The Mind Your Head Campaign is designed to increase awareness of mental illness among students, as well as encouraging students to consider their mental wellbeing and take steps to improve it. It is difficult enough to live with a mental health problem, and the campaign aims to get rid of the stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental illness.
The Mind Your Head Campaign has three aims: to raise awareness of mental illness, to combat the stigma surrounding mental illness, and to promote mental wellbeing in the student population. It is a relatively new campaign, having been founded in November 2011 and officially launched in March 2012, but it has made rapid progress. Our main activity has been in organising awareness-raising events in JCRs and MCRs.
Our website is where students can submit articles about their experience of mental illness in Oxford. Those articles have sparked a great deal of interest across the university, and have made great leaps towards creating an environment in Oxford in which mental illness is no longer a taboo subject. The Campaign also organised the inaugural Mind Your Head Week in Trinity 2012. This week included a number of events designed to promote wellbeing and encourage students to explore different ideas about mental health, including a meditation workshop, film screenings and speaker events.
If you are passionate about mental health, or if you just want to learn more about the campaign, email MYHchair@ousu.org to get involved.