The UT Student Government Office of Mental Health hosted a panel discussion Monday focused on mental health in the Black community in honor of Black History Month.
For Tina Alexander, a counseling and community support specialist at the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center, her passion for mental health was sparked by a lack of culturally competent care in her university's counseling center. He said he put it on.
“I was sitting across from someone who had no lived experience to relate to,” Alexander said. “I want to create a space that I didn’t have, to make college life a little easier for people.”
Panelists discussed how social stigma influences whether people choose to access mental health care. Alexander said she appreciates how TikTok facilitates conversations about mental health, as she has seen many of the students she works with already have the language to describe their emotions. .
“It took me until grad school to understand concepts like impostor syndrome, but the more people talk about it, the easier it sometimes becomes,” Alexander said.
Taylor Payne, a postdoctoral fellow at the Hogg Mental Health Foundation, says it's common for people to mistakenly think that only people experiencing a crisis should seek therapy, but before getting into a therapist, He said building a relationship with them could actually be beneficial. crisis. She said internalized bias can prevent people from receiving treatment.
“I think for Millennials and Gen Z, a lot of it is internalized bias. For example, what does it mean that I have anxiety? What does it mean that I have depression? ” Payne said.
Professional counselor Kim Watts spoke about the importance of mindfulness and encouraged students to enjoy this stage of life and focus on habits that bring them joy.
“If you have a great place to drink coffee, tea or chai, make it part of your weekly or daily ritual to enjoy it,” Watts said.
The speakers concluded by sharing the self-care strategies they use. Watts said it's important to think of self-care as organic and flexible, rather than stagnant.
“What worked at the beginning of the semester may not work or be completely different at the end of the semester,” Watts said. “Give yourself permission to change your self-care.”
Alexander said that while people often view self-care as an individual practice, she believes it is more beneficial to approach self-care from a community-oriented perspective.
“I like to think of things like collective care, working on this problem with other people,” Alexander said. “You're a person in a system. If the system isn't working, talk to the people around you.”
She also shared a hopeful message for students who may not yet have found community.
“The version of your university that you see in the media may not be your version of your university, and that's OK. You're not flawed,” Alexander said. “There is a place for you, not just on this campus, but in this world.”
