By Sierra Force ’20, staff writer
Lebanon Valley College offers students resources for positive health at their on-campus facility, Shroyer Health Center. Counseling services host events and activities to educate students about mental health.
Shroyer Health Center provides confidential and free services open to everyone. If a student feels sick or would like to discuss current struggles and hardships they face, professional counselors are available during drop-in hours or upon appointment.
The Health Center also offers students opportunities to discuss their struggles with 50/50 Peer Helpers, student workers who can offer similar resources to students. This allows students to talk and open up to someone in their age group.
As a student, it can be hard to find the time to use the resources Shroyer has to offer, especially as they find themselves in classrooms and interacting with faculty and staff. However, many professors want their students to know that they are not alone and professors are huge supporters and advocators of mental health awareness.
“I lost my brother to suicide,” Shelly Moorman-Stahlman, professor of music and LVC organist, said. “Suicide prevention and depression treatment is really important.”
Moorman-Stahlman is currently teaching a connective experience course designed to teach how mental incapabilities can affect a writer’s, composer’s and artist’s work, called “Musician & Artist: Integration.”
To cope and de-stress with life’s daily encounters, Moorman-Stahlman turns to music.
“I use music as my outlet and play the piano and organ,” Moorman-Stahlman said. “I play the compositions that reflect my mood.”
Her advice for students is to find ways to de-stress and relax, such as finding a passion and using art as a creative outlet. She also recommends any form of exercise.
Another professor, Brandon Stoothoff, teaches a second conjunction course to the same connective, “Science of Well-Being & Malaise.” Stoothoff has first-hand experience with working and helping those who struggle with mental illness because of his second job as a therapist.
“I put a lot of advocacy for mental illness into my lectures,” Brandon Stoothoff, psychology adjunct instructor, said. “I want to empower people and harness their potential.”
To de-stress, Stoothoff recommends that students take time for self-care by focusing and being with themselves.
“I want students to know that I am a resource and available to talk if they had a family member or friend who was affected by suicide,” Moorman-Stahlman said.
Students are encouraged to stop by Shroyer Health Center for more information on mental illness.