Every year thousands of students become so caught up in the excitement of beginning college that they often neglect the resources on their own campuses.
The University of Wyoming offers numerous resources for a variety of interests and student needs.
While many students try to stay healthy by getting a good night’s sleep, eating right, and exercising, one aspect that students tend to neglect most is their mental health. Fortunately, the UW counseling center offers free wellness services to students to help them stay healthy mentally as well as physically.
Though in the past students have not realized that their mental health was just as important as their physical health, in recent years UW students have taken an initiative to stay healthy in both ways.
“There has been an overall increase in visits to the counseling center in the past five to six years,” University Counseling Center Director Keith Evashevski said.
However, students do not have to go directly to the counseling center if they are unsure. If students aren’t certain about the state of their mental health or think they may recognize symptoms of depression, the UCC has a free online assessment for students to take to better determine their mental health.
Students also may not realize how stressed out and even depressed they can become when their workload increases.
“There are usually more visits around the time of midterms and finals, but it could also relate to whatever else is going on in those students’ lives at the time,” Evashevski said.
The UCC also has a gatekeepers program to promote suicide prevention.
“Gatekeepers Equal Lifesavers began outside of the university in the Laramie community in 2004 and then we started offering it more often at the university in 2005 in a different form with the help of a federal grant,” Evashevski said.
Gatekeepers Equal Lifesavers is a suicide prevention training program that helps people identify signs of suicide and depression and provides them with resources to turn to in order to help themselves and others.
The UCC also promotes alcohol education through the AWARE program (Alcohol, Wellness, Alternatives, Research, and Education), which teaches students about the dangers of alcohol poisoning, blood alcohol content, and harm reduction.
