Comments on: Focusing on College Students’ Mental Health (For the Benefit of the Neurotypical)

By: kitrona

kitrona — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:09 +0000

This is incredibly depressing, but still something that I think needs to have a spotlight shined on it so people might see that it’s so wrong.

By: notemily

notemily — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:48:10 +0000

My school was OK about this stuff, despite having a school shooting in 1991, because most of the kids there had SOME kind of mental health issue, whether it was ADD or Asperger’s or anxiety or depression or bipolar disorder or any number of other things. If they tried to kick out all the neuro-atypical students, they’d have a very small school.

I did once email the Residence Director about a student (bipolar, I think) who said he wanted to kill himself. I don’t know what she did about it, but he wasn’t in school for the rest of the semester (I think he came back later, but I’m not sure). I always feel really torn about that kind of situation because people who admit to suicidal thoughts are treated as if they’re small children, and often put in institutions where their autonomy is completely taken away, which might make them less likely to talk about their suicidal impulses (you think?). So I didn’t want this guy to kill himself, but I also didn’t want him to be treated like that. I hope the RD managed to get him some help without having to institutionalize him.
.-= notemily´s last blog ..Quiz: Kishi Creation or Fashionista Flop? =-.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:35:36 +0000

I was forced to take a medical leave because of my depression. It was not at all beneficial. The opposite. I never went back.

By: SarahE

SarahE — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:46:17 +0000

I figured I’d throw in my two cents. I go to Rensselaer Polytech, and am counselled by a social worker and a psychiatrist in Dr Anderson’s Counselling Center. They have done great work in helping me live with my OCD and panic attacks, as well as confront potential triggers (I was sexually assaulted before I went to college) on campus. I’d have to say that RPI does a very good job of making the counselors seem approachable and not a “last resort” for “weirdos”, which is what Dr Anderson’s statement (sadly) comes across as saying. I think something like 75 to 80 percent of the undergrads here go to the center at least once.
It’s probably worth noting that all sessions are confidential, and are not reported to the dean of students office unless someone needs to take a leave of absence (which I almost had to do — and even then, I don’t think the dean’s office needs to know about it). I know it’s not that way at other schools (Boston University, for example), which is just shameful.

By: thetroubleis

thetroubleis — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:14:46 +0000

Wow, this makes me feel like crap. I've already missed a semester because of my mental health issues and this really just makes me not want to ask for help at all. The Disability services office at my current school sucks, but I am hopeful that where ever I transfer to will be better. .-= thetroubleis´s last blog ..On work. =-.

By: sanabituranima

sanabituranima — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:28:44 +0000

Wow! I am furious right now. How *dare* they? I don’t know much about US Law, but that has got to be an ADA/IDEA violation.

I went to Oxford University, didn’t receive adequate accomodations for my disabilities and couldn’t cope. I got kicked out, developed severe mental health problems and almost died.

I’m in my first term at Durham University and it’s so different. They really are properly accessible, and they don’t make me feel bad for asking for help. Even though I now need MORE accomodations because of the mental health stuff.
.-= sanabituranima´s last blog ..A murderer and a thief =-.

By: CameoGold

CameoGold — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:32:49 +0000

When I was in grad school, I went to the counseling center for help with severe depression. I was warmly encouraged to take time out from school until I got better – they would help work things out with my department, and it wouldn’t reflect badly on me. I happily consented to that. But they didn’t explain that by withdrawing, I lost all access to their counseling services because I was no longer a current student. In hindsight I felt stupid for not realizing that was how it would work – they certainly acted as though I was stupid for it – but they had been so full of reassurances, so seemingly eager to help, that it really seemed like a nasty trick for them not to mention that key detail. It was a brilliant “gotcha!” and really left me feeling that I was at fault. So there I was, with crippling depression, no job prospects, just kicked out of school – no access to mental health care. Needless to say, I never finished my degree. I spent most of the next 5 years in bed, and if I didn’t have my husband to keep a roof over my head, I may have ended up somewhere much worse.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:32:15 +0000

That’s the odd thing about mental health issues in college environments. A lot of people who report us weirdos to authorities are operating under the illusion that they’re “just trying to help.” I think perhaps some of the people who told the Dean of Students’ office about me were thinking of themselves as Good Samaritans, who were perhaps preventing a suicide. But…at some point “trying to help” merges with neuro-atypical witch-hunting in a very ableist way. I tried telling one of the people I lived near that I’m an Asperger’s autistic, and that things which seem “scary” to other people are pretty much my normal mode of functioning. Didn’t stop people from e-mailing the DoS over every “weird” thing they overheard from then on. So I can’t help but think that while much of the initial concern over my behavior may have been couched in the language of “trying to help,” in actuality people were really more concerned about living in the same suite as a neuro-atypical person.

People who are genuinely concerned about others’ mental health *can* go about trying to help in a respectful way. Actually talking to the other person is a great step, like Kaitlyn’s professor did. But simply reporting us to the counseling center/Dean of Students/wherever? That is not helping, at all. That is engaging in an ableist witch hunt which causes us to be anxious and paranoid about which of our neighbors/classmates/professors is reporting on our behavior.
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..The Power of Self-Identification =-.

By: amandaw

amandaw — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:06:03 +0000

Kaitlyn, wow. The thing is, those were totally rational fears you had. Because it’s not at all out of the realm of possibility that those things would be happening. Thank goodness things turned out ok. I’m afraid things are just going to keep getting worse, slowly, over time, because no one cares about helping disabled students (the ones who don’t hit all the right sympathy spots, which is most of us) get through their life and succeed at their goals, they care about keeping themselves from being affected by us and our needs. And it’s never gonna get better for us for so long as that is the frame of mind.

By: notthemarimba

notthemarimba — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:57:14 +0000

Wow. This hit really, really close to home for me. I’ve actually not had many problems with professors/administrators in regards to my mental illness, but when I lived in the dorms, Housing was freaking terrible. After I attempted to kill myself, I was brought in for a meeting with my area supervisor and the head of housing. They treated me like I’d gotten busted for drinking or something, and wanted me to sign a waiver of confidentiality so they could talk to my therapist. Um, no. I found out later that my best friend (an RA in a different area of the dorms than the one I lived in, and the first person I contacted afterward) was pulled in for a similar meeting, where he was told that they didn’t want “people like her” (me) living in the dorms. And people wonder why I refuse to do anything that gives money to Housing…