Elsaesser 10 GT 1

Renae Elsaesser

10 GT/2

Ms. Mary Jane Sasser

Independent Research I

February 18, 2020

A Call To Action: Helping Mentally Ill Students at The University of Maryland.

For students, the college experience connotes independence, freedom, new academic and

social horizons, and most of all, happiness. However, this experience is quickly turning sour:

thousands of college students are suffering from high-risk mental health illnesses, some of which

have fatal consequences. In fact, suicide is now the second leading cause of death for students in

the college-age demographic (Pistorello, et al. 2). With increasing academic pressure and

declining mental health, some experts predict that suicide may soon become the leading cause of

death among college-aged students (Malla, et al.). The 22-year old demographic shows the

greatest number of deaths by suicide, and many 22-year olds are facing mental illnesses on their

college campuses, especially at the University of Maryland, College Park (Duffy, et al.). In 2018,

UMD’s Behavioral Health Center saw 3,441 individual visits in which 39% of admitted patients

reported suicidal thoughts (Annual Report 11). Furthermore, UMD’s treatment of mentally ill

students does not always ensure students’ safety and long-term mental well-being (Wolf). With

these statistics in mind, it is imperative that UMD implements beneficial procedures to ensure

the safety and well-being of its students. To bolster treatment for mental illness and long-

term recovery, UMD’s crisis protocols should be revised by improving the on-campus

treatment center, implementing a behavioral intervention team, and training residential

assistants (RA) on how to support mentally ill students.

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Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorder,

personality disorders, and eating disorders significantly alter how a person feels, thinks, behaves,

and interacts. Depression and anxiety become a concerning mental illness when people have a

significant challenge of coping with normal activities, including going to work or playing a sport.

Psychosis is a less common mental illness that includes schizophrenia and bipolar mood

disorder, where people lose touch with reality and experience delusion and serious guilt. Mental

illnesses are most often a combination of social and physical disorders; clinical depression, for

example, is a chemical imbalance in the brain, while other illnesses may be more socially-

resultant (Malla, et al.). Mental illnesses can affect anyone regardless of age, socioeconomic

status, gender, income, social status, race, spirituality, and sexual orientation. The severity for

mental illnesses varies and can be attributed to physical, social, hormonal, genetic, and

environmental factors. Some mental illnesses are less severe and rarely impede normal mental

function, such as various phobias including arachnophobia, but other illnesses demand greater

attention, and even hospital-based psychiatric care (“What Is Mental Illness”).

When a student experiencing suicidal thoughts reaches out to UMD staff for mental

health support, the university calls the police to handcuff the student and take them to a hospital.

After the student is brought to the hospital for evaluation, they will receive an email from the

university that informs the student that they are unable to reside on campus until the student

meets with a university psychiatrist to assess the students’ eligibility to stay on campus

(Atelsek). However, when a student at UMD is struggling and turns to the campus counseling

center, it is difficult to get an appointment. For example, when Faye Barret, a student at UMD,

first reached out for therapy and psychiatric care at the counseling center, it took her more than a

month to get an appointment because of the waitlist (Atelsek 25). Her only on-campus
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alternative was Help Center, a peer-supported, crisis intervention hotline. Unfortunately, the

University failed to acknowledge the Help Center and Faye was unaware that it was an option

(“UMD Help Center”).

Suicidal individuals do not always act in their best interests but base their actions on a

self-destructive inner voice. Some suicidal individuals experience an “anti-self”, which is formed

from traumatic life experiences and can cause patients to believe they are worthless, undeserving

of love, or even that they do not deserve to live (Orden). The battle between one’s actual self and

anti-self is a conflict that many with suicidal thoughts experience; unfortunately, this battle is

often one of life or death. There are many important steps to properly help a suicidal individual,

including connecting them with the parts of life that they want to live and reminding them of

what makes them happy. It is important to encourage activities that have helped them feel better

in the past and help them create meaning out of their struggles. Feeling isolated and alone is a

major precursor for suicide, but reminding suidical individuals that they matter and are not alone

is one of the best steps communities can take (Firestone).

