Why students should have mental health days | Hailey Hardcastle

Key wellness strategies & self-care / productivity tips

• Use scheduled “mental health rest days” when needed

  • As a student, the speaker used 3 mental health days per semester, as long as academics were still going well.
  • She frames these days as preventative support—sometimes students need them, sometimes they don’t, but having them available helps sustain wellbeing.

• Treat mental health like physical health

  • Mental health is presented as something everyone has, even without a diagnosis.
  • It can also show up physically (e.g., nausea, headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath), reinforcing that it deserves comparable care and support.

• Normalize asking for help early

  • The central message is that getting help is the hardest step, so systems should make help-seeking easier.
  • The law described aims to give structure so schools can notice patterns and refer students sooner—for example, if a student takes “too many” mental health days, they may receive a counselor check-in.

• Build stress management skills from a young age

  • Mental health days are positioned not just as time off, but as a way to teach self-care, stress management, and healthy coping habits.

• Take breaks even if they can’t be full days

  • “Not okay” is treated as valid.
  • Breaks can be a few moments to check in with yourself, rather than requiring an entire day.

• Pacing and avoiding burnout (productivity approach)

  • The speaker compares life to a long-distance race:
    • If you sprint early, you risk burnout or injury.
    • If you pace yourself, take things slowly at times, and adjust effort, you’re more likely to succeed long-term.

• Make mental health support accessible in schools

  • She argues that mental health crises are best met with school-based resources, similar to how CPR is taught.
  • Her vision includes training students with a toolkit of skills to respond to mental health crises—such as how to help a friend or classmate.

Presenters / sources

• Presenter: Hailey Hardcastle
• Production credits (from subtitles): Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier; Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz
• Policy source mentioned: Oregon House Bill 2191
• Community/organizational references: Students for a Healthy Oregon; Oregon Association of Student Councils; Oregon (context and research claim about youth suicide)