TO: Jacques Frémont
FROM: XXX , Student of the Telfer School of Management
SUBJECT: The Growing Mental Health Crisis at UOttawa
DATE: June 1, 2021
Dear Mr. Jacques Frémont,
The University of Ottawa has been suffering from a mental health crisis for a long time
now; it's time for some change. The university offers to counsel; however, this doesn't attack the
problem from all sides. A significant factor that the university brushes over is the environmental
factors. The university has been trying to put the fire out without preventing the fire in the first
place.
Currently, the university offers all types of counselling; mental health, individual, couple,
and family counselling. This counselling, however, doesn't address any of the other prominent
factors of mental health. Mental health mainly stems from lifestyle, psychological, genetic, and
environmental factors. The university currently targets psychological factors by offering to
counsel students. However, factors such as lifestyle and genetics are challenging to address as
there's not much the university can do about it. So, I ask why not address the environmental
factors? In 2019 one in ten adults reported suffering from mental health issues. However, now,
during COVID-19, four people suffer from mental health issues on average for every ten adults.
This is a 400% increase, and the university needs to address it as soon as possible. One of the
ways the university can address this is by improving the campus's environment.
Studies have shown that the surrounding environment can impact mental health; this
can be positively or negatively. Many studies have proved greenspaces to be very beneficial
towards mental health. In 2020, a scientific study led by Mathew White confirmed this
statement. It also found that people who spent two hours or more a week surrounded by nature
and greenery had higher mental health and well-being levels. Similarly, it also has been found
that colours have a psychological effect on people, and it's used in therapy. Schools such as
elementary schools commonly use colours that are conducive to learning. One of them is
orange, a colour that promotes alertness which in turn promotes learning. Alternatively, colours
such as green and blue tend to give a sense of calm and serenity. They can be very beneficial
to people with mental health issues. Lastly, art has also been proven to promote health, wellbeing and alleviate stress. Art engages our minds to think about things in a novel and unique
way while also being a source of positive emotions.
The University of Ottawa needs to implement these strategies and methods to combat
the university's quickly rising mental health issues as soon as possible. The university needs to
add more art around the university. Instead of spending millions of dollars hiring artists, the
university can use the thousands of art students it already has as a method of gaining cheap but
effective art. The university can use preexisting student creations, spread them across the
university, and even create art students' assignments to create calming and vibrant artwork. The
university can also add more greenery to the campus by adding more trees and possibly even a
rooftop garden/greenspace for people to relax and destress. Lastly, the university can also use
those plain boring white/beige walls and colour them with blue/green to promote positive mental
health.
Keep smiling,
XXX