NC State to Host Fresh Check Day to Stop Stigma

How often do you go to the doctor to get a checkup? Once a year? Maybe more if you happen to get sick or injured.

Now take a moment to think about how often you check up on your mental health.

People spend a lot of time making sure they are at their best physically, but they often neglect to acknowledge how they are doing mentally, especially with the stigma that mental health holds in society. Mental illness is seen by many in a negative light so often people shy away from addressing their mental health in the hopes of avoiding judgement. However, like our physical wellness, mental wellness is key to a balanced lifestyle. It can be difficult to figure out how to go about checking up on your mental state because symptoms are often harder to detect. That is where organizations like The Jordan Porco Foundation (JPF) step in to assist in educating people about mental illness. Part of this education includes JPF’s signature program, Fresh Check Day that focuses on working with colleges to bring light to mental illness and to connect students to resources on campus.

This year NC State will be participating in their first ever Fresh Check Day Wednesday, Sept. 27. Several NC State campus partners have collaborated to bring the event to campus. This event will take place on Stafford Commons from 12-3 p.m. Though mental illness can be a heavy topic, this day aims to create a celebratory environment with interactive expos, entertainment, prizes and free food.

The goals of Fresh Check Day are to foster a comfortable setting where students can feel more open and encouraged to engage in conversations surrounding mental health. The program helps bring together students and the multiple mental health resources provided on NC State’s campus, those provided locally and even on a national level.

At the event, student groups as well as NC State staff will be developing and running a variety of booths that give information regarding resources and information on mental health in a fun and interactive way. Each booth represents a specific message ranging from screenings that connect students directly with the counseling center to showing how artistic expression can serve as an outlet. Fresh Check Day follows the JPF Foundation’s comprehensive approach to suicide prevention efforts on college campuses as the framework when creating their booths. So, each table will highlight one of these components and aim to achieve one of these four goals: identify students at risk, develop life skills, promote social networks and increase help-seeking behavior.

Junior Ron Harding, a wellness assistant at University Recreation as well as one of the students working on this event, says, “We want to raise awareness about mental health but more than that we want to encourage people to ask for help and we want to create a chain of support on campus for students so they have a community on campus.”

On a campus like NC State’s with more than 30,000 people it can be hard to feel like a part of the campus community. That is why it is important to hold events like Fresh Check Day to show students, whether they are struggling with a mental illness or not that they are cared for by their school.

The Fresh Check Day program is one that has been implemented at numerous universities across the country and is highly regarded by all who have done it. As stated on their website, the only way that Fresh Check Day can have successful implementation is if they have the full support of the college campus community, so don’t miss your opportunity to be a part of this event.