Nieva also had the challenge of reviving the conference after five years of inactivity and having to rebuild much of the framework, such as organizational contacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe anticipate that for future conferences, that\u2019s not going to be as much of an issue, because now there is an established network,\u201d Nieva added.<\/p>\n
In the opening ceremony, Debra Wentz, the President and CEO of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction agencies, spoke about declining mental health in universities across New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge all of you to engage in advocacy to your schools and administrative leaders for policies that support accessible, 24\/7 services, including for substance use, prevention and treatment,\u201d Wentz said.<\/p>\n
Throughout Saturday, participants took part in a policy workshop, wellness activities, and small group discussions.<\/p>\n
The policy workshop, led by Andrew Buher, a lecturer in the School of Public and International Affairs, modeled a seminar, with students comparing mental health policies across schools. One Princeton student noted the choice to halve<\/a> mental health copays in 2024, making counseling more affordable for students overall. However, students also discussed school administrations often seeming to gloss over mental health issues, such as student deaths, rather than emphasizing the importance of each student\u2019s wellbeing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dan Iosifescu, Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, also discussed the challenges that come with working in the psychiatric field.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou also have to be mindful of that toll, and try to hold on to the unglamorous but essential ways of staying positive, or at least thoughtful, in the midst of these very challenging, and sometimes negative situations,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was just primarily interested in learning from other students,\u201d Hubert Ng\u1ecdc Huy Tran, a junior from Yale University and member of the university\u2019s Student Mental Health Association, said. \u201cI want to see how grassroots advocacy looks like at different universities, student movements, collaborations, and to think of ideas to bring back to Yale.\u201d<\/p>\n
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