In April 2022, the Lisbon Young Minds section organised the event “Mental Health @ Técnico”, at their home institution, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), with the goal of discussing the very important topic of mental health, with a particular emphasis on academic contexts. This event comprised two different moments, a workshop and a round table.

The first session, which took place on 5^th April, consisted of the workshop named “Academy diploma? Yes, but don’t forget your mental health!” given by Dr. Isabel Gonçalves, psychologist and head of the Academic Development Office of IST. During this workshop, the participants were invited to share their ideas and personal experiences concerning mental health in general and from the point of view of a student getting their bachelor’s, master’s or PhD diploma.

The second session, which took place on the 7^th of April, consisted of the round table titled “Mental Health in Academia — Let’s Talk About It!”, also moderated by Dr. Gonçalves. The panel of this event was quite diverse, to represent several points of view within the academic community. More specifically, it was comprised by Prof. Luís Oliveira e Silva, full professor at the Physics Department of IST and president of the School Council; Dr. Daniela Magalhães, psychiatrist; Mariana Moreira, PhD student and member of the IST Student Club for Mental Health and Inclusion; and Marta Bárbolo, MSc student and member of the IST Student Support Unit. Moreover, the participants themselves also played a major role in the discussion, either by asking questions to the panel, or by sharing their own points of view. The plurality of ideas thus promoted a very interesting, thoughtful and enlightening debate, which contributed not only to identify some of the main issues related with mental health that exist within the IST community — not only among the students, but also among the professors and the staff —, but also to discuss and propose solutions to address and mitigate them.

In brief, this event fully achieved its intended goal: promoting a fruitful discussion on the topic of mental health at IST. The participants’ feedback was very positive: both the audience and the round table panel agreed that it was definitely a successful event that encouraged an ongoing open debate on this important matter, and contributed to the personal development of the participants.

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