Mental health days are a heavily debated topic, which many people find challenging to talk about because of the stigma surrounding mental health and its effects on the population.
While women’s mental health is more widely accepted than men’s, both are still being stigmatized, and I think this is due to the way mental health has been portrayed as “unimportant” or not real.
There was also a time when people were lobotomized and electrocuted because they had depression or anxiety, and as such, a stigma grew and still exists today.
Mental health days can be used to recuperate after working long hours, or being a full-time student, parent, and/or guardian can be mentally and emotionally exhausting.
So, having a mental health day can be vital to a person’s overall well-being and their ability to function to the best they can without getting burnt out.
However, some people have used mental health days not as a day to relax, reset and take a brain break to have fun, but as an excuse to simply not tend to their responsibilities.
This is a complete misuse of the concept of mental health days and also makes it more challenging for those who are actually using these days for what they are meant for. Like emailing your professor for a mental health day when you just did not do an assignment even though you had time.
In some cases, people take mental health days for the intended reason; they can be vital to maintaining a person’s sanity in times of deep stress.
For example, finals are a trying time for many college students, and having the ability to take a mental health day or even a mental health couple of hours can be so important to keep going forward.
So, for me, I think that while mental health days are important, they need to be used to actually recuperate, and though that may come in many forms, like hanging out with friends, going on a walk, or going to the beach.
Mental health days should not be used as a chance to skip class or as an excuse for something that has nothing to do with mental health and everything to do with your procrastination.
However, as a college student, mental health days are necessary in my opinion. We, as college students, are burnt out and tired. With some professors not accepting an excused absence without a doctor’s note, we cannot even use our three excused absences as a mental health day because we might need to save them for when we are physically ill. I think we should have two mandatory mental health days a semester. It would increase productivity and make most people really happy.
–May 15, 2026–
