Student helpline sets up lounge in the UC
Equipped with bean bag chairs and a registered massage therapist, the post-secondary student helpline Good2Talk set up a lounge in the UC to give students the opportunity to talk one-on-one with someone in a safe, comfortable space and learn more about the service.
Good2Talk has been visiting post-secondary campuses across the province to raise awareness about their service and to connect students with the 24/7 resources at their disposal.
The Ontarion sat down with Good2Talk’s outreach coordinator Megan Van Massenhoven to talk about what the service offers for students in Ontario.
According to Good2Talk, youth aged 17 to 25 are at the highest risk for substance abuse, mental illness, and suicide. However, this escalation has developed quite recently and the use of mental health professionals by post-secondary students is at least two times higher than it was a decade ago. An October 2016 media release from the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services reports that 13 per cent of students surveyed “report seriously considering suicide” within the last 12 months.
Services like Good2Talk try to de-escalate stress and help students create functional plans and ways forward that are particularly for the student lifestyle. Step one, according to Van Massenhoven, is to make a space that’s conducive to problem-solving—and that’s where the lounge comes in.
“The main goal for us was to recreate the feeling of calling Good2Talk, so the idea of taking a bit of weight off your shoulders, sitting down in your comfy cozy living room, feeling at home, and just having someone there to talk to,” said Van Massenhoven.For someone living with depression, an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, or simply undergoing a lot of stress, communicating with someone can be beneficial in creating a plan for how to move forward. In a new environment with new responsibilities, students can feel disconnected from the support networks they established before coming to university.
However, sometimes disconnection can be comforting, especially when students feel hesitant to step into counselling offices and speak directly to health professionals.
Van Massenhoven explained that, by talking over the phone, “That person doesn’t know who they are, they don’t know who the person on the other end of the phone is, and that actually makes it easier to be honest and vulnerable.”
In contrast, talking about such personal issues over the phone isn’t every student’s medium of choice; some students find it very difficult to begin any kind of conversation about their mental health. Van Massenhoven commented on why some students might hesitate to call helplines like Good2Talk.
“When we first started doing regular tabling events, a lot of students would say, ‘Can I call if it’s just a small issue?’ or ‘Can I call if it’s not really a crisis?’ That was really surprising, because you can call about anything—it doesn’t have to be the most serious, high-crisis issue,” said Van Massenhoven. A certain degree of stress is part and parcel of the university or college experience, but identifying stressors, however small, is integral to enjoying the experience.
Even if a student is suffering from a seemingly small issue, Good2Talk’s maxim, “If it’s stressing you out, it is a big deal,” shows that even minor issues still need to be addressed in a meaningful way.
Photo by Claire Wilcox/The Ontarion.