Media Room

Campus Mental Health Support

I came across an article about mental health support on campus and how there is a lack thereof. Many colleges and universities lack the staff support, funding and services to accurately address the issue of mental health for a host of students on campus and those coming in already taking meds and seeing licensed professional for psychiatric matters. The universities are not equipped to handle most situations and are finding themselves in a “crunch”. There is a growing need for mental health services and attention to students coping with ongoing disorders, so i guess the question is… what do they do? There is a budget and a growing demand but students do not want to foot the cost for most of it. Students at George Washington University will be charged an additional $1,667 in tuition next year, a jump of 3.4%. More than $830,000 of the resulting new revenue will pay for mental-health services.

In the article, a student complained that the process of seeking treatment was just too exhausting and says that its unfair to leave the responsibility of looking for help to the students. I do agree that it is a flaw in the system and to fix that, perhaps more of the staff can increase awareness and host events that reach out to students.

“While 83% of campus counseling centers say they maintain the right to refuse treatment to a student whose problems are beyond the staff’s capabilities, only 68% have written policies covering such situations and 43% of those with policies said the documents have been approved by legal counsel, according to a survey by the American College Counseling Association.”

Do you agree? I’m slightly indifferent.. isnt refusing to treat a student just as bad as ignoring a cry for help? Then again, if centers are not equipped to deal with certain problems, they should not be trying to. We certainly do not want students getting different ideas from a bunch of different people, complicating what theyre already going through.

Colleges have it tough and I hope that we can do something to drop the high rates of depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide and related concerns.

Here’s the link to the article: lists a bunch of different schools and what is going on with their mental health services and budgets.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mental-health-crunch-on-campus-1430082408?tesla=y