Speaking Out About Mental Health

Today marks the culmination of Harvard College’s Mental Health Week, called “Speak Out! Mental Health at Harvard.” The past six days have played host to benefit concerts, lectures and seminars, all in the service of fostering an environment of frank discussion about stress, depression, and the litany of other mental health questions that might arise for undergraduates in Cambridge and elsewhere.

The College should be commended for its demonstrated consideration of every aspect of the health of its students, and its active stance against a culture that can sometimes promote suffering in silence. There is something of an unhappy stigma surrounding mental health issues on campus. We hope sincerely that the events of this week have contributed to eliminating that stigma.

In the service of this goal, we have elected to offer a special forum for a range of student, faculty and administrative voices on the subject of mental health at Harvard. Certainly, the situation is a complex one, and it invites a range of vigorous, sometimes dissenting opinions. We have done our best to sample from the whole breadth of these.

In the end, we believe that this week’s goal is a vital one, and encourage all on campus not to hesitate in speaking out.