Columbia's first Mental Health Awareness Week is taking place this week. Its purpose is to destigmatize mental health problems while providing information about mental health and how treatment works.

Programs will include presentations and discussions on such topics as depressive disorders; a presentation and discussion on different ethnic and cultural expressions of depression; the signs of suicide and how to help a friend; anxiety disorders; how to cope with stress; feminist perspectives on relationship and eating disorders; and men in intimate relationships.

Several workshops will be offered by persons who have experienced these disorders, have successfully received treatment, and have recovered.

Further information may be obtained by calling 212-854-3093.

Upcoming Events

Anxiety Disorders: A Personal Story
Tues., March 27 from noon to 1:30 p.m.
Lerner Hall, Satow Room E567

Mary Guardino, executive director and founder of Freedom From Fear, will speak about signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders, and how to get help. The presentation will include her personal experience of living with an anxiety disorder for more than 25 years, and her path to recovery.

Faces of Depression: How Culture Influences Our Emotional Expression
Tues., March 27 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.,
Lerner Hall, Ramp Lounge East (2nd Fl.)

Christine Li, staff psychologist, will address different ethnic and cultural expressions of depression.

Suicide: Awareness and Risk Factors
Wed., March 28 from noon to 2:00 p.m.
Lerner Hall, Satow Room E567

A presentation to address the importance of an open dialogue with a friend who is suicidal. The discussion will include a video, SOS: Signs of Suicide and the identification of risk factors and preventive strategies for helping a friend in crisis. Maria A. Oquendo, associate clinical professor of psychiatry, Columbia University; Sandra Wilson, SUNY/Stonybrook University Hospital, and Rabbi Charles Sheer, Jewish chaplain and director of Hillel at Columbia and Barnard College.

Men in Intimate Relationships
Wed., March 28 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Lerner Hall, Ramp Lounge East (2nd Fl.)

Males and females are invited to discuss what men want from their partners and what they offer. The role of school, peers, family and the media will be examined. Healthy and unhealthy ways that men cope with conflicts within relationships will also be explored. A discussion by John Gilgoff, Social Work student and co-coordinator, Male Action Coalition, CUSSW; I. Andrew Hamid, assistant professor of Social Work, CUSSW; and members of the Columbia Men Against Violence (CMAV).

Women in Intimate Relationships 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Wed., March 28 from Lerner Hall, Ramp Lounge East (2nd Fl.)

Luise Eichenbaum, and Laura Kogel of the Women's Therapy Centre Institute will address issues of dependence and independence in relationships; the development of eating disorders; and the impact of intrapsychic and cultural influences on women's development. They will highlight how the theory and practice of feminist psychology has changed over the past several decades.

Anxiety Disorders Awareness Day
Thurs., March 29 from 11 AM to 1 p.m.,
McIntosh Center, Barnard College

Sponsored by Barnard College Counseling Service