Are Colleges Failing Their Mentally Ill Students? Ctd

A reader writes:

I find this thread very interesting, though not surprising. I was suicidal in college for a time, and I did get counseling for depression. And it helped, a lot. But I never, ever admitted to anyone on campus that I was suicidal. I can’t remember why, exactly, but I knew the reaction from admin would make things worse. I believe the Resident Advisers told us during orientation that they were required to report anyone who acknowledged suicidal tendencies, so that might have been the tip off that something was up.

What’s especially strange to me is that from my perspective, it seems like everyone goes through a time where they feel somewhat suicidal.

I’m sure the intensity varies, but I suspect everyone considers it at some point. I think it’s pretty normal, and natural, and most people reject it. Which is good. But the fact that you can’t acknowledge those kinds of feelings without triggering a massive over-the-top freakout from people who are supposed to be there to help you is very counter productive. Even acknowledging having had suicidal thoughts in the past sends therapists spinning – the only time the student counselor I saw in graduate school really pressed me on anything was when I admitted to having been suicidal in college, and she clarified several times that I wasn’t suicidal anymore.

In a way, this whole debate seems similar to the counseling for child molesters discussion. Mandatory reporting in both cases drives the sufferer underground where they can’t get the help they need and are more likely to act on their thoughts. And that’s not good for anyone.

Another shares an old story:

I was a law student working in the library one night about 20 years ago now, when a woman came to the desk where my co-worker and I were softly chatting and said “Excuse me, I’m sorry, what did you say?” At first we responded normally, but after she repeated this phrase like a stuck record about the sixth time and threw in a “what did you say about being submissive?” we ignored her and she wandered off.  After we started getting reports about her saying odd things to other students, I called the campus police – not sure what else to do.  I really just wanted to make sure she was safe, because she didn’t seem very functional.  They ended up taking her out of the library in handcuffs.

I have no idea what happened after that, though I later heard she was a staff member who had been discharged as a result of mental illness and had been trying to look up information about the Americans with Disabilities Act, to the extent that here poor, afflicted brain would let her.  It’s not just suicide we don’t know how to handle, it’s any malfunctioning brain.  And sadly, I doubt the response today would be any different than it was 20 years ago.

Another with present-day experience:

As a human resources management professor, I feel sensitive to the needs of students with mental health issues. I include a statement relating to Americans with Disabilities Act in all of my syllabi to let any student know that my university and I are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to any student in need. However, helping any student with a mental health problem is difficult.  Might I note that:

1) Does any entity or organization in the U.S. really do a good job handling mental health issues?

2) We have ADA, the Privacy Rule of HIPAA, and FERPA all interacting to cause a lot of apprehension and confusion among professors.  While I’m not a lawyer, I understand all of these laws; yet I’m not a lawyer and many times have to make numerous phone calls to even understand what I can, can’t, should, or shouldn’t do.

3) My employer has several resources available to help educate professors and to help students in need of mental health treatment. However, I cannot force a student to seek help.  I can only recommend.  I can notify the proper people on campus if I suspect a student needs help, and those people can contact that student.  That student doesn’t have to accept the help.  Unless the student poses an immediate threat to him or herself, a professor, or classmates, I can’t do much except make it known that resources are available.

In the wake of the Virginia Teach shootings, I know many of my colleagues have increased their efforts the help those with mental health issues.  That is, if we can determine symptoms correctly.  I mentioned I have an ADA statement in my syllabus, which asks students to contact me as soon as possible so we can agree on reasonable accommodation. What if a student doesn’t tell me? I have a graduate student this semester that demonstrates clear impulse control and manic behaviors.  I and other faculty members have discussed his behaviors with him. We cannot make clinical diagnoses but can recommend counseling services.  Even doing that carries a risk. What if we’re wrong?  In this case, the student came to us after several meetings over months and several demonstrations of inappropriate behaviors to finally tell us he has a problem. Now, almost halfway into the semester, we can try to get him help, if he accepts it.

How many of your readers have ever had a student tell them that he went through double-agent espionage training? That the Russians and Americans are both after him?  That his former girlfriend injected him with a tracking device?  That his own mother is a Russian agent? And … oh … he received military training and carries a licensed weapon. How safe would they feel? All you can do is notify the proper people on campus, hope he doesn’t get upset with you, and takes the help offered. It’s easy to say higher ed has failed, but how many of your readers have grappled with these issues? It’s not as simple as going up to a student and saying, “Hey, I think you have a mental health problem…let’s walk to the counselor.” We’re not trained lawyers or clinical psychologists, but most of us are trying very hard to do what’s in the best interests of affected students AND their classmates.