Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--As part of its observance of National Mental Health Awareness Month, Mississippi State will sponsor several public events during October.
"Movin' 4 Your Mood" will be the overall theme of activities organized by the university's Student Counseling Services and recreational sports department.
"Research suggests that physical activity can be used to prevent mental illness, specifically depression and anxiety," said events coordinator Amy Stapleton. "It also can be used to treat such symptoms."
Stapleton, student counseling's outreach coordinator, said the October programs include:
--Noon on the 3rd, Fun Walk on the Drill Field, beginning from the south steps of Lee Hall and including refreshments;
--Noon on the 10th, Fun Walk and Ultimate Frisbee Game, same location with refreshments again provided;
--10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on the 11th, Personal Strengths and Depression Screening, with sessions taking place concurrently at the Sanderson and Longest Student Health centers; and
--3 p.m. on the 17th, Get Movin' Workshop at the Sanderson Center, where Stapleton will provide strategies for dealing with roadblocks to exercise and ways to successfully achieve personal goals for physical activity, stress management and related issues.
For additional information on the month's activities at MSU, contact Stapleton at 662-325-2091 or astapleton@saffairs.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.