The Binghamton Student Managed Adderall Research Team hosted their semesterly event this Wednesday in the West Gym Lobby, Matters of the Mind, to raise awareness about substance use, mental health, stress and resources accessible to students who may need support.

Matters of the Mind was a tabling event that featured various on-campus groups, like Harpur’s Ferry, Mindset Mentors, PAWS and other organizations that advocate for stress awareness and mental health support.

The event hosted some off-campus nonprofit organizations such as Truth Pharm for substance abuse awareness and recovery and the Southern Tier AIDS program, which allowed attendees to experience free Narcan training and educate themselves more about opioid overdoses.

Julia Lin, Matters of the Mind chair, part of B-SMART’s outreach committee and a senior majoring in biology, described putting the event together.

“A lot of people, especially freshmen who are coming into a new environment, don’t really know how to cope when they are faced with mental distress or mental health issues,” Lin said. “We thought an event like this was important in order to show people that there are resources for many different reasons and there are places that you can turn to if you’re in need of help. I hope that people understand that there are a lot of resources and also kind of crush the stigma that you have to be okay all the time, and that it’s normal to reach out and need help.”

B-SMART is a student-run research organization that focuses on education about substance abuse, including the harms of using ADHD medication illicitly. However, Lin expressed her desire to expand the event’s purpose to general wellness and mental health by including resources like SEEK, Mindset Mentors and B-Healthy.

Mindset Mentors was created after the COVID-19 pandemic to help students overcome the adversity and stress that many may have experienced. Sarah Frand, an intern for Mindset Mentors and a junior majoring in psychology, shared the organization’s purpose.

“We aim to make stress not a bad thing,” Frand said. “We look to make your mindset more enhancing than debilitating because stress truly is just amping you up and preparing you to take on whatever is coming up. Our goal today is to try and show people that stress isn’t scary.”

The University’s B-Healthy program brought the PAWS dogs. Short for Pet Away Worry and Stress, PAWS provides volunteer therapy dogs to campus typically every other week to help students ease stress.

Organizers also hosted a demonstration by Bill Clark, an adjunct lecturer of health and wellness and a world champion powerlifter, who broke a Guinness World Record for breaking 29 license plates in 60 seconds. He gave a speech about each person holding their unique talents and embracing their individuality.

Matters of the Mind helped students to learn more about managing their stress, mental health and the accessible resources available on and off campus that may help them in regards to substance use, stress relief, diet and wellness.

“Mindsets are malleable,” Frand said. “You can always change your mindset and that doesn’t mean it’s always going to stay that way, but it’s very easy to kind of switch over and go from ‘I have to’ to ‘I get to’ or ‘this is so stressful’ to ‘I am so amped up right now this is going to be great.’”