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Sometimes you need to say something that can’t be summed up in a Facebook status or Twitter tweet. Whether it’s an issue that has been on your mind for months, or a niggling feeling that you can’t pinpoint, we are reminding you that there are lots of support services available within DCU, and encouraging you to please talk about anything that’s on your mind.

This week you will see a strong presence of PleaseTalk.ie, a website that offers information on support services. They include Niteline, a non-directive free listening service (call 1800 793 793) run by students for students, DCU Counselling and Personal Development, and ourselves on the Students’ Union.

Whether this simply refreshes your memory, or adds a new understanding to mental health, please take time to read the testimonials in our feature and visit our information points in the Hub and canteen.

There are many issues that students may struggle with. We are taking two of these issues, that of sexuality and that of depression, and running smaller campaigns on these in conjunction withPleaseTalk.ie. We hope that by engaging with these topics we can attempt to help students have a fresh perspective, and not to be intimidated by anything they may be going through.

Last year’s Students’ Union team ran a very successful sexuality campaign with the tagline ‘What Defines You?’ Sexuality is of course important to who you are, but it is not a defining factor. This year we propose that whatever way you chose to live your life, be proud of who you are and be honest with yourself.

Irish society has come so far in the last twenty years with regards sexuality. There is no reason to ‘stay in the closet’ anymore, and doing so can serve to damage your integrity and indeed your happiness. Gay, straight, bisexual or transgender, be proud of who you are.

On a separate topic entirely, we have looked at depression and worked closely with Counselling & Personal Development to beg questions on why such a strong stigma still exists regarding this aspect of mental health. Why are we so terrified of depression? What’s wrong with saying you’re feeling low?

It can be so difficult to suffer from depression, and yet adding to the weight is society’s discomfort with it. We therefore urge you to reconsider how you see depression, and consider it a block to being your full self but something that can be treated.

It may be a simple underlying issue, or the process may take longer, but there is ways through this. And with any of these issues, it starts by talking.