How are you really?: Students talk about mental health

At the Mental Health Day at the Reithmanngymnasium Innsbruck, mental health and illness were discussed openly.

INNSBRUCK. They are still social issues: depression, ADHD, eating disorders or suicide. More and more people, including many children and young people, are affected by mental illnesses and urgently need professional support. The inhibition to seek and receive this help is enormous due to the stigma. And this is exactly where the Reithmanngymnasium Innsbruck started on October 9th. Their information day about mental health was intended to create a safe space for open discussion, where students and outsiders could exchange ideas with experts and raise their concerns.

Workshops and lectures

On Mental Health Day, the actual lessons were adapted thematically. A colorful program focuses on young people’s mental health and how they can support those affected. The theme day opened at 7:55 a.m. with the opening event and greetings from director Walter Nigg. This was followed by a lecture by Alexander Pointner, long-time head coach of the Austrian ski jumping team.

From 9:00 a.m. the young people became active themselves in the numerous workshops. These were organized by the project partners, including the Tirol Kliniken with the Hall Psychiatric Clinic and the child and adolescent psychiatry in Hall, the Tyrolean State Association for Psychotherapy, the Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, the Tirol Violence Protection Center and the Tyrolean Women’s Shelter. They covered topics such as:

• From crisis to illness – where does normality end?
• Together against violence!
• Workshop on the topic of “self-harm”
• Beware of LUCK! What strengthens our mental health, what weakens it.
• Mental health as a human right
• Prevention of eating disorders

The program for the young people ended at 12:30 p.m. with the final event, at which Barbara Haid, President of the Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, and Fabienne Patek, project coordinator of the Healthy from the Crisis project, gave a lecture on the topic of “Healthy from the Crisis”. . Golli Marboe from Mental Health Days in Vienna also said a few words at the end.

Help from teachers

There was also a tight program for adults. As the first point of contact in everyday school life, teachers have a great responsibility and need the necessary skills to deal with difficult topics and direct students to the right places. There were also lectures for the teaching staff in the afternoon about exactly this:

• Martin Fuchs on the topic of mental health in children and young people
• Marion Gasser on the topic of mental health with a focus on the perspective of psychotherapists
• Golli Marboe, Barbara Haid and Fabienne Patek on the topic of getting healthy out of the crisis

Of public interest

In the evening, the Reithmanngymnasium also welcomed guests outside the school context to a panel discussion, as the topic of mental health is also of great importance for society as a whole. Barbara Haid (ÖBVP), Christian Haring (Tirol Kliniken), Kathrin Sevecke (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hall), Golli Marboe (Mental Health Days), Christian Biendl (Education Directorate for Tyrol) and Marco Wehinger (State School Representative BMHS Tirol) will be on the podium. the questions from the audience and the evening’s moderator, Markus Koschuh.

The central topics of this panel discussion were, in addition to the topic of the responsibilities of schools, medical staff and parents, also the topic “Should there be a subject in mental health?” and “How do you ask those affected the right questions?” Both the discussants and the numerous guests agreed: You have to pay attention to your mental health before you get sick! That’s why everyone is calling for comprehensive prevention work, which has already been very successful with the Mental Health Day at the Reithmanngymnasium.

You can find further reports from the region HERE!
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