The University faces a very serious mental health problem among its students, something that remains a strong underlying concern at any college. Though there are a good deal of mental health services provided by the University, they are far from perfect. But we are not alone in facing this problem. Our neighboring school, The College of William and Mary, is especially concerned with this problem, and there is a great deal we can learn from it about how to effectively promote mental health.
For the William and Mary community, mental health is an issue on the forefront of students’ and administrators’ minds. The school has had eight suicides in the last five years and four suicides within this last year alone. This rate is well above the national average for suicides in colleges and has led William and Mary to face stigmatization as a depressing school. Students and faculty are confronting the mental health crisis through institutional and cultural change.
Institutionally, William and Mary is still working to improve its mental health systems. The school provides 24-hour on call service, free mental health screenings and an associate vice president for Health & Wellness. While this might seem good on paper, William and Mary students point out the resources are lacking in a few areas. Students who go to get help at the counseling center are most likely not going to meet with a licensed psychiatrist. This can lead to frustration on the part of those who visit looking for help, discouraging them from coming back. Students have also expressed frustration with the millions of dollars being spent on sports stadiums while the administration underfunds mental health services.
What the University can learn from this is that when students seek mental health help, the help has to be there and prepared every time. It isn’t easy to reach out for help, and making a student feel comfortable on his first visit should be the goal. Luckily, the University’s main mental health resource, Counseling and Psychological Services, helps students in a variety of ways and is staffed by licensed psychotherapists. However, the limited hours and days of potential waiting for appointments hamper CAPS’ ability to help students effectively. Raising the budget of the service by even just a half million dollars, which is more than what Mike London makes each year, is not an unreasonable price to put on providing more effective mental health assistance.
Culturally, there are quite a few initiatives to change the view of mental health at William and Mary. The college has a mental health awareness week similar to the one we have at the University. Additionally, there is an “Anti-Stigma” campaign run by the administration. While these are noble causes, it is questionable how effective they are. A William and Mary columnist points out there is still a stigma against mental health at the school and doesn’t give any indication of positive change. Seeing as William and Mary has continued to have a suicide problem for years after these awareness campaigns were initiated, I think it’s safe to say they are not effective by themselves.
Are these campaigns, which we have at the University as well, really creating positive change? These events might have some positive effects, but alone they don’t seem to be enough. As fellow Opinion columnist Alex Mink pointed out, public events may not be helpful in changing perceptions about the mental health stigma. The stigma against mental health isn’t going to go away due to a week of awareness. More concrete changes, like making the University community less cut-throat or empowering students and professors to help with mental health problems, could go much further in the effort to alleviate mental health issues at the University. Public events are great, but as long as they fail to have a significant impact on the people who need help they will need to be supplemented by other initiatives.
William and Mary has paid a price for its lax policy on mental health. Just now the administration is starting new initiatives and putting more money into its mental health programs. But eight student deaths later is too late. As last year showed us, is it all too possible that tragedy may strike here too. I urge the administration and students to learn from the experience of William and Mary; institute changes now so we might prevent a tragedy, instead of in response to one.
Bobby Doyle is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at b.doyle@cavalierdaliy.com.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated CAPS is staffed by licensed psychiatrists, when in fact it is staffed by licensed psychotherapists.
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