OPINION: Universities Talk About Mental Health But Students Talk to Each Other

By: Anisha Bhatnagar

Since the 2000s, there has been a large cultural shift to place importance on mental health. Universities were particularly champions of this, and continue to be. They have a unique platform that allows them to directly reach students, and most universities take full advantage of this opportunity. They publish lists of resources for students to access, hold mental health walks, events, and programs.

The Issue At Hand:

However, most students who suffer from mental health disorders, especially those who are high functioning (such as students with HFD, high functioning depression), are avidly against using mental health resources. Attending a small college, I have seen how isolating it can be for those who are struggling. They tend to be hindered by stigma surrounding counseling or mental health or are afraid of social repercussions. To have the motivation to overcome these hurdles to seek help becomes such a challenge that most cannot overcome. This does not even scratch the surface of the access to professional mental health sources in regards to convenient timing, locations, etc. In fact, when it is time to access these resources, waiting times can lead to weeks of delays. These challenges have created an astounding statistic: 75% of college students experiencing mental health challenges reached out to their peers.

This brings us to our central question: how can we bring help to students? Despite significant efforts, students still struggle to get access to the support they need.

The Solution:

We must meet students where they are at. Peer-to-peer counseling has begun to be integrated into many mental health programs, which has been extremely helpful. These have cut out many challenges of getting students to adequate mental health resources, and being a peer-to-peer counselor myself, I can firsthand attest to the positive impact it has on students. However, reaching out to a peer counseling resource can also be daunting, and students are still more likely to turn to their friends rather than a formal resource. For this reason, I am suggesting that schools create informal peer counseling training. This training does not need to, and should not, be extensive. The goal of creating a program like this is to give students a basis for how to help those around them and make it accessible.

Benefits:

The benefits of such a program extend beyond just bringing help to those who need it. It gives a foundation for students to later seek professional help because it de-stigmatizes mental health conversations by not requiring a label for it.

This is also beneficial for the peers whom students confide in. In fact, 45% of peer counselors primarily do it for the sense of purpose and satisfaction it provides them. Keeping the program brief and non-committal will allow more students to engage, and also provide avenues for them to become peer-to-peer counselors if they find they enjoy work like this.

Integration:

When it comes to integrating a program such as this, it will be easy to add it to orientation or required first-year classes. Students may not be interested in attending a meeting or informational session on such a program due to the stigma surrounding it, so bringing it to a space they are already in will help meet them where they are.

Summary:

Though universities and institutions have made immense progress in mental health promotion, they still struggle to reach students, and to overcome this, we must meet them where they are at. To do so, we must introduce the idea of informal mental health training for peers to support each other. This has resounding benefits beyond immediately helping struggling students.

Anisha Bhatnagar is a member of the Council on Student Wellbeing and is a sophomore studying Biology in the Siena University / Albany Medical College B.A./M.D. Program.