Learning to cope on campus
Some Pa. colleges expand counseling
READING, Pa. (AP) — Going away to college can be stressful.
There are roommates to meet, academic challenges to conquer and social niches to carve out.
Some students feel they need help to cope. Others have preexisting anxiety or medical conditions that may be worsened by stress. Still others are juggling more than they can handle.
All of this is putting a strain on a system designed to handle the “cuts and scratches” of the mental- illness spectrum, college mental- health professionals say.
“There are days when every hour is booked,” said Brenda J. Ingram-Wallace, associate professor of psychology and director of counseling services at Albright College’s Gable Health and Counseling Center. “Before, we never had hours of free time, but at least there may have been time to breathe.”
The center provides counseling to about 135 students each year, out of approximately 1,750 enrolled on Albright’s campus in Reading, roughly 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia and east of Harrisburg.
It’s not clear why more students are seeking help.
“Maybe it’s because of the culture on TV where people lay their problems out on talk shows, but it seems like being in therapy isn’t such a stigma,” said Bruce S. Sharkin, director of university counseling services at Kutztown University, located about 15 miles northeast of Reading and southwest of Allentown. “Even Tony Soprano was in therapy.”
Sometimes students arriving at college have a mental-health history that extends back to childhood.
“It’s not even surprising anymore, it’s more typical now than this is the first time they’ve had any problem before,” Sharkin said.
Pennsylvania State University’s campus in Reading, Penn State Berks, enrolls about 2,660 students. The campus reported treating 82 students — a record number — in the spring semester of 2009, up 32 percent from 2002.
Students who may have been unable to attend college 30 years ago now can, thanks to improvements in mental-health services and medication, said Amy Witt-Browder, a licensed professional counselor at Penn State Berks Counseling Services.
But sometimes students who once took care of themselves at home — or had parents to watch over them — make some missteps once they go away to college, Witt-Browder said. Less sleep, more alcohol and forgetting to take medication can be problematic for students with mental illness, she said.
Penn State, with roughly 44,000 students enrolled at its main campus in State College, sees about 3,000 students in assessment and counseling and an additional 5,000 through its campus-outreach programs each year.
A November 2007 survey at Penn State’s main campus showed that 10 percent of students are on, or have been on, some type of psychiatric medication, said Mary Anne Knapp, a clinical social worker at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services at State College.
According to a fall 2008 national college-health assessment by the American College Health Association, which surveyed nearly 27,000 students at 40 colleges across the country:
U47 percent reported feelings of hopelessness during the past 12 months.
U49 percent, feelings of overwhelming anxiety.
U31 percent, feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function.
U6 percent, that they had seriously considered suicide.
In response to demand, mental-health professionals say they’ve expanded their services and do extensive outreach on campus to reach more students. They also train faculty, staff and resident assistants to be on the lookout for students in crisis.
Albright had a record 243 students at its fall depression screening this year. Where one person used to do all of the mental-health counseling at Albright, now four professionals share the job.
“It was a function of what the students needed — now we have experts in eating disorders, drugs and alcohol, grieving and loss,” Ingram-Wallace said.
As students become more open about seeking help, colleges have become better at advertising their counseling services, said Dr. Claire Murphy, director of health of the Health and Wellness Center at Alvernia University, which has about 2,800 undergraduate, graduate and continuing-education students enrolled on its primary campus near Reading.
No matter what students need, officials at these colleges say crisis appointments are available to students within 48 hours. And counselors are available to talk to those who are concerned about a student.