The third annual Mental Wellness Week, a week that strives to eliminate stigmas associated with mental illness, runs April 7-11.

School social worker Sue Stemetzki and a fellow social worker are coordinating this year’s events.

As a result of past Mental Wellness weeks, she has noticed increased dialogue about mental health issues.

“Each year has been greater in terms of students seeking help and teachers telling us about kids that might be suffering from depression that they might be concerned about and kids speaking to us about their friends,” Stemetzki said.

Each day will center on a specific aspect of maintaining mental health.

“Often times people are afraid to seek help because they are wondering what people will think of them,” Stemetzki said. “Our society needs to de-stigmatize mental illness because strong people are the ones who are able to ask for help and they should not be looked down upon for that.”

The first day, Monday, April 7 is named “Welcome to Mental Wellness Week” and will focus on introducing the importance of mental health to the Seahawk community.

“We see so many students totally stressed out because of their high expectations from themselves, their parents, and their teachers,” Stemetzki said. “We talk about how to handle this stress, and we also talk about depression and symptoms of depression. We inform students how depression is treatable and talk to them about symptoms related to depression and symptoms related to suicide, most important being to avoid future suicides.”

Tuesday’s theme focuses on the impact of laughter, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, has long-term positive effects, including improvement of mood and increase in personal satisfaction.

Seahawks will embrace their inner superhero and strength Wednesday, April 9, while learning about the external support systems available to students who are having difficulty coping with their stress.

Internet and cyber safety will be topics of discussion Thursday, April 10. Students will learn how to stay safe online.

Mental Wellness Week concludes Friday, April 11 with a question for students: what will you do? Students are asked to reflect on lessons learned during the week and pledge to improve their personal mental well-being.

In addition to activities throughout the week, sophomores will undergo depression screenings in the spring.

“Eventually our hope is to evaluate students in tenth grade with a booster in the spring of twelfth grade when they are getting ready to go off to school,” Stemetzki said.