As a first-year student, Grant Hagen (’24) dealt with debilitating anxiety. After starting therapy, he shared his experience with others to create a conversation about mental health and encourage others to do the same.
While completing his psychology degree at Gonzaga University, Hagen turned his anxiety-calming mantra “keep going” into a campaign aimed at destigmatizing mental health.
“He could easily have recovered and quietly moved on with college life,” says his mother, Sarah. “But instead, he made a conscious decision to tell his story and keep the conversation going so others who might be suffering know they are not alone.”
Hagen’s passion is timely, as conversations about mental health are needed more than ever.
A Healthy Minds survey of 96,000 U.S. college students from the 2021-22 academic year found the highest rates of mental health concern in the 15-year history of the survey. Forty-four, 37 and 15 percent of students reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicide consideration respectively.
Jennifer Fountain, Gonzaga’s dean of Student Well-being and Flourishing, sees connections between the current cultural climate and mental health.
“We can draw lines back to COVID-19, back to the pressures of the economy and the instability of the world,” she says. “During the pandemic, anxiety and depression increased 25%; other factors such as racial injustice, economic disparities, and geopolitical conflict requires our mental health to be a priority.”
She believes the key for students to counter those and maintain good health is to be in an environment they can “safely and bravely live their authentic selves.” And that means having a holistic approach to the academic experience and the student life environment on campus.
At Gonzaga, Student Well-being and Flourishing includes the Center for Cura Personalis, Health & Counseling Services, Office of Health Promotion, and close affiliation with other areas such as conflict resolution, academic advising, learning strategies, disability access, and inclusion and belonging. GU also follows the eight dimensions of wellness defined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical, environmental, financial, occupational and social.
“We educate and support the whole student – and this is a complement to a student’s scholarship,” Fountain says.
Within athletics, wellness services are streamlined through Zags360, which takes a similar eight-dimension approach targeting academic, physical, social, spiritual, community, career, financial and mental sectors for athletes.
Last year, the parents of a Gonzaga student generously donated $10,000, saying staff’s “unwavering dedication to understanding and enhancing” their son’s experience spoke volumes about GU’s ethos of personalized attention and student-centeredness.
Practicing Mindfulness
Though a person can find dozens of apps to help learn and practice mindfulness for better mental and physical health, the idea of studying the topic academically naturally met resistance. Mike Hazel, professor in the graduate communications and leadership department, expected questions about his proposed course on mindfulness and leadership.
“There’s plenty of hard science on the benefits of mindfulness, and data indicate its effects are meaningful,” he says, citing neuroplasticity and mindfulness-based stress-reduction therapies that have undergone plenty of research.
Hazel designed the course to be a “multisensory, experiential introduction to mindfulness supported by empirical research,” and included elements from Christian, contemplative and Eastern faith/philosophy traditions. “If one can integrate a practice that fits within their belief system, there is very clear evidence of significant positive effects,” he adds.
Mindfulness is defined as nonjudgmental awareness of one’s experience in the present moment, which, as Hazel notes, “seems so straightforward but is profoundly difficult.”
“At Gonzaga, we speak of the five pillars of Ignatian pedagogy: context, experience, reflection, action and evaluation,” Hazel says, noting that the Jesuits are known for their commitment to reflection through the daily Examen and the Spiritual Exercises for Everyday Life.
“Mindfulness helps managers learn self-awareness and empathy for improving relationships. The act of listening is complex and requires self-regulation,” he says. “Through mindfulness, you develop a stronger capacity for concentration, and this lends itself to so many uses – from addressing anxiety to building an environment of trust where people feel understood.”
Graduate students in Hazel’s courses – even those who were already familiar with practices like yoga and meditation – say the mindfulness experience in an academic context yielded great rewards. It “gave us permission to stop overthinking and just experience,” one student notes, and presented unique opportunities for them to learn and grow from one another.
It’s no surprise to Hazel that tips and resources for practicing mindfulness are among the many aides available in Gonzaga’s “wellness toolbox” for student health and well-being. Also available for Zags is a reflection room for quiet meditation, as well as a host of student-flourishing initiatives, including crucial training for faculty and staff in areas of de-escalation and trauma-informed practices.
Collectively, these efforts help ensure students leave college living the healthiest lives possible, ready to be their best.
By Kate Vanskike, Gonzaga University