October 6 through 12 is mental illness awareness week. How’d I learn this? A news post on a video game website. Not any notification through Stevens channels. Zero. In fact, I only learned that October 11 is National Depression Day from the Stevens Students Instagram — a date that doesn’t actually exist.
Let’s face it: a lot of Stevens students are stressed, anxious, or otherwise not in a perfect mental state. In the past few years, Stevens has had multiple student suicides: a relatively high proportion for our small campus size. Mental illness is an epidemic here on the Stevens campus, and I have not seen much “push” from administration to solve the issues.
Despite Stevens being a “stigma-free” campus, individuals are still uncomfortable talking about mental health. So naturally, it takes a big step for someone to walk into CAPS to make an appointment to seek help for themselves. And when someone takes this big step and isn’t welcomed with open arms, it can be demoralizing. It can discourage them from trying to seek help again. According to a 2018 Student Government Association (SGA) Survey, over 50% of students surveyed said they would be at least 50% more likely to schedule an appointment with CAPS if online scheduling were implemented. Something is intimidating them about making an appointment with CAPS — and that isn’t good for getting people the help they need.
This semester, I have heard multiple stories of difficulty scheduling appointments, CARE reports not being followed up on, or being outright denied because of a lack of capacity. While I can’t directly corroborate these reports, I have seen friends struggle and not be able to get the help they need.
CAPS changed their model this semester to initial 15 minute consultation to try to aid students — but this does not work. Students cannot be given mental health aid in 15 minutes; collecting basic information is not enough and people drop in for immediate help. A fast-food counseling model does not work and prevents everyone from receiving help.
The only help students can get is reaching out and talking to other students. However, it’s difficult for students to help each other when they haven’t received proper training, or need someone to talk to themselves. It’s hard for individuals to advocate for improving mental health support themselves when they are having their own mental health struggles. We need outside support. Despite its flaws, CAPS attempts to provide support, but it’s not enough. We need outside support above CAPS.
The SGA has advocated for more mental health aid for students, but every proposal has fallen flat. In 2018, the SGA advocated for and successfully created a wellness educator position under the guise of improving mental health aid on campus. Now that the position is filled, it’s difficult to point to exactly what they are doing to improve mental health on campus. When she introduced herself to me, she focused on physical health — not the area in which we need immediate help. She has taken over CARE Reports, but what is being done with them?
Additionally, the SGA promoted and President Farvardin approved mandatory training modules on mental health last fall. However, Christophe Pierre went back on the school’s word and decided not to mandate these training modules last semester. Administrators do not care about improving the student experience and improving students’ mental well-being. Faculty and staff have difficulty with even knowing the resources available to students for mental health, let alone understanding how to help students cope with mental illness. Heck, some faculty make jokes about suicide in class which absolutely does not help individuals suffering from mental illness. Mandatory modules are needed and would be a huge step towards trying to fix the mental health issues on campus.
The only consolation from the school is the appointment of the President’s Task Force on Mental Health. According to the email, the task force will meet only four times throughout the entire 2019-2020 academic year. The task force exists to make Stevens appear to be working towards improving the mental health of Stevens students. While they have yet to release any official documentation regarding their improvements on the mental health situation on campus, I am skeptical of the work they will accomplish — especially considering how infrequently they will be meeting. Let’s see the minutes.
We need help; we need advocates in the Stevens community who will push the envelope and care about students’ well-being. We need more support for students struggling with a loss or anxiety — not a singular five minute Instagram post, but concrete action from paid working adults at this school.
When will Stevens take the mental well-being of its students seriously?
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