BY SANDRA GUY
Even before the coronavirus dealt college students an unfathomable blow to their well-beings — mentally and potentially physically — counseling centers reported increases in students’ rates of anxiety and depression.
Nearly six in 10 (58.9 percent) students who visited college counseling centers in 2019, prior to the pandemic, had anxiety, making it the top mental-health concern for the eighth year in a row, according to a survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors.
The pandemic uncertainty continues to hang over everyone like a cloud, so it’s prescient to recognize National Suicide Prevention Week Sept. 6-12.
Experts advise students, even before they’ve chosen a college and certainly after they’re enrolled, to contact school representatives to ask questions such as these:
* How easily may I access services such as individual and group counseling? Would I require a referral?
* Are these services free, or do they cost money?
* Are disability services integrated into classes?
Other ways to find the right mental-health support can be found at https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-barriers-mental-health/
Though cultural stigmas surrounding anxiety, depression and suicide, for both men and women, remain deeply embedded, the coronavirus pandemic has prompted more people — parents, teachers, teens, healthcare providers and COVID-19 survivors and their families — to cry out for help, unapologetically.
“We know people suffer in isolation because many don’t know where to go for help, and the people around them may not feel equipped to provide the support the (people suffering) need and deserve,” said Alexa James, executive director of the Chicago affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). text “NAMI” to 741741
NAMI helps people cut through the complicated system of getting help, finding the right healthcare provider and figuring out insurance coverage. The NAMI Helpline can be reached at 1-800-950-NAMI or by texting NAMI to 741741.
“If you’re suffering, anxious and depressed, the energy required to negotiate the system can be a significant barrier,” James said.
Another barrier is recognizing when someone is suicidal, since some people experience a jovial or uplifted mood and feel calm, relaxed and relieved when they decide to die by suicide, James said.
For some, suicide can be an impulsive act, while for others, it’s the result of weeks or months of consideration, he said.
People considering suicide may also:
- Say they feel like they’re a burden to their families or significant others.
- Become increasingly isolated.
- Exhibit greater than usual anxiety.
- Feel paralyzed by chronic pain.
- Show increased anger or irritability or a sense of shame and humiliation.
- Sleep or eat more or less than usual.
- Talk about wanting to die.
- Plan ways to carry out suicide.
Suicide prevention hotlines are also available, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, which provides free and confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for people and their family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. The service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.
The key is to reach out for help, and do so quickly.
Sandra Guy 