Disclaimer: the Psychiatric Emergency Hotline is exclusively for psychiatric emergencies and exclusive for the undergraduate community at IE University.
Last week, to celebrate World Mental Health Day, the IE Counseling Department held seminars focused on mental health. I attended the Look After Your Mate workshop, led by Taiki, the director of the IE University Counseling Department.
The Look After Your Mate workshop was created by the Student Minds NGO with the goal of helping university students increase their knowledge and understanding of mental health. Additionally, this workshop allowed students to increase both their skills and confidence to support a friend, and increase their knowledge to support themselves. This is done through an invigorating series of discussions, videos, and activities led by an accredited trainer.
The workshop began with a short quiz on how students generally handle mental health problems and they highlighted the topic of: Who are people most likely to talk to in times of difficulty. Unsurprisingly, it was found that students are more likely to talk to other students or friends when in need of support, rather than a professional or even a therapist. This is why workshops such as this one are so important. They give students the opportunity to learn from someone who has studied and is familiar with the subject of mental health and wellbeing. Students learn how to better explore and understand not only their own mental health, but how they can potentially help a friend in a future.
Mental health and wellbeing affects all of us, it’s useful to have the skills and be in a position to support a friend who is struggling. The Look After Your Mate workshop provides the tools needed for this by giving students a controlled and comfortable environment to discuss sensitive topics.
The IE Counseling Department is planning on hosting these workshops multiple times throughout the year, so be on the lookout for more events in the future!
If you or a friend is struggling (and is part of the IE community), contact the IE Counseling Department through their website (https://ieucounseling.ie.edu) or send them an email (counseling.ieu@ie.edu), or check out the IE MyWellbeing site (https://ieconnects.ie.edu/mywellbeing/home/#).
In case of emergency, call the Spanish emergency number – 112, the IEU Psychiatric Emergency Hotline (both English and Spanish care available, exclusively for IE undergraduate community) – +34 619270148, or the Spanish anonymous helpline – 024.
