Blue Monday Run: fraternity members run for mental wellbeing
Today is Blue Monday: the day when people are said to feel most gloomy or sad. Members of the Amsterdamsch Student Corps put on their running shoes for the occasion to draw attention to mental health issues. “We would like to break the taboo of speaking out about your mental health, that’s the main message.”
Over 120 runners from the Amsterdamsch Student Corps (ASC/AVSV) will start in the Vondelpark at 17.00 on this cold Monday. In doing so, they will raise 3,500 euros for MIND, a foundation dedicated to mental wellbeing.
The Blue Monday Run is an initiative of the MIND Foundation. Runs are organised all over the Netherlands to raise money for people struggling with mental health problems in order to support them or prevent them.
This is no accidental choice: after all, today is Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. “We are actually killing two birds with one stone,” says Floris van der Wal (24), medical student and chairman of PAVLOV, a subcommittee of the ASC that focuses on mental health within the association. “On the one hand, by supporting this charity, and on the other, because sports really act as a catalyst to make you feel better. Mind off, and just go for it.”
“We have noticed that due to performance pressure, but certainly also since the corona pandemic, young people are less comfortable in their own skin,” says Van der Wal. He once struggled with mental health issues himself. “A buddy of mine committed suicide some time ago, after that I didn’t feel so good for a while,” he says.
Among young people under 30, suicide is the number one cause of death, CBS figures from last year show. Factors such as performance pressure, the influence of social media on self-image, and uncertainty about the future in terms of housing and climate change are often associated with mental health complaints and deteriorated mental well-being.
Besides their participation in the Blue Monday Run, the association has several activities planned this week, including symposia, a college tour, and a dialogue evening. “During the dialogue evening, more such stories will be shared by students with exemplary roles within the association, in order to break the taboo in this way,” Van der Wal explains.
Despite Blue Monday, van der Wal is in good spirits: “The Blue Monday Run marks the kick-off of our association’s welfare week. This week aims to break the taboo of talking about your mental health.”
Thinking about suicide or worried about someone? Talking about suicide helps and can be done anonymously via the chat at www.113.nl or by phone at 113 or 0800-0113.
