the project group

Boosting university student mental health – learnings from the Mental Health Symposium, Budapest. Day 2

On Saturday 15th of October all project partners gathered at the Hevesy Lecture Hall at Semmelmeis University. A welcome note and recap from the previous day (see news posted for Day 1) was done by Sloan Kudrinko, a dental student of the Semmelweis University, executive student board member for Euniwell, and project manager of The Mental Health Symposium Project.

Followed by a Zoom session done by Dr. ‘Worthlt’ under the heading of “No Health without Mental Health”. It was an interactive discussion with the audience and highlighted areas such as difference between mental health and mental illness, importance of mental check-ups, therapy, being good to yourself and different types of self-care methods. She highlighted that 41% of university students are experiencing anxiety. She gave the suggestion that take care of your mind just like how you take care your body and although this presentation was done over Zoom she managed to engage the students and brought many to tears.

After the zoom session there was a workshop about Mental Health Promotion and Prevention. It was done by Dr. Magor Papp, Director, Health promotion center, Semmelweis University and colleagues. Few of the highlighted areas were: how to socialize when you are a first-year student; the need of mentoring by senior students; and, importance of physical activity programs and stress management at the University.

Participants from the Linneaus University addressed the importance of having a system with both teachers and students where they can reach out to the students who are going through a stigma. In addition, the need of a system which can be used to evaluate students rather than traditional grading. Furthermore, the importance of mentoring programs for teachers was also raised.

After the lunch break was a development workshop session. The participants were divided in to five groups and there was a brainstorming on creating one concrete proposal designed to improve student’s mental health resources. There were a lot of ideas and solutions gathered and finally proposals were presented by the group leaders. A few points were highlighted to be taken as immediate actions and a final proposal will be released soon.

Authors: Iresha Nayani Dharmadasa, Lnu student representative of EUniWell, and Yi-Chun Chu, master student, Linnaeus University
Editor: Lali Lindell, Linnaeus University

lecture hall
From the lecture hall of The Mental Health Symposium. Photo: Authors, Lnu.
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student workshop session.
Results from the student workshop session. Photo: Authors, Lnu.
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welcoming student organising committee
Part of the welcoming student organising committee of the Mental Health Symposium. Photo: Lali Lindell, Lnu.
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