Wellness days implemented to promote mental health
Syllabus week this semester introduced students to a new piece of the schedule: wellness days. Professors’ response to the days ranged from lessening coursework to canceling class, with many addressing the days specifically in their syllabi. This was a feature proposed by Wofford’s Office of Counseling Services, designed “to support the mental health and wellbeing of the campus” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This proposal’s exact recommendation was that “one day per month (or whatever is determined appropriate) is designated as a ‘Wellness Day,’ where instructors are encouraged (but not required) to not schedule tests, large assignments due, or intensive coursework.”
According to Perry Henson, director of counseling and accessibility services, counseling appointments did not surge in the fall, but the department struggled this past school year to meet the demand for counseling services.
We did not see a surge in students seeking counseling in the fall,” she said. “Over the past few years, our office has been stretched to its capacity in offering counseling appointments to students. In fact, in 2019-2020, we implemented both a session limit and waiting list to manage the demand for our services.”
“Fortunately,” she continued, “we were able to bring a new counseling staff member to our department in April (Tiara Woney) and she has quickly become a valued member of the Wofford community.”
She went on to give some information about the importance of mental wellbeing to academic success, reviewing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to emphasize its importance.
“ Basic Needs (food, rest, safety) and Psychological Needs (relationships with self and others),” she said, “are the building blocks for Self Fulfillment Needs (achieving one’s potential, creativity, self actualization). Mental health and wellbeing are part of the foundational needs, while academic success is part of Self Fulfillment Needs.”
She also provided insight on managing stress, mentioning that humans are designed to function in cycles, most importantly wake/sleep cycles.
“Stress response is a cycle through which our bodies need to cycle,” Henson said. “We need breaks and rest to relieve ourselves of stress and prepare for the next series of stressful events.”
“When we do not have breaks,” she continued, “our bodies stay stuck in these stress cycles and we burn out quickly, leaving us unable to function at our optimal level.”
Small breaks like sleeping at night and rest time during the day along with longer breaks like weekends and slow days as well as summer and winter break allow us to regain our strength and momentum. Breaks like these are key to our ability to both learn and retain information.
She gave some suggestions for how students can seize the wellness days this semester in ways that benefit their mental wellbeing.
“We want students to choose their best self care activities on these days,” Henson said. “For some students, this may mean a bit of extra sleep and no Zoom meetings. For others, it may mean the opportunity to catch up on academic work in order to not feel overwhelmed.”
There will also be opportunities for students to see one another in small groups for self-care purposes. These activities include meditation, arts and crafts and resilience projects among others.
In response to the notion that professors may continue to assign coursework on these wellness days, she said that, “The intention of scheduling these days throughout the semester is to allow instructors to focus their efforts in supporting students in a way which provides a consistent experience for students.
“We believe that instructors want to care for their students and are already planning for times throughout the semester that will be less intensive, she continued. “However, we believe that students need specific days for which to look forward and instructors can support this by aligning their efforts to support students on these days.”
She also expressed sympathy toward staff and students experiencing difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the Wellness Center is aware of the different struggles that faculty, staff, and students are experiencing. She cited higher levels of uncertainty, more isolation and screen fatigue among many contributing factors to everyone’s frustrations.
“Seeing how connected we are through our actions,” she said,“and yet being unable to connect in the ways we most want.These things cause different presentations – almost slow, tired, sadness and a different type of anxiety than the things that we see during a typical semester. Our community as a whole is struggling.”
Perhaps the addition of wellness days in the spring 2021 semester will provide students and staff with a monthly opportunity to take a deep breath, unwind, and allow themselves a necessary break in their otherwise hectic, COVID-19-impacted schedules.