Mental Health Week

By Emma Herwehe

The week of Oct. 9 was IU Dance Marathon’s Mental Health Week 2023. The week was filled with multiple events and educational resources all with one goal: to encourage mental health awareness.

77% of college students experience psychological distress, while one in 20 Americans live with serious mental illness. IU offers many resources to help support students’ mental health, and IUDM was honored to help promote them.

Some resources IU offers include CAPS, TimelyCare and Thriving Campus.

“I think having Mental Health Week is a really good opportunity for us to educate our fellow members of our community on not only resources for them but also what they can do to help their friends around them,” Eden Kee, Eventship Chair on the Stewardship committee said.

IUDM’s Mental Health Week events aimed to break the mental health stigma.

On Tuesday, Oct. 10, members attended a kickoff event in Dunn Meadow. The event had crafts, coloring books, games, and mental health resources.

On Thursday, Oct. 12, IUDM partnered with Gables Bagels and IU Culture of Care to give away free bagels and educational resources for students both in and out of IUDM.

On Friday, Oct. 13, IUDM partnered with the Bring Change 2 Mind organization to put on a painting event in Dunn Meadow.

“It’s a really good reminder that you’re not alone,” Kee said. “Everybody is going through things and it’s completely normal. There should be less stigma around it and more opportunity to be able to get the help that you need when you need it.”