mental health – Houghton STAR

By Christian Welker

A new semester has begun with all the stresses and anxieties we have come to expect, from the first-year students who are still learning about college life to the seniors who are starting their long sprint to the finish line, looking so near and yet so far at the same time.

Rest assured, this will not be a “Just give it to God” article. The Sparrows and Lillies don’t have a German test in an hour or a concert a week from today.

I firmly believe that the Lord is and always will be the ultimate source of peace for his children. However, I’m also willing to admit that in places like this, it often feels as though the very act of giving up your stress to God is a requirement that brings its own anxieties. It’s hard to lean on the peace of God while counting how many Around the Tables you still need to go to, or dragging yourself out of bed to get to church on the one day you would have been able to sleep in more, or even sitting in Chapel, worrying about the test you have during your 12 o’clock class that you really need to study more for.

At a place like Houghton, sometimes it can feel like trying to get the peace of God only helps drive it away. Professors talk about how students need to take Sabbath more and then give you 60 pages of reading and a paper to do before Monday morning. However, something I learned in my time at Houghton is that God doesn’t limit rest to going to church on Sunday and then sitting around doing nothing in the afternoon. Rest and Sabbath can be wherever you can fit it into your schedule. A Sabbath for me is Tuesday evening Nerf Nights in Roth. On the surface, it doesn’t seem relaxing to charge up three flights of stairs, blast random guys with toy guns, and then run back down to start over. However, it’s a time when I can put due dates and projects to the side for an hour or two and enjoy fellowship with my hallmates. We don’t tend to think of times like that as Sabbath because it doesn’t feel like God is there. Yet it provides the mental rest that we need as we continue on in the week.

These small moments are Sabbaths that students can take wherever and whenever they can. It doesn’t have to be weekly. If something needs to be done by Wednesday morning, you would be much more likely to find me in a study room than the trenches of Roth’s first floor, but having those times that you can set aside for your physical and mental health is important. Without times like these, you run the risk of burning yourself out or making yourself sick right before the big paper is due.

Is it good to rest on a Sunday after church? Of course! But it’s also good to take some time on Wednesday to watch your favorite TV show, spend Friday evening playing games with friends, or even just lay down on a bed or couch and relax between one class and the next. It may not add up to a whole day of rest, but taking a Sabbath where you can will help as we continue throughout the semester.

Rest can be found in the Chapel, but it can also be found in study rooms or dorm rooms, in the woods or on the quad, or anywhere where a student closes their textbook for a few minutes and thinks:

“You know what? I earned a break, and I’m going to lay down.” ★

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, approximately 4 in 10 adults have reported having anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is more than the 1 in 10 adults who reported these symptoms from the months of January to June in 2019. Adults have also reported having difficulties sleeping or eating, as well as an increase in the use of alcohol or other substances, due to the pandemic.

Nuk Kongkaw, the director of the Mosaic Center, values mental health and sees how it “simultaneously impacts individuals and the relationships around us.” She also feels that “mental health is something people are realizing they can’t ignore as we’ve spent months in isolation or limited contact with others.” The Mosaic Center, along with Residence Life, Chapel and the Center for Student Success thus held Mental Health Awareness Weeks at Houghton College from March 15th to 25th.

Several different events were held, including a talk-back on BIPOC mental health with Nuk Kongkaw, Nerissa Jones and Pierre Durant, a discussion with the Center for Student Success on how to support friends who are in crisis, a chapel talk with Dr. Mike Lastoria entitled “Leaving Home: Right of Passage in a Virtual World,” and an introduction to the Enneagram and some other tools to help grow your self-awareness and spiritual disciplines.

Earlier in this event, a stand-up for your brother and sister event was held, along with a roundtable discussion with Rebecca Rowley, Ann Vazquez and JL Miller entitled “Am I a Bad Christian if I Struggle with Mental Health?,” a chapel talk with Pierre Durant entitled “And He Will be Called Wonderful Counselor: A Conversation on Faith, and Race” and a “Be Kind to Your Mind” workshop.

There were also a number of opportunities to win prizes throughout the event. Several students have won a free yearlong subscription to the meditation app Headspace, and a weighted blanket has also been given away. There is also a grand prize to be won later in the event of a mental health basket.

One of the hopes Kongkaw mentions she has for this event is that “in helping others care for themselves well, they would then be able to look around them, connect with others, and engage with caring for others”, further adding that “People are best equipped to help others when they have grown in their own self-awareness, know their triggers, and are willing to see their own areas of growth.” ★