Editorial
UW-River Falls helps fight winter blues with helpful services
February 18, 2016
As the middle of February rolls around and the monotony of winter wears on, it's normal to begin to feel down. The winter blues, depression or just feeling sad: it happens to everyone, and students are no exception. Whether depression is something you've been dealing with your whole life, you're dealing with difficult personal problems, or you've just been feeling down lately, there's nothing wrong with recognizing that you need someone to talk to and taking the steps to help feel better. That's where the university can help. Student Health and Counseling Services is available to all students at UW-River Falls, and they are ready to help you with whatever you are currently dealing with.
It often seems as though there is an unneeded stigma when it comes to depression and admitting weakness. We don't want to admit that we need help; we want to pretend that we are okay and try to tough it out. What we need to remember, though, is that some things simply can't be toughed out, and keeping in deep emotions can only lead to more pain. It takes strength to admit that you might be struggling and to ask for help, and in some cases it can help save your life. Even if you don't think what you are feeling is a big deal now, it's better to talk it out with someone than to hold it in.
Plenty of people who struggle with depression and any other number of potentially debilitating mental health problems feel alone and that their thoughts and feelings are embarrassing so, they try to hide them. They might put on a happy facade which is the absolute antithesis of how they've been feeling lately or for as long as they can remember. What people in this situation should remember is that these problems affect many people -- maybe your chipper friend acts that way to shield what they feel internally -- thus, it is important to remember that you are not alone. This principle is just as important, if not more so, for people who don't have to deal with these issues; they should remember that the people they're closest to may be affected by these things and, thus, must not think that simply because someone acts cheerful all the time, they are immune to these problems.
The best thing about Student Health and Counseling Services is that the cost of quality help simply comes along with the fees of being a student. As a student you have the opportunity to get help and talk out your problems with a professional basically for free. We will never get this opportunity again, so why not utilize this amazing service and get the help that we need? College is hard, life is hard. What isn't hard is that we don't have to deal with this alone.