All About Mental Health Days

Throughout the school year, in compliance with state law, IMSA students are granted five on-campus or off-campus mental health days (MHD) to detox from their stressful school days. Students usually take mental health days because they are overworked and unable to balance their work and extracurriculars effectively.

On-campus mental health days require students to wake up and be in the main building by 9:00 am to check. If students miss their morning check-in, their mental health day will become an unexcused absence. Additionally, students will have to check in again between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm with a counselor (times are subject to change depending on events, assemblies, etc). As mental health days are used for stressed students, it is important to meet with counselors so they know you are doing well. Off-campus mental health days require students to meet with a counselor once they arrive back on campus. 

Students at IMSA are often overworked, juggling extracurriculars, homework, and their personal lives, all while living by themselves. Therefore, mental health days allow them to step back from the struggle of school and take some time for themselves. During these days, students catch up on piled-up homework, take naps, and just take a break. 

IMSA students are piled up with homework but still have to manage many other aspects of their lives. MHDs allow them a little time to themselves so they can catch up on their lives and feel a little less stressed by the end of the day. 

Students can access the Mental Health Day form on the IMSA website, open to all students. A parent/guardian, resident counselor, or IMSA counselor must fill it out prior to their MHD, allowing students to take time to themselves and recharge. 

*Note: This article originally published on October 29, 2024, but contained some errors related to the Mental Health Day request process. It has been republished with these corrections.