Signs of Suicide (SOS) is a program that promotes the prognosis of suicide as a mental

illness and teaches students how to react to suicidal warning signs of others (Aseltine, et al). The

main goal of SOS is to reach a level where students treat suicide as an emergency and recognize

its seriousness. SOS created an action plan, Acknowledge Care Tell, ACT, which they hope will

become as familiar and important as other well-known acronyms such as “CPR”. The first step

in ACT is to acknowledge suicidal signs and take them seriously. The ‘C’ stands for care and

directs a caregiver or helper to express how much they care for the patient and how to act

according to the patient’s best interest. The ‘T’ stands for tell and stresses the importance of

seeking help and working with psychological and psychiatric staff. Through SOS, students’
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acknowledgment and attitudes toward suicide, depression, help-seeking behavior, suicide

ideation, and suicide attempts have changed greatly.

UMD can standardize the “ACT” protocol and prioritize mental health on campus

(Aseltine, et al). Steps can be taken to show concern for students struggling and make them

much more likely to choose life over death. Stressing that “mental illness is like any other

medical illness” is the best way to fight against the stigma surrounding mental health (Malla et

al.). Recognizing the early signs and symptoms of mental illness and accessing effective

treatment as early as possible is important. The earlier treatment starts, the better the outcome. In

addition, many colleges have begun implementing Behavioral Intervention teams. These teams

of mental health professionals strive to promote individual safety by partnering with larger

communities (Keyes 9). Combining campus offices together into one team ensures

communication so the student can receive the best possible care. Behavioral Intervention teams

are composed of several campus offices that help students in distress, including the counseling

service, dean of students, and the campus police (Eidle et al.). Currently, the university is only

concerned about students’ immediate safety, and the university's liability if something were to

happen to the student in an on-campus residence. Moving forward, the university needs to shift

its concern towards the students’ long-term wellbeing.

Universities require mandatory leave when many students would feel most comfortable

receiving help on campus. If students have an unsupportive home to return to, or no access to

comprehensive treatment away from school, being sent home may ultimately increase their risk

of danger (Morris, et al. 5). A freshman at Princeton University sought help from the school’s

health center to report his suicide attempt and was taken to the hospital. When he woke up in the

morning, he received a phone call from Princeton’s Director of Student Life, notifying the
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student that he was no longer allowed to return to his dorm or attend any classes on campus. The

student, remaining anonymous, felt as if the university was more worried about keeping its

prestigious reputation and avoiding liability instead of being concerned about the students’

mental health. The student reflected that the university believed if he remained on campus he

would “blight the landscape and take away from the purity of the institution—the Orange

Bubble, as [the school] call it, where everyone is supposed to be happy and high-functioning”

(Aviv).

Understanding why universities have the non-beneficial policy of mandatory leave,

applying new knowledge to existing systems, and changing UMD’s current protocols would

improve mental health on campus and therefore help the next generation of college

students. Universities that require mandatory leave make it difficult for mentally ill students to

return to school by taking away housing and making them feel unwelcome. Universities enforce

these rules due to the possibility of lawsuits if students harm themselves. After a suicide, many

universities face lawsuits, with the student’s family claiming that the school did “too little too

late”. In 2009 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a student’s family claimed that

administrators and faculty knew of the student’s mental illnesses, but did not take the adequate

steps to ensure his safety (Jolicoeur). In order to prevent suicide and therefore subsequent

family-based litigation, most university-based crisis intervention occurs when the student is

dangerously at risk. Mental health deteriorates over time and mentally ill students who are not

treated face more serious consequences (Dewa). Immediate intervention will be more efficacious

to increase long-term mental health; therefore, institutions like UMD should intervene sooner.

Due to the concentration of resources, trusted adults, and supportive classmates available on

campus, UMD should keep students on campus instead of sending them home.
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Currently, at the UMD Health Center, there are four psychiatrists and six therapists.

However, 10 mental health professionals are not enough to serve the population of over 40,500

students (“UMD Health Center”). During her junior year at the University of Maryland,

Adrienne Baer reached out to the counseling center after losing her grandparents and a high

school friend. Baer was asked on the phone whether she was experiencing an emergency, but

having no idea what the definition of an emergency was, she replied no and was moved to the

end of the waiting list. Disappointed in the lack of availability in mental health resources on her

campus, she hung up the phone and emailed the Counseling Center. “I am currently struggling

with the issues I wanted to discuss with a therapist or counselor, but even I don’t know how I’ll

be in 24 hours, let alone 2 weeks,” Baer proclaimed (Thielking). Luckily, Baer’s email got the

attention of the Counseling Center, but many other students every day are left alone to face their

problems. Students are stuck on waitlists for months during stressful times in their lives such as

midterms and finals. According to Dr. Victor Schwartz, medical director of the Jed Foundation,

there is a proper recommendation of one counselor per 1,000 college students. UMD needs to

hire at least thirty-one new counselors to properly meet the needs of students struggling with

mental illnesses and eliminate the large waitlist.

