Through Dec. 6 to Dec. 10, the Missouri Student Association held their first Mental Health Week, an activity-packed week before finals to encourage MU students to practice self-care and prioritize their emotional health.
Some activities during the week include a meditation break, lunch with a therapist, mindful knitting, grinch yoga, succulent giveaways and more. Along with this, MSA brought speaker B. Keith Hotchkins, the author of “My Black is Exhausted: Forever in Pursuit of a Racist-free World Where Hashtags Don’t Exist,” to discuss Black mental health and anti-racism to educate and support students at a predominately white institution. MSA also partnered with organizations such as the Wellness Resource Center, Counseling Center, MizzouRec, Campus Activity Programming Board and Association of Black Psychologists to put on events.
“Finals are upon us and create a tremendous amount of stress for students. We want to support mental health and well-being by providing breaks and resources to ensure everyone is taking care of themselves,” MSA President Landon Brickey said in an email. “This time of year statistically brings about more mental health concerns. Whether that be due to winter depression or the stress of the holidays. Some students are away for the first time during this season and others have lost people during the pandemic, and they just need support.”
However, the first Mental Health Week won’t be the last according to Brickey. In the future, MSA will hold events during the same time of year to help combat mental health issues and the stress of finals. Some activities taking place later this week are a Meditation Break on Thursday at 12 p.m. over Zoom and a Self Care Day on Friday. Find out more on the MSA Instagram page.
Edited by Namratha Prasad | nprasad@themaneater.com