Letter to the Editor: More administration support needed for mental health
November 26, 2012
Dear Editor,
Today I learned that Alyssa Weaver, the Weinberg junior who passed away last week, took her own life.
I didn't know Alyssa. I could've, though, because she was going to move into my apartment when she returned from studying abroad. We'd chatted on Facebook a few times. I had no idea how much we had in common.
Because here's the thing: Her tragic story was very close to being mine, as well.
I've had clinical depression since I was 12 years old. I didn't know it until the end of my freshman year at Northwestern, by which point it had become so serious that I became reclusive, miserable, exhausted and preoccupied with the thought of taking my own life.
I went to CAPS. I got my 12 free sessions. My therapist was kind and supportive but never screened me for depression or any other mental illness. After the sessions were over, I was no better, had no idea what to do next and deteriorated even more.
The only reason I'm here now is because, thankfully, the school year ended right then. I went home to my family, and I am privileged enough to have a loving, supportive family with good insurance that covers mental health. I saw a psychiatrist and started taking antidepressants. I recovered, for the most part, although even now I live in the shadow of the knowledge that depression as chronic as mine usually comes back.
I'll be blunt. The state of mental health services on this campus is absolutely unacceptable. We have too few staff members at CAPS. We have no orientation program on mental health. There are still faculty members at this school — I will not name names — who refuse to accept mental health-related accommodations provided by Services for Students with Disabilities. Unlike virtually every other top-tier school and even many high schools, we have no peer counseling service, although I have been trying to start one for a year and a half. There just aren't enough resources.
The only reason we have campus events about mental health at all is because of NU Active Minds, an amazing student group that's still fairly new. But they should not be doing this work on their own, and there's only so much they can do.
Dear Northwestern administration: Wake up. Stop building $220 million athletic complexes. Start spending just a bit more of that money on the mental health services your students desperately need.
I have fought tooth and nail to beat my depression and to find a supportive community here at NU. It breaks my heart that some of my fellow students have been unable to win that battle.
How many more Wildcats will we have to lose before the administration starts taking mental health more seriously?
Sincerely,
Miriam Mogilevsky, Weinberg senior
Director of NU Listens
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Great letter on an extremely important topic.
Bob Kazel
Medill '86
[Reply]
I really hope that NU's administration sees this letter - and actually takes action. Northwestern needs to make its students' mental health a priority. Thanks for sharing, Miriam!
RIP Alyssa. You are missed.
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Wish you would listen to me - I work in HR for a large, world-wide firm. The WORST thing in the world - is to seek "mental health" therapy. This is what companies/Gov't employers look at. It is NOT private. The MIB will get a report. Any Medical visit will count against you for insurance purposes. But - Mental Health treatments are the most destructive. Any "sensitive" job will require a psychological interview and the #1 question will be - any 'mental health issues'. If you lie - you're not hired. If you tell "the truth" - you're not hired. Stay away from any Medical issues if you can possibly can. Insurers will decide who gets hired - and you will NOT get hired.
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'Cat Fan Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 8:20 am
Sorry, but you sound a little paranoid, Abdel.
From an "HR perspective in a large multinational firm" your comments ring hollow and miss the mark.
The author has shared her experience and frustration over what she perceives to be a weakness in the support system avalable to NU students.
These are challenging times and it is easy to become confused, despondent, and depressed. Having the ability to seek assurance, independent insight, counseling...even to have someone available to listen...might be all that one needs when friends, roommates, and family are not available or when you feel you need to shoulder your burdens alone.
The last thing anyone in her situation should worry about is what some large multinational HR department does or what an MIB report (whatever that is) might reveal.
If any student feels the need to get some help, they should get it and ignore your recommendations.
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Miriam Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Well, Abdel, luckily for me, I have no interest whatsoever in working in the corporate world.
I'd also advise you to remember that all the money and job perks in the world don't matter to someone who's so miserable they don't want to live anymore.
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Samantha Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 9:03 am
Thank you for sharing this story Miriam! In response to seeking mental health therapy being "the WORST thing in the world" (see comment above), I wanted to say that I believe therapy can actually be one of the best and most life-changing things in the world. While incredibly unfortunately dealing with insurance after college can be harder than it is while at Northwestern, CAPS at NU provides an entirely free and confidential service that allows students to talk to a counselor without any of the risks stated in the comment above mine. CAPS at NU is confidential (the only exceptions being if there is immediate danger to you or someone else, but please check out the CAPS website for this statement on confidentiality: http://www.northwestern.edu/counseling/parents/confidentiality.html). Seeking mental health services during college will in no way impact future job prospects, and I truly believe has the ability to positively change a person's life. No student should deny themselves resources they want (or maybe even some cases need) because of unwarranted fears of not being hired later in life/general stigma, but these fears are why campaigns like Active Minds fight so hard to change the conversation about mental health/make students aware of their right to seek mental health services on campus with no risk to future employment prospects. Going to therapy in no way makes an individual less capable in the workplace (and in many cases I would argue makes individuals much more capable of thriving in stressful work environments). While I certainly believe things can be improved at Northwestern, I hope as a campus community during this hard time we are able to support our friends and ourselves enough to reach out to the mental heath services we want.
