March 31, 2015

The end of the academic year can be a stressful time for university students. If you're experiencing mental or physical health issues, don't suffer alone. Laurier provides several resources to help you with your mental and physical health:

• Visit the Student Wellness Centre (on Laurier’s Brantford campus and Laurier's Waterloo campus) for both health and counselling services. The wellness centres on both campuses offer sessions with trained counsellors.
• The Delton Glebe Centre, run by the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, offers multi-faith counselling to help strengthen your emotional and spiritual well-being.

Community Resources

Here 24/7 is a resource for addictions, mental health and crisis services provided by 12 agencies across Waterloo–Wellington–Dufferin. Visit the Here 24/7 website or call 1-844-437-3247 for help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Connect with Here 24/7 if you or someone you know:

• Doesn't know where or how to get help.
• Feel hopeless.
• Withdraws from friends and family.
• Talks about hurting or killing themselves or others.
• Increases alcohol or drug use.
• Is in need of support for addictions or mental health.
• Feels rage or uncontrolled anger.
• Has dramatic mood changes or feels anxious.

Students Helping Students

Laurier students are leaders when it comes to promoting dialogue around mental health.

• Visit the Laurier Wellness Hub, an online resource for anyone seeking support.
• Laurier's undergraduate and graduate students’ organizations also provide a range of mental health programs and services. Visit the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union or the Graduate Students' Association to take advantage of numerous peer support groups.

Inspiring Stories

The following students spoke up and shared their own struggles with mental health to help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness. Be inspired by their stories to help someone you know or to seek help for yourself.

Dave's Story

Dave, a second-year Laurier student, remembers the day he hit rock bottom very clearly: “I remember waking up and saying ‘today’s the day.’ I had a plan and I had the pills to do it. I wasn’t safe. I needed help that night.”

After speaking with counsellors and crisis nurses, Dave rebuilt himself and started on the road to overcoming his mental-health struggle, immersing himself in the Laurier community. “That day that I hit rock bottom could’ve been the worst day of my life, but in a way it was almost the best because when I left, I was on a path to recovery,” he says.

Watch Dave’s story.

Melody's Story

After dealing with serious depression in Grade 12, Melody decided she wasn’t going let mental illness keep her from the things she wanted to do. The hardest part, she says, was having that first conversation: “Once you put it out there, you share it with somebody, the worst is over. The hardest part is talking about it.”

Melody, a Laurier music student, has been able to succeed in many areas of her life while dealing with mental health issues, and she owes it to making that first decision to speak up. “I wasn’t scared to talk about it and I was hoping other people wouldn’t be,” she says. “To hear that my struggle was heard and accepted was really big.”

Watch Melody’s story.