As finals week looms on the horizon, mental health often takes a backseat to academic pressure. Students push through exhaustion, stress, and emotions, believing that productivity is the ultimate goal. However, emotions require more attention than we often give them. At Loomis Chaffee, mental health days are available to students, but many overlook the opportunity to take a step back and address their well-being before burnout sets in.
The Loomis Chaffee Counseling Department offers students mental health days, which are referred to as “R and R days” (rest and relaxation). Mental health days are designed to give students a moment of respite, but they are not an excuse to completely disengage from schoolwork. Students are excused from classes but not from assignments, which ensures that they don’t fall behind in their academic responsibilities.
Prioritizing mental health is just as important as academic success. Nevertheless, in order for mental health days to truly be effective, students must recognize the importance of their overall well-being.
"We really try to encourage the young people here to think about their whole self… It’s important to address your social, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical well-being," Counselor Kenneth Green explained.
“Once somebody realizes that they don't have to do it all, we will work with them and help them to selectively try to figure out what's manageable and what's not. Then they kind of relax a little bit,” Counselor Eva Haldane said. “As a student’s mental health improves, so does their ability to perform academically. It’s a balance that should be encouraged, especially during stressful times like finals.”
Despite extensive support, many students are hesitant to use mental health days.
“It seems to me that most of them are not aware [of mental health days],” said Mr. Green. During class meetings, counselors make an effort to remind students of the option, but it often doesn’t seem to resonate. This lack of awareness can result in students suffering in silence, not realizing that they have access to resources that could help them manage stress before it becomes overwhelming.
The effectiveness of mental health days lies not just in the time off, but in how students use the opportunity to focus on their well-being. Mr. Green noted, "One of the things that I get concerned about… is the level of stress and anxiety, especially around academic performance."
Taking a mental health day can help alleviate the anxiety that builds up, allowing students to return to their studies with a clearer mind and a healthier perspective without completely leaving work untouched.
Counselor Anna Barresi emphasizes the process of taking the day off. “Sometimes a student might come in asking for a mental health day, and then we kind of talk things through, and then maybe negotiate a little bit of a compromise,” she said. In other words, while mental health days are important, they should be part of a larger strategy to manage stress effectively.
Dr. Haldane added, “Usually we end up really discussing… with them [if this is] going to be helpful or [if it’s] going to actually just add to [their] load of putting some things off.”
Procrastination is seen as a fine line that counselors discourage, but it’s clear that ‘sometimes, we would give anything to just have a break where we could catch up with things that have accumulated,’ noted Dr. Haldane.
Greed, however, is something to be avoided when considering these days. “Having extra time is like having extra money,” Dr. Haldane said. “It's just easy to spend it without realizing where it's really going.”
Students should feel empowered to take a mental health day when needed. It’s not just about resting from schoolwork; it’s about acknowledging the importance of self-care and giving yourself the space to recharge.
In a school environment that often pushes students to constantly achieve, mental health days are a crucial resource that should not be underestimated or neglected. They provide the chance for students to pause, take a breath, and focus on themselves before returning to the grind of academics. By prioritizing mental health, students can navigate stress more effectively and maintain their well-being throughout the school year.