RIP Alyssa.
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Tyr Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Did you seriously just advise students to not get help with serious mental disorders to improve their chances in the corporate hiring process? That is irresponsible, ill-advised, and dangerous.
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I Call Shenanigans Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
I do want to work in the corporate world, and I worry your comment will scare others who do to avoid taking necessary steps. You don't have to be an HR professional to know that what you just said violates federal and state laws: you can't not hire someone due to their health history unless it pertains to their job directly. To go further, simply *asking* about someone's health history in an interview or application (as with a person's religion, sexual orientation, etc.) is patently illegal (unless as previously described, it's directly relevant; a church can ask you what religion you practice, for example...).
Mental illness is a protected class as prescribed by the ADA. (Source: http://bit.ly/V0cB0g)
I don't know what company you work for, but I would never work for a company with such toxicity.
[Reply]
This is a really moving piece.
I'm the kind of person who usually doesn't buy into this kind of stuff, but I'm surprised to say I couldn't agree more.
Good work. Keep pushing because you will make a change.
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Guess what? Nobody pays attention to orientation programs. Nobody wants to sit through another Essential NU when they'd rather be getting to know the people and the campus where they'll be spending the next four years. While mental health issues should obviously be a priority for NU, adding yet another orientation program — especially about something with which the majority of students will not struggle — is not the way to go about changing things. Nor do improving athletic facilities and providing mental health resources have to be mutually exclusive.
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Also NU '13 Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 11:27 am
I certainly don't agree with everything that is said here, but want to clarify a couple things for both the author of this comment and for the author of the article.
I definitely believe that students need to be made more aware of resources on campus., and a discussion during Wildcat Welcome is essential to doing that. Perhaps there isn't a need for an entirely new program, but the availability of mental health resources on campus is just as important as other information within other Essential NUs, like the Responsibility Action Protocol for alcohol violations, or locations of support for survivors of sexual abuse, both of which are covered in current ENUs.
However, I would just like to point out that you are absolutely right about the fact that sports and mental health services are not mutually exclusive. Sports at NU are HUGE sources of fundraising for the university, and a lot of the money that they have comes from within the athletic program. Their spending doesn't mean that resources are diverted from other areas of the school. As a huge 'Cats fan, athletic events have been central to my happiness at this school, as I thoroughly enjoy the reprieve from academic stress that cheering on our football team can offer. If you do a little research, the last upgrade to our football facilities was $30 million in 1997, which certainly does not keep us on pace with any other schools in the Big Ten. Besides, a large part of the money for the new facilities is coming from outside funding, NOT from the university's budget.
Just because you don't enjoy sports, doesn't mean that they don't help other students. I chose NU not only for the academics, but also for the ability to go to Big Ten football/basketball games.
Please don't scapegoat the athletic program and their new facility for the deficiencies in mental health services here at NU.
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As soon as we start blaming Northwestern for its students being sad, the faster the school is going to stop treating its students as adults. We need the freedom to do things in our own way, but all this talk of holding the school responsible for keeping its students happy is just going to result in fewer freedoms and entitlements for students. I thought that the school was a bit too uptight in this aspect before (i.e. disciplinary hearings for off-campus altercations, UHAS hearings for disputes between students) so I can only imagine how silly it's going to become when people insist that the school has any liability here.
Obviously Northwestern has the resources to improve on its existing mental health advocacy and support structure, but the school is by no means responsible for keeping its students happy.
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Tyr (WCAS 13) Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
While the University can't ensure that every student is happy, they do have a responsibility to at least provide adequate services to help students cope with anxiety, depression, and the like. The university gets a hefty sum from their students, and this goes towards far more than academics. They're not responsible for keeping us fit, engaged, well-connected, or having fun, but they provide athletic facilities, career services, and loads of programming. There's no reason that they shouldn't make another important resource for student well-being available for fear of coddling students.
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anon Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Well said, Tyr.
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W Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
The problem with this comment is twofold: It dramatically misunderstands the nature of mental health, and it talks about this tragedy in terms of legal liability instead of our responsibility as human beings to care for each other. Depression is not "being sad"; it's a serious medical condition, and is usually caused primarily by a person's brain chemistry, not whether or not they are "sad". And no one is saying the family should sue the school. People are saying that Northwestern has the same responsibility that most other schools agree they have, to ensure students have access to resources that will keep them healthy.
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While usually I have serious disagreements with Miriam's pieces, I think in this case she hit the nail on the head. Squarely.
The school definitely could beef up the CAPS resources -- i.e.: personnel. On a few brief occasions sought out CAPS, but was only able to get an immediate appointment in a "crisis" time, otherwise the wait was like a full semester.
