There is something quite insidious about these studies: they all justify their own existence and the continued growth of a community of people that seeks to solve student’s mental “problems.”

The problem is that colleges should only be admitting people that can handle living on their own. Likewise, since going to a mental health professional will, for better or worse, often foreclose people from future study and many careers, students do so at their peril. Despite their protestations that “counselors” keep things confidential, there are a so many exceptions to these rules (that they are not up front with students about) and counselors rarely fight subpoenas or warrants (or simply disclose information when asked) that for most students, a university-connected counselor might as well be a dean.

Perhaps college administrators should stick to making sure the computers work and the buildings don’t fall down (concerns of all members of a university community), rather than trying to get inside the heads of students in a way that faculty would consider offensive. Indeed, despite faculty-members’ constant concerns about insurance and healthcare, administrators never seem too eager to insist that faculty be channeled into “counseling” for their problems.

Larry, at 11:05 am EST on March 29, 2006

Campus counselors should deal with problems like test anxiety, time management, and alcohol over-use. If a student is suffering from schizophrenia, major depression, or addiction, the student should be referred to an outside mental health provider. While student health insurance should cover most of the cost, universities need to get out of the business of playing doctor.

This may be a problem for rural campuses. Here they should look into privatizing the mental health services they provide now.

Mike, at 2:55 pm EST on March 29, 2006

Betty, Did it ever occur to you that there was something wrong with your son before he went to school and unlike most other students, he was simply ill-prepared to live on his own? I hate to be harsh on you, but it seems that your soon just couldn’t handle doing what most of us do on a daily basis: live independently and cope with stress. By the time we are 18, we know how to do it.

Larry, at 8:00 am EST on March 30, 2006

A view from the other side

I’d like to add a different perspective. I’m a graduate student. I’m also bipolar. I’ve had episodes of depression since I was a child and had learned to deal with it through family support and therapy. I was quite capable and independent and there was no reason to belive that college would present any real problems for me. However, like most people who suffer from bipolar disoder (and most schizophenics, too), my disease manifested fully, and without any particular provocation, when I was 20. Having learned how to deal with the flu, I suddenly had ebola.

Obviously, not everyone who has mental health problems in college follows this pattern, and I’m sure that many of them are having trouble with study skill and test anxiety. But it is naive to assume that we can know ahead of time when mental health problems will occur. And it is certainly not true that all such problems reflect a lack of preparation or coping skills. We can only educate ourselves and others about the warning signs and keep an eye out for them.

On another note, I tried, quite persistently, to get help from the health facilities at my (large, well-known) university. I got the run around like you would not believe. Everyone told me to talk to someone else, sometimes to the person who had refered me to them in the first place! Accomplishing anything while depressed is shockingly difficult; persevering in the face of this kind of bureaucratic disaster was almost impossible.

I think that the best and simplest thing that colleges can do is make it clear to students what resources are available and under what circumstances each one should be contacted. Because when a person really needs help is also when they are least able to ask or fight for it.

Katie, at 6:00 am EST on March 31, 2006