Photo Courtesy of James Carlisle
Meet the Mental Health & Well Being Awareness club.
BY ALEXIS MCCAFFREY, CONTRIBUTOR
The Mental Health & Well-Being Awareness Club is a new Registered Student Organization (RSO) centered around the emotional well-being of students. The club’s focus is to bring students together while simultaneously providing them with access to mental health resources and to offer listening ears.
According to the National Alliance of Mental Health, about 1 in 5 young adults have mental health conditions, which could apply to Mason students who suffer from mental illnesses.
The resources at Mason have expanded and can be found in places like the Mental Health & Well-Being Awareness Club, which aims to make a positive impact on students’ lives.
The club’s mission statement, created by Senior Dawit Thomas, aims to enhance mental health awareness, promote individual empowerment and to provide a safe environment.
The club has a discord server where they can chat about an array of topics with each other. There are unique features on the server that help fulfill the club’s mission statement.
“Students help and support one another through conversation and positive interactions while creating a safe place to make valuable connections and camaraderie amongst students,” Thomas said.
“Our club stands for positivity, creativity and growth,” President, Junior Mohammad Fahim Rahman said. “What inspired our club was our ambition and desire to create connections and a support group towards our mental health and well-being.” The Discord group serves as a safe space for all students to build relationships and support systems via the online world.
“We have a mental health check-in feature on our Discord channel that gives members the option to select how they’re feeling by picking a colored heart,” Thomas said. “Red means they’re doing really great, orange equals pretty good, yellow equals doing okay, green means they’re starting to struggle, blue means they’re having a hard time and purple means they need to reach out for support.”
Rahman emphasizes the importance of togetherness whether that is at a physical event or even on the club’s Discord server where they can chat about an array of topics.
“We’ve had Friendsgiving. There are no rigid rules. All that matters is that you and your eating mates enjoy yourself.” Rahman said.
Whether the club holds events online or in person, the members emphasize the importance of being there for one another.
Students who are interested in joining The Mental Health & Well-Being Awareness Club may get connected with them through their Instagram or Discord.
