Support, Advocacy, Community

Who we are

Diverge is student run startup founded at Dalhousie University. We provide support for students living with diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health conditions, neurodivergence, or identify as a caretaker/family member. Further, we advocate and strive to make change in these communities. Supporters and those wanting to expand their knowledge on the topic are always welcome.

What we do

We prioritize the wellbeing of our community through both connection on-campus and online. We have forever evolving goals, with our current being the creation of a funding aid for caregiver students at Dalhousie University.

Diverge prides itself on a for the community, by the community moto, hoping to gain as much knowledge as we share.

Visitors to the site have free access to our blog, platforms, events* and more.

*Some events are by fee or donation

Why we do it

If you are going to struggle with mental health or neurodivergence in your lifetime, it will most-likely be in your university years.

University is one of the most common times in a persons life to show clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as one of the first places where underlying and undiagnosed neurodivergence can start to become an issue for some. This can be especially prevalent among incoming first-year students, with rates higher at the end of the first year. Despite this, students are least likely to be diagnosed in Canada.

While many existing resources at Dalhousie aim to ameliorate the lives of these students, the resources revolve primarily around academia, and aren’t always accessible or apply to everyone’s unique experiences, and even with academic support, students are still left navigating life on their own.

Community guidance can be an important first step to understanding yourself and what you need. By meeting those who are going through similar experiences in your community, as well as discussing your own experiences, it is possible to better understand your own differences and be able to better navigate the resources that exist around you.

Outside of support, there is not nearly enough resources or knowledge on neurodivergence and mental health in contemporary Canada. While the conversations exist, we are only just beginning to understand how to support those in need. There is talk of funding, but never where it is needed most (i.e acute care, public training, specific disorders, and more).

Diverge believes in the benefit of social organization, and if we are many with voices to be heard, we will be able to improve the overall understanding of neurodivergence, mental health and caretaking in the near future of Canada. We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew, but by starting small within our community of students, we hope to expand and get the attention of those who need to hear our voices.

The information for this section was provided by Mach Gaensslen Foundation of Canada.