UTAR’s Department of Psychology and Counselling, parked under the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) successfully organised “The Mental Health Awareness Fair” at Kampar Campus on 29 March 2017.
Organised twice a year, the fair was aimed to raise the level of awareness and promote knowledge on topics related to mental health among UTAR staff and students. It further aimed to improve the students’ mental wellbeing by increasing knowledge and understanding of the determinants, nature, impact, prevention and management of mental health issues.
The fair is part of the UAPP 2034 Abnormal Psychology subject’s coursework which was supervised by the Psychology lecturer-cum-fair advisor, Pheh Kai Shuen. Initiated by Pheh in 2014, the fair has since gained momentum in becoming an important departmental event at UTAR Kampar Campus. This is the fourth consecutive year the fair is held.
Present to initiate the fair were Head of the Department of Psychology and Counselling V. Glory Nancy, Advisor Pheh, Organising Chairperson Lim Chean Wei, Department of Psychology and Counselling lecturers, committee members, UTAR staff and students.
“We believe increased knowledge and understanding among the students builds ability and capacity to maintain wellbeing. For example, protective factors such as the awareness of signs of stress, the knowledge of coping strategies and a belief in the ability to cope will be able to decrease the symptoms of mental disorders among university students. Apart from that, it also provides an opportunity for UTAR Psychology students to apply the knowledge they have learned in the classroom. The students will be able to demonstrate their ability to apply theoretical knowledge into practical skills,” explained Pheh.
With the objective to create awareness in various issues of mental health, the fair was divided into three major divisions, namely Understanding Psychological Disorders, Psychological Screening Tests and Self-help Strategies; Special Issues in Mental Health; and Healthy Aging Project. All the three divisions served different purposes as for the first one; it was to raise awareness on mental health issues, particularly the common types of psychological disorders, psychological screening tests and self-help techniques; second was to enlighten the participants on the common types of neuropsychiatry at risk-population; and the last was aimed to improve the physical and mental health of elderly through the intervention programmes such cognitive stimulation programme and life history book.
Lim said, “Psychology today focuses not only on theoretical understanding, it also focuses on the application of psychology. Therefore, this is indeed a good platform for all Year Three Psychology students to apply the knowledge they have gained in the classroom into something applicable in the real life situations. Through some in-depth studies, the students themselves may have deeper insights about the topics that they have studied which will eventually enhance their level of understandings. This will also give a new level of confidence to students to explain and share their knowledge with the participants of the fair.”
He concluded, “I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor and all the lecturers from the Department of Psychology and Counselling for their vast contribution and guidance throughout the preparation process. In addition to that, I also would like to thank all my committee members for their hard work in organising the fair.”
Mental Health Awareness Fair in progress
The members of Organising Committee all smiling after the fair
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