Mental Health Week
Mental Health Week has begun, and with one in five Australians experiencing some form of mental illness every year, Monash University recognises the importance of enhancing mental health and wellbeing in the wider community.
The 2011 Mental Health Week program at Monash University offers over 50 activities promoting positive mental health across all campuses – from public lectures to Monash Sport classes to community wide events such as the 10,000 Steps – while raising funds for the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc).
Dr Craig Hassed, Department of General Practice, is an expert on mindfulness, a technique which can improve a person’s management of depression and stress, wellbeing, work and study performance, along with their physical and emotional health.
Mindfulness involves a series of simple formal meditative practices and strategies which assist in training attention and changing unproductive thought, attitude and behaviour patterns. The informal practice of mindfulness in day-to-day life helps the mind to focus more on the present moment and engage constructively with personal and professional demands.
“The Western world has, to a significant extent, lost touch with its contemplative roots. These are very ancient practices and we are just rediscovering them,” said Dr Hassed.
Dr Hassed's studies explore the importance of mindfulness and its applications in health care and psychotherapy, while showing how each of us can do more to prevent illness, rather than relying on drugs as a solution for all medical problems.
Monash University also offers a two-year course in mental health for teaching professionals, aimed at school teachers. Teachers are encouraged to undertake the fully government funded course as a way to assist them in developing better strategies for dealing with the growing number of students with mental illnesses.
Associate Professor Pamela Snow, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, and course coordinator believes it fills some of the gaps in pre-service teacher training.
“It’s about dealing with challenging behaviour, with children who won’t engage, or children who display what may seem like inexplicable behaviour because they’ve been exposed to some kind of trauma in their early years,” said Associate Professor Snow.
Monash Sport will also be running a range of activities across all campuses, including boot camps, Zumba, pilates, step and circuit classes, as well as daily Swim Fit classes.
Mental Health Week is a joint initiative delivered by Health and Wellbeing, Monash Sport and Wellbeing at Monash.