By Katelynn Liedtke

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University offers several resources to students to promote their physical and mental well-being, and due to the stressors students face during college, MTSU has made an effort to provide ongoing support. 

Mental Health Wellness Fair

On Wednesday, Sept. 16, MTSU Counseling Services will be hosting a mental health wellness fair in the Student Union Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The purpose of the event is increasing awareness about mental health and suicide prevention resources. Channing Phillips, a mental health provider with MTSU’s Counseling Services, will be helping to host the event.

“The Mental Health Wellness and Suicide Prevention Fair is a great opportunity for students to learn more about mental health and suicide prevention resources available both on and off campus,” said Phillips. “The fair also helps remind students that they are not alone and that support is available to them. During the fair, students can stop by to meet therapy dogs, participate in activities, enjoy giveaways, and grab a free Chick-fil-A sandwich while learning more about the free resources available to them.”

Led by Director Mary Kaye Anderson, MTSU Counseling Services offers a variety of resources to support students, from online modules and mindfulness tools, tele-groups and in-person groups, drop-in counseling, weekly counseling, short-term psychiatric services, to crisis services.

The Green Bandana Project

Mental health struggles are common among college-age students. Phillips has launched an initiative called The Green Bandana Project to provide students with more peer support. 

“If you see a student wearing a green bandana, they are someone who has been trained to provide support and ultimately mental health resources,” said Phillips.

Phillips says that students who wish to participate as student members will undergo two training sessions. One is a QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) training, which is an hour long, and then they go through the Green Bandana Project orientation, which covers what the initiative is and what they will be doing with the project. 

The idea behind The Green Bandana Project is to use peer support to provide students who may not feel comfortable talking with a professional with resources. 

“Faculty and staff are great, I am one of the counselors, but I think students are more willing to go to their peers at times,” said Phillips. “And so, it’s kind of, it’s a student-led, pure interaction, basically.” 

The Zen Den

Christian Williams, a counselor with the MTSU Counseling Services, says the Zen Den was created to give students a place to decompress and relax. Williams says the room comes equipped with a massage chair, cushions to lie on the ground, a desk and computer access, dim lighting, and background music. 

“Definitely in the beginning and the middle of the semester, I want to say that’s when it’s most popular. Kind of when that stress picks up and somebody’s like, ‘You know what? I just need quiet or I need to just relax,’ that is when it definitely picks up,” Williams said. “It’s not so busy to the point where students can’t get in there, but there are popular times.” 

The desk and computer access in the Zen Den can be used for school work, coloring and it provides access to Headspace, an app that provides guided meditation, breathing techniques, stress and anxiety management tools and more. 

The Zen Den is also available to MTSU faculty and staff. 

“Faculty definitely use it too. Of course, we do and then there’s been some people in the Career Development Center who’ve used it. I don’t think faculty know that they’re allowed to use it too, but I think if they did, they would be more open to using it,” said Williams.

Students, faculty and staff can reserve time for the Zen Den in person, online up to two weeks in advance or by calling (615) 898-2670.

Overdose awareness

Meanwhile, the MTSU Health Promotion Office was created to equip students, faculty, and campus organizations with education and programming to stay healthy, according to its website. 

In late August, Health Promotion hosted a tabling event in the library quad for Overdose Awareness Day. The goal of the event was to equip students with the knowledge and tools to prevent drug overdoses. 

Morgan Verdeck works for a local substance abuse prevention coalition in Rutherford County and is collaborating with Health Promotion to raise awareness among students. They promoted the recent International Overdose Awareness Day, which was on Aug. 31.

The coalition handed out Narcan kits — Narcan reverses the effects of an overdose — as well as informational pamphlets, and coordinated a coloring activity for people who might have lost someone to overdose. “That symbol is a butterfly, so we’re coloring a big butterfly,” Verdeck said.

April Britton, a second-semester grad student and affiliate with Health Promotion, said they are trying to meet students where they are at and give them the resources they need, even if they don’t realize they may need them. Britton said the Health Promotion office has something planned just about every week. 

“I know we have a sexual health event coming up soon. We have Music City PrEP coming down. We also are even teaching courses … we are meeting people in University 1010. We’ll go to those classes and we’ll talk about sexual health or just general well-being, or mental health,” said Britton. 

Music City PrEP is a clinic that provides testing for STDs and offers the PrEP pill, a form of HIV prevention.  

Journalism major Katelynn Liedtke is a practicum student in the Office of News and Media Relations. Reach her at [email protected].