Making a healthy transition

Mental health was once one of those topics that was rarely spoken of in public. If it was talked about at all, it was done in hushed tones with little empathy towards the person in question. Especially young people. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

People are finally talking about the mental health of children, teens and young adults, especially in relation to such hot-button topics as bullying and cyber-bullying. Another area of concern that most Dal students can relate to is making the transition from high school to university, and from adolescence to adulthood.

According to results from the 2013 National College Health Assessment survey that Dal students completed last spring, the notion of making those transitions is having a noticeable affect on students’ mental health. Within the last year, 88 per cent of students who responded to the survey said they felt overwhelmed by everything that they had to do, and 49 per cent said they felt that things were hopeless. Not encouraging numbers by anyone’s standard.

Fortunately, Dalhousie has among its ranks one of the country’s top experts in adolescent mental health. Dr. Stan Kutcher, professor in the Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine, is also the Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health at the IWK Health Centre.

This week he will be celebrating the national launch of his latest resource for students making the transition from high school to post-secondary education. Titled Transitions, it provides information for students about study strategies, stress management, financial responsibilities, mental illness, addictions, relationships, sexual health and suicide.

Download it now

Available as a full resource or in a pocket formatted version, the book can be ordered through Amazon, downloaded as a free iPhone app, or purchased as an eBook for iPad for $0.99 until the end of October.

National launch event

The national launch of Transitions takes place in University Hall in the MacDonald Building on Studley Campus on September 27, 2013 from 9–11 a.m. As part of the launch, another professor from the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. David Pilon, will be making a special announcement from the Stay Connected Mental Health Project. That project was established through a $1-million gift to the QEII Health Science Centre by Dalhousie Chancellor Fred Fountain and his wife Elizabeth in memory of their son, Alex. A student at King’s, Alex took his own life in 2009 when he was 20 years old.

For more information about the resource and Dr. Kutcher’s work with adolescent mental health, visit teenmentalhealth.org.