1. Let’s Talk About Mental Health
Hello judges, colleagues, and audience members, my name is Hayley Bowers and I am here to talk about a portion of my PhD study titled Let’s Talk About Mental Health
Hayley Bowers, M.A., Ph.D. (student)
Dr. Margaret Lumley (research supervisor)

2. Why talk about mental health?
Why bother talking about mental health?
Mental health rates are growing – in fact, 1 in 5 young adults will have a mental health issue while attending university
A number of these students will go without services or treatment and struggle in this alone
In fact, suicide rates have continued to increase and are currently the second leading cause of death in young adults.

3. Why go wrong when you can go right?
To date, research in this area has primarily focused on what’s going wrong with individuals who struggle with mental illness
Instead we wanted to ask the question what’s going right
What is it about these individuals that helps them thrive at university despite the additional challenges they face as a student with a mental illness?

4. What helps students thrive?
Open Mindset
Self-Compassion
Optimism
Goal-Directed Behaviour
Grit
Through interviews with students with a mental illness on campus we discovered 5 keys factors that contribute to students positive outcomes
All of these factors were voiced by students as strengths or qualities they posses that helped them thrive despite countless and devasting setbacks
The first is open mindset. Open mindset is the idea of accepting who you are, where you are at, and the cards you’ve been dealt and then being able to shift accordingly.
The second factor – self-compassion. This is the idea that at times you have to be nice to yourself and give yourself a break because you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got.
The third factor – optimism. Optimism is feeling hopeful about the future.
The fourth factor – goal-directed behaviour – This is the idea of having a goal and sticking to it – no matter what!
The fifth and final factor – grit! Grit or sometimes called perseverance is the idea that at times life sucks and you may have no clue what’s around the corner but despite this you’re going to try to push through, be brave, and not give up even if it’s incredibly hard some times.

5. Summary
So what does all this mean? What can we gleam from these students voices?
First off and most importantly, mental health matters
There was not a single participant in this study that did not bring a tear to my eye or empowerment to the room through their story of resilience
These individuals are fighters, day in and day out, and have struggled, but despite their mental illness are graduating, connecting with peers and loved, and sharing their stories in hopes that it can change the dialogue about mental health
There are factors that help these students thrive that are easily promotable and targetable for students with and without a mental illness

6. Take Home Message
“The second main reason [I participated in this study] was that I find talking about my problems – its not always the number one thing I want to do but its definitely a therapy for me because I really have to accept kind of what I’ve been given, the hand I’ve been dealt I guess so its not really something I want to keep internalized I guess...like I want to be able to talk about it and not have it bother me I guess because its not going to go away so” – GH, Research Participant, 2018
But in order to do this we need to be able to talk about mental health
We need to turn our attention to those living with mental illness and ask them what it is about them that helps them succeed so that we can not only help those with a mental illness but promote a more healthy campus community
I’m hopeful that through this research we’re able to give these students the time and attention they deserve

7. Thank you! My research supervisor, Dr. Margaret Lumley
My research committee, Dr. Arlene Young and Dr. Kim Wilson
All the students who took the time to participate in this study
My research assistant, Holly Bole
My family, friends, and colleagues