Showing Up for Mental Health

By Dawn Nordin GNS Students “Showed Up” for Each other in the first Mental Health Committee meeting last week! Inspired by Head Girl Annie Macleod, nearly 25 senior school students gathered together on September 28 to brainstorm ways of improving mental health and wellness as a community, and increasing their own capacity to support themselves and one another as they move toward adulthood. This group’s inherent desire to advocate for mental health awareness and education, debunk the stigma related to mental illness and foster vulnerability, courage and meaning is truly inspiring. We have so much to learn from each other! The group remains open as we start to disseminate our goals, tasks and ultimate vision to improving mental health and wellness for the whole GNS community. Students are still welcome to participate. All voices matter! As the new school counsellor, I am truly grateful that these students have begun to trust me as an ally. Although this is not a therapeutic group, one cannot explore these topics separate to the self. As we begin to peel back the complexity of mental health and wellness, my goal is to facilitate a safe space for connection and belonging and to remain truthful to ourselves, our core values but also challenge our own beliefs and perceptions about ourselves and each other. “We are all inextricably connected. We will never be able to free ourselves from suffering, until we are all free from suffering which makes it all our jobs to do something about.”