Junior baseball player Mike Losak was a featured speaker at the annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference held on Saturday, February 29th at the Hunt Student Union on campus.
 
The conference is an opportunity to learn, be inspired to spark change while making connections with students, faculty and staff that will last a lifetime.  Diversity, equity and inclusion are important components of the SUNY Oneonta campus.
 
Losak's presentation on Mental Health: A Student's Perspective, bridged his own experience dealing with mental health and what has begun a life's journey on how to cope with bouts of depression and anxiety.   Michael's journey to coping with this all too common affliction that affects almost one in three college students nation-wide began in his freshman year.  He could barely get out of bed, let alone attend classes and baseball practice.  One day while attending his baseball practice, he realized that the sport he loved so much was being compromised and a light bulb went off in his head.  He said to himself get help or suffer in silence and not get the most out of his college experience socially, athletically and academically.  He proactively made an appointment at the Health and Wellness Center and began a journey still being traveled today coping with depression.
 
In Michael's journey he discovered that, as a result of depression, he and others experience poor performance in academics and athletics along with social interactions.  What was most compelling to Michael is that there was still a stigma out in the social universe that suffering from even a mild mental illness is something that many people do not comprehend.   What Michael learned was for example, when you have a cold or flu, you openly get treatment while many who suffer from mental illness will suffer in silence worrying about the stigma and perception.  Further complicating this stigma was that Michael found that this comprehension was more prevalent in males than in females.
 
Michael has and continues to tackle his challenges with talk therapy and medication helping to facilitate his recovery.   During his presentation, he communicated to his audience that "not being Ok is Ok." Michael decided that helping others to understand the burden was also therapeutic for himself.   With the support of the counseling center and athletic director Tracey Ranieri, Michael has become a spokesperson of sorts for the athletic department helping to champion such issues.  Not just student athletes but all students at large seem to be fearful to tackle the questions they may have about anxiety and depression.  Michael works bravely sharing his own experiences to help others who fight the stigma and battle the symptoms of depression here at Oneonta.
 
Michael spent 40 minutes with an audience discussing his journey.  The most important thing he said was that, "you deal with issues every day and practicing your coping skills is a lifelong exercise."  Life is filled with ups and downs and if you are feeling chronically depressed and anxious Michael reminded the audience that, "there is a wellness center here on campus that can help you develop coping skills and get the treatment you need."  The good news is that over 90% of those who seek treatment feel better in a relatively short amount of time.