For the past few weeks, our ASTU class has been reading “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. This book has the setting on one specific day, where Clarissa Dalloway, the main character, hosts a party. Throughout the book, we get some insight to Mrs. Dalloway’s ideas and memories from the past to understand the context and situation the of the day of the party.
However, what I want to focus on this blog is one of the main characters of the book: Septimus. He enlisted in WW1, but ever since he returned from it, he hasn’t been the same. It appears that he is always re-living these terrible experiences from war, he was traumatized by it. This trauma is also known as “Shell-Shock”.
Back then, Shell-Shock was “poorly understood”. Military officers even perceived this as a symbol of cowardice or lack of moral character. This non-physical illness was not understood and treated properly. This was the reason why Septimus ended up killing himself. He thought that suicide was the only option to go through this non-physical pain.
However, nowadays mental health is treated much better and taken much more seriously (in Canada). One recent example where this can be seen clearly is on January 31st, the “Bell Let’s Talk” day. On this day, when the hashtag “BellLetsTalk” was used, 5 cents were donated to mental health in Canada. By the end of the day, the institution gathered around $7 million Canadian Dollars. This day is also encouraging the people “to end the stigma and start a conversation”. To speak up and talk about your problems; for you to know that you are not alone.
I can tell you from personal experience that speaking up can really help you feel better. At the beginning of this school year, I was feeling overwhelmed and everything I did seemed wrong, whether it was academic, social or economic “stuff”. I was feeling really sad. However, one day I decided to talk to my mom and she helped me a lot. She also suggested me to use one of the multiple resources on campus, so I did. I visited the “Wellness Center” and they also gave me strategies to make me feel better.
I strongly recommend that if you’re feeling “low”, speak up; call a loved one, a friend, use the resources the university has for us or call institutions like “Bell Let’s Talk” or “Empower me”. You are not alone.
References:
https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/
http://www.studentcare.ca/rte/en/UniversityofBritishColumbiaAMSGSS_EmpowerMe_EmpowerMe