The SUNY Student Assembly states the following: The utilization of $24 million in American Rescue Plan money to increase mental health and wellness programs and improve campus resources was announced by senior administrators during the Board of Trustees meeting in Albany, NY, on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022, according to a press statement from SUNY. In addition to other timely interventions, expanded on-campus programming includes after-hours care, the development of well-being spaces, the hiring of new staff, suicide prevention programming, emergency mini-grants to students seeking off-campus support, and expanded staff training for counselling centres.
SUNY Student Assembly encourages students to use the platform to enhance their emotional wellness while supporting the actions done by SUNY to increase Mental Health resources and lessen associated stigma.
Campuses throughout the SUNY system are concentrating on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to support and enhance overall student mental health. Recognizing the link between the mind and body and overall wellness, they are also investing in bolstering peer-to-peer counselling opportunities and physical wellness initiatives, including group exercise.
The SUNY-wide expansion follows numerous reports of mental health issues made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. The percentage of adults with symptoms of anxiety or a depressive disorder rose from 36.4% to 41.5% between August 2020 and February 2021, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the largest increases occurring among young adults between the ages of 18 and 29.
Through the recently formed SUNY Mental Health Repository, which is accessible here, SUNY System Administration and its campuses have also collaborated to raise awareness of mental health and well-being services throughout each college and university. During September, which is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, the repository and other SUNY-wide mental health services will be promoted on social media. The mental health resource finder has been accessed more than 1,100 times since the repository’s soft launch in July when SUNY students and other system stakeholders evaluated the resource.
The repository is made to make information about mental health services more easily accessible and to reduce feelings of information overload, especially in times of emergency. To prevent students from feeling underrepresented in mental health care, the resources under the Universal Resources category are tailored to particular experiences and difficulties. Group-specific resources are available in this area, including those for student parents, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, students with disabilities, students in the military, and student-athletes.
For more information about SUNY’s mental health resources, please visit https://www.suny.edu/mental-health/.
