Mental Health: Resources on Campus

College life can be full of life and new experiences, a place for you to find growth in your academics and social life and a place for you to discover who you are. These things are all great, but most people don’t talk about the toll that college can take on your mental health. This can include aspects of significant stress and challenges in your overall mental health journey. Fortunately, our campus has a variety of resources to help you and all of your mental health needs. The following blog post will describe various resources on Ball State’s campus that are prepared to help you avoid some avoidable mental health challenges.

On-Campus Resources:

Within the variety of mental health services that Ball State can offer to you, counseling services are one of the more popular options. Located in the Welcome Center, (better known as Lucina Hall), the Ball State Counseling Center is here to provide you with short or long-term treatment, all at no cost to students, and the counselors are readily prepared to help you with any mental health concerns you may have. All appointments and discussions within your session will be entirely confidential. If this is an option that is of interest to you, you can schedule an appointment at https://www.bsu.edu/campuslife/counseling-center.

Further, if you are interested in just finding a place to quiet your mind after a stressful day and are interested in learning more about the Counseling Center, visit the Resource and Relaxation Room located at Lucina Hall. The room provides massage chairs, pamphlets about the services provided, help books, and more, all free for student usage.

Online Resources:

Need a few quick fixes to your mental health routine but don’t have time to visit the on-campus center? Ball State is here to provide you with a variety of online digital resources, free, and available 24/7 for all students. Some of these resources are…

1. Welltrack - an online platform with provides resources for mental health with an additional mood tracker.

2. Together all - An online community available 24/7 ready to help you with your mental health.

3. Located on the resources page of the Counseling Practicum Clinic on Ball State’s website, you will find a list of recorded webinars on mental health, as well as a list of downloadable PDF files for meditation, relaxation, and self-care.

For more information on these resources, please visit https://www.bsu.edu/campuslife/counseling-center

Are you concerned that you may be struggling with one of many mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, substance use, etc.? You may consider wanting to complete a mental health screening, located under student resources on the Ball State Counseling Center website. This screening platform is provided by Mental Health America and is here to help you determine if you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition.

Sexual Assult and Domestic Violence Resources:

If you or someone you know have become a victim of sexual assault and/or domestic violence, there are ways to get help. Ball State can provide students with on or off-campus resources listed on the resources page of the Counseling Practicum Clinic portion of the Ball State website. These resources include but are not limited to RAINN.org and its hotline, A Better Way in Muncie, Indiana, National Domestic Violence Hotline, Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault, (SOCESA), and more.

Located under the same resources tab, there are also sections, alongside mental health and sexual assault and domestic violence, providing resources for suicide prevention, substance abuse and addiction treatment, physical health services, LGBTQ+, social services, employment, and more.

Outreach:

Outreach is important for many reasons, mostly being a way to connect our community through resources, information, and more. Besides all of the resources listed above, Ball State can provide students and faculty with an opportunity to grow and learn more about wellness. Further, the efforts done by the outreach provided aim to teach not only our campus community but also the community of Muncie the importance of mental health. The Counseling Center provides programming about many topics, not limited to, anxiety, depression, stress management, self-care, mindfulness, compassion fatigue/burnout, bystander intervention, mental health concerns for diverse populations, healthy relationships, communications, and more.

For more information, visit https://www.bsu.edu/campuslife/counseling-center/outreach to learn about more topics and resources provided. Interested in another programming topic that is not listed on the linked page? You may submit a programming request form through this link as well.

To conclude, being a student on Ball State University campus has never come at a better time. With all of these mental health resources, outreach, on-campus, or online, can provide us as students with wellness advice right at our fingertips. At Ball State, it can be shown that the university cares for the mental well-being and success, (emotionally and academically,) of its students.

For a mindfulness meditation, check out the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E54N3HaHt3g