The university must increase face-to-face contact with college students experiencing

mental stress. Even though spending a few weeks to months on a waitlist may not seem harmful,

college students are facing academic and peer pressure along with their mental illnesses. A

shocking 90 percent of people who die by suicide have shown signs of a mental health illness

(Isometsä et al.). Instead of getting support in a timely manner, students must face their mental

illness by themselves for weeks, and decide whether it is worth it to be alive for another month

for the Counseling Center to reach their name. Many suicides occur without warning even when
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someone may seem to have had a perfectly normal day. The student may not always share their

suicidal plans with others, but suicide can be prevented by giving immediate attention to those

who seek mental health care.

Many college students are stuck on wait lists for weeks before receiving help from their

university. Before dying from an overdose during the week of finals, Jason Arkin, a student at

Northwestern University, reached out to the college counseling center, but due to the waitlist, he

was turned to a private practice and only had two phone calls with the school counselor (Alters).

This anecdote provides first-hand evidence of the importance of quick responses by the mental

health teams at universities. In 2015, Scholars Promoting and Revitalizing Care (SPARC), a

group of students at UMD, led a campaign titled “30 Days Too Late”, spreading the message that

students at a time of crisis cannot wait thirty days for an appointment. SPARC’s mission for the

campaign was to increase funding for the Counseling Center, create an emergency action plan if

the wait time increased past seven days, and have sixteen counseling sessions available instead

of eight (Diamondback).

For Faye and many other students on campus, the fear of getting punished for a mental

health disorder is increasing stigma which may result in fatal consequences (Aviv). With rising

academic and peer pressure, stigma for mental health disorders are ever-increasing, especially at

a competitive institution like UMD (Eva). The various UMD campus offices which help students

in distress must form an alliance to change the current university policy in an effort to have open

conversations on changing the societal perception of suicide. A great start for the UMD to take to

fight against the stigma of seeking out for help is implementing an Active Minds chapter. Active

Minds is a nonprofit organization benefiting 7.3 million college students that trains students on

the warning signs of students struggling and encourages a change in conversation on mental
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health (“Changing the Conversation about Mental Health”). However, since many students want

to remain discreet due to fear of being stigmatized, there are programs such as the Speakers

Bureau program, through which others are able to share their mental health stories to start the

conversation on campuses and make students recognize that it is okay to seek help with their

feelings (Alters).

UMD wants to make the students feel welcome on campus, but instead, they are making

them feel unwelcome due to their mental health state. One UMD student, Faye Barrett,

participated in several interviews after being barred from returning to her residence in Spring

2018 (Atelsek). After checking herself into the hospital for a panic attack, she received an email

from resident life stating that she could not come back to her on-campus home. She said she was

afraid to reach out to anyone, and she had no idea what to do upon release from the hospital. It

took Faye two days to be cleared to return to her residence, and she was unable to access basic

necessities such as food, her schoolwork, and her clothes (Atelsek). Faye spoke out and said that

“after an event like hospitalization, there should be comfort and love, not a policy that could

trigger a dangerous or unhealthy response. It takes strength and bravery to get help for a mood

disorder, and instead I was punished” (Wolf). Keeping students on campus has proven to be

more beneficial, as the rate of suicide among students who do not attend college is twice the rate

of college attendees (Shwartz). Removing every student with a mental illness would remove

several students who might be better off remaining in school. There are many important steps to

properly help a suicidal individual, including connecting them with the parts of life that they

want to live and reminding them of what makes them happy (Blasher). Keeping college students

on campus will keep them more occupied with schoolwork and more socially connected.
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In conclusion, Faye Barret was able to return to campus, but is still terrified that she will

be booted from her housing if she reaches out to the university for help (Bauer-Wolf). Faye’s

story shows the lasting negative effects this policy can have on a student at UMD by making

students feel unwanted on campus. Colleges need to help students make a plan for getting back

on the right track and easing back into the college environment. It should not be such a harsh

policy, taking away the comfort students find in their residence and robbing them of any

happiness or sense of safety they once had. The university can take steps to intervene earlier in

students’ mental health and avoid liability at the same time. A great start for UMD is to work to

form an alliance between campus offices and implement an Active Minds chapter to have open

conversations about mental health.

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