problems when they were beginning to organize the event early on in the summer. Unsure of what the county and UMD guidelines would be, they had planned for one of the events to happen in-person and in the stadium, in order to accommodate a large group. However, soon they realized that the guidelines stated that only 50 could be at an event in-person at a time. Consequently, the original plans had to be adjusted and moved online.
“We had a lot of successful events that we wanted to transfer over. For example, our depression screening event that was normally in-person, we translated online using Zoom and then the break-out room feature so that students could individually take the assessment with a counselor, talk for a few minutes, while all having it, sort of, all in the same place,” Allison Asarch, coordinator of consultation and outreach services and staff psychologist at the counseling center, said.
Though, as a result, concerns about the students’ engagement in the awareness week had increased. Keeping in mind that students have been able to stop by the events going on outside on their way to or from their classes in the past, the counseling center had to consider the different ways in which students could participate in the week’s events during the COVID-19 pandemic. For that reason, Asarch said, planning for the programming and considering the logistics had been quite a challenge.
“The biggest thing that’s different about the programming this year is how, pretty much, all of the events are virtual, which has been interesting in terms of how we can plan the logistics and engage students in a way that’s going to continue to be helpful. And, of course, that’s a learning curve as we’re just embarking on this new online environment and have never done virtual outreach programming until the pandemic started,” Asarch said.
Still, Joshi explained there were more issues other than student engagement. For example, the possibility of “Zoom bombing” had to be acknowledged. As many of the events were meant to be confidential, it was important that the Zoom meetings were secure.
“We wanted to be sure that there wouldn’t be any disruptions. So, any time we have something that’s going on, we always have two or three people who are actually staffing the event. Meaning there’s usually someone who’s actually running the event and there are two people in the back managing all of the technology needs, including people who might Zoom bomb, so as to be able to kick people out in the case that needs to happen,” Joshi said.
In addition to having staff members who were readily available and paying attention to who had entered the Zoom meeting, students were also required to register for the events beforehand.
On top of that, the counseling center also made sure to address the social and political issues that have presented themselves as of late. Four of the events were specifically created to attend to the needs and concerns of people from marginalized groups.
The events included the following: Black Mental Health Matters, Asian-American and Pacific Islander Mental Health in 2020 and Jewish Community in a Distanced World conversation.
“Those events are really focused on looking at the barriers, to improve mental health and access to Mental Health Services for marginalized groups, knowing that marginalized groups often experience more stress related to what it means to be a part of an identity that may be oppressed,” Asarch said.
Along with the four group-specific events, the Terps Take Care Fair, the Depression Screening and the Self-Care Drive-Thru also took place over Zoom.
For the Terps Take Care Fair, students could join others in learning how to take care of themselves and those around them. Meanwhile, the Depression Screening had been more confidential as students met one-on-one with counselors to take a brief online depression assessment and discuss the results in the depression screening event.
The Self-Care Drive-Thru event was called a drive-thru due to its special Zoom format. Students were able to jump from one breakout room to another while having a different activity that helped with self-care. In each room, there was a relaxation station, a dance party or a game.
The last day of the Mental Health Awareness Week program was the only day that offered both an online and in-person event:“Yoga for Mental Health.” Students were able to participate in an hour-long yoga session at either La Plata Beach or McKeldin Mall, where they could join others and an instructor from the RecWell center.
Others who wanted to participate but did not feel comfortable attending an in-person class were able to join online, also via Zoom.
The yoga session was organized so that students could come, enjoy some exercise and still remain socially distanced.
On McKeldin Mall, there were white circles painted on the grass to keep all of the students six feet apart. Students were told to come prepared with their own mats, water and masks.
Many of the students who attended were not bothered by the manner in which the event was conducted. Instead, they were grateful that the opportunity was available to them at all during this time.
“I think that with COVID and everything it’s very important to be able to still have events like this — and I like how it follows all of the codes and guidelines. I think it’s a great idea because during this time a lot of people’s mental health has been affected, and to be able to have times set aside to relax and focus on yourself is very important,” Noelle Dennis, a sophomore architecture major and participant at the yoga event said.
Dominique Peterson, a graduate student of civil engineering at the University of Maryland, shared just how meaningful the event was for her own personal struggles.
“Personally, I suffer from depression. So, being in nature, doing exercise — it helps me a lot,” Peterson said. “But, doing this exercise outside with nature, trees, everything — I think it’s better for mental health. And with people surrounding you it’s also great.”
Organizers of the event from the counseling center and RecWell said that everything “went seamlessly” and that they were impressed with the turnout. At such a difficult time, many students were dedicated to learning more about mental health and finding a way to help themselves cope.
“Under normal circumstances it might be easy to go to the gym, it might be easy to hang out with people, but under the current circumstances it’s that much more difficult. So being intentional about doing things like this, about bringing wellness-related things into your life, is that much more critical now more so than ever. So, I applaud all of those students for coming over here and bringing that intentionality,” Joshi said.
The counseling center is planning on having the Mental Health Awareness Week programming again next year, but are still unclear as to how the week will happen.
The center is still open to help students navigate personal issues and talk about ways to deal with mental illness.
Students who would like to contact the UMD Counseling Center can go to https://www.counseling.umd.edu, or call 301-314-7651.