Hudson Valley community runs to end stigma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Hailey McLaughlin

Copy Editor

“An average of 50% of college-aged students experience mental health symptoms and diagnoses,” said counselor Katie Weeks.

Hudson Valley Community College held it’s 10th annual Race Away Stigma 5k at 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. The race began at 10 a.m. and was followed by awards and lunch. Other activities included talking to sponsors, dancing to music and joining a drumming therapy session.

All money raised was donated to Unity House in Rensselaer.

Katie Weeks is a counselor at HVCC who helped coordinate the event. She said, “[the race is] an effort to raise awareness about the stigma surrounding mental health and bring the community together to ‘Race Away’ the stigma.”

The Mental Health Association in New York sponsored the run. The Director of Outreach and Business Engagement for MHANYS, Joelle Monaco said, “Mental health has been contributed to the stigma or illness, but never taught to focus on mental health and wellness like coping strategies and how do we balance school, life, work.”

According to Monaco, a new law was recently passed which mandates mental wellness to be taught in schools from kindergarten to 12th grade.

Children, teenagers, adults, elders and dogs were all welcomed to run or walk. Multiple mothers ran with their children, as well as parents encouraging their sons or daughters to work hard and finish strong.

John Diazba, an electrical engineering student at HVCC, won first place. He said he ran with a group of three other people who kept him motivated and keep pace.

“[It’s an important event because] everybody can get into their own tough situation like anxiety and depression and it’s easy to have some problems. We all face those problems. And an event like this is great to raise awareness and try to do something about it,” he said.

The event was originally planned to take place Sep. 23. According to Weeks, it was postponed due to poor weather. “[It also] gave us an opportunity to be able to have more participants join the event,” she said.

Jamie Christensen, 43, from Poestenkill, attended the event with her daughter. They try to attend the run every year. She was aware the event is decreasing in participants and said she’d hate to see the run end. She recommended they reach out to local running groups or other local colleges to try to increase participation.

HVCC provides multiple resources to help those dealing with mental illnesses. Weeks indicated that there are licensed clinicians on campus in the Wellness Center that can meet by appointment. The Wellness Center can also help provide short-term counseling, referrals and consultation services.

The Wellness Center holds weekly yoga, meditation and holistic practice sessions. Students are encouraged to suggest activities they would like to see on campus. For more information, visit the Wellness Center’s website, https://www.hvcc.edu/wellness/index.html.

The Wellness Center also hosts Heart Beatz every first Wednesday of the month. Emilia Alsen is a counselor who works for the Sexual Assault and Crime Victims Assistance Program at Samaritan Hospital and founded the therapeutic drumming group.

“[Heart Beatz is] interested in providing an alternate method to students to destress besides traditional talk therapy,” Alsen says. You don’t have to be vulnerable and tell your secrets for this to work and they’ve seen tremendous results.

Their next session is Nov. 7 from 1-2 p.m. in front of the Bookstore or outside the Campus Center if there is no rain or snow.