But on a broader scale, I think the university-- along with all universities and colleges-- should look at what about the collegiate environment is inducing this kind of desperate behavior. In a bout of insomnia last night, I did some googling, and the number of college students in the last 10 or so years who have had major issues with extreme stress and depression has really skyrocketed. Young people in high school and college and beyond exist in major pressure-cookers, not helped by the dismal economy that makes everything that much more competitive.
While such things as depression, etc. are mostly biologically-based, I think the stats show that there is something about the modern secondary and post-secondary educational environment that can serve as a major trigger to these kinds of situations, and I think it is something that higher ed as a whole should address, starting with Northwestern. I am not in to coddling people and hand-holding adults, but there is a difference between so doing and providing people the resources they need to handle the issues in their lives, and finding a way to improve the external variables such that they do not serve as triggers to the underlying biological factors.
And I agree that yet another Essential NU would be kind of useless. One two-hour assembly at the beginning of someone's college career is not going to meaningfully change things. It's kind of like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.
At any rate, it is very sad, the whole situation. I graduated in 2011, and was a member of Chi Omega. My sympathies go out to all who are affected by this sad turn of events, particularly my Sisters.
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I think many commenters have become fixated on the remarks about an orientation program and athletic spending. While those criticisms are somewhat valid, they miss the forest for the trees. Depression, anxiety, and frequent thoughts of suicide are shockingly prevalent among college students, including Northwestern. Students are afraid to admit that they face these problems, much less talk about them openly. The administration needs to step up its commitment to mental health support across the board, and mad props to the students who are putting the fire under their feet. Excellent letter
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Bill Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Agreed. Throwing money at the problem won't help.
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Bill Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Or is, at least, insufficient.
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Responsibility Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
That's a fine theory. Perhaps you believe that planting seeds won't help trees grow. Or that therapists and social workers magically appear like Marry Poppins when the wind blows. Suffice to say, money thrown at the problem will help, insofar as CAPS and similar services are severely understaffed, money provides for staff employment, and staff employment would, in principle, ensure more efficient and wider access to University-based mental health services. But the problem is more fundamental than CAPS. Ultimately this would be the school's best approach simply from the perspective that, from an administrative standpoint, it's the most feasible. And yes, while schools are not "responsible" for the individual happiness of each particular student, they do have a responsibility to ensure that suicide and the circumstances that, on the ground level, might contribute to them persist. Because it does reflect poorly on the university. Willful ignorance or negligence at a certain point transforms into "responsibility". Providing for better student mental health services is not "coddling". And frankly, as much as I can understand why sports facilities and mental health services are mutually exclusive from a funding vantage point, is there really such a considerable need for new sports facilities, as opposed to mental health services? Our success in the Big Ten has been pretty consistently adequate over the last three years, facilities not withstanding, whereas our attention to mental health has been below the collegiate standard and, one may argue, deteriorating.
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Responsibility Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
*do not persist
W Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Amen
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Thank you for sharing this story, Miriam. I was heartbroken to hear of Alyssa's passing. The issues with CAPS have been well-documented,(not least by this paper,) but as usual it takes a major outcry to make change, and one or two people sharing their experience is rarely enough. So let's all pile on..... here goes.
Another student who recently died at NU was a girl named Rebecca, who took her own life in her dorm room. I saw a therapist at CAPS a few times (then housed, horrifyingly, in the same building where Rebecca took her life) who meant very well. but because of the very limited nature of our sessions the person couldn't really do much for me. The next year I needed CAPS again. It involved a lot of waitlists, even for the supposed same-day triage appt, which I couldn't get until a day or more later. People at CAPS initially refused to even give me recommendations without trying to see me first, which I appreciate in theory but not from an organization unable to sit down with a student for a week or more from the day they call in. When CAPS broke their own protocol and got back to me with recommendations, sans appointment, they couldn't give me the name or number of any local therapists who took my (popular) insurance. I had to find my own therapist in Evanston, and I did.
The person I found, who luckily turned out suitable despite my having no referral, suggested I look into medication, which not being a psychiatrist, she couldn't prescribe. Again CAPS was unable to help with a name, a number, an appointment with someone who could help me. If I had told CAPS the extent of my misery, or the paralysis induced by my panic attacks, I would have been swiftly escorted to the psych ward, a move which usually sets off well-meaning rules at NU demanding you take 2 quarters or more off. That would have compounded the nightmare.
Finally I took an emergency trip home so I could finally get a psych to see me (the very next day, imagine that) and get a prescription for antidepressants that, in case you're not following, are incredibly difficult to procure at NU if you need them. No one in the health center can prescribe; only CAPS' psychiatrists can, of which there are a very limited number, and who can only prescribe to you while you're actively seeing them, which can only be for a limited amount of time, usually after you get off a waitlist, and who you wouldn't want to see regularly anyway if you already had a good therapist outside of NU. You get the idea.
If someone is reading this now who's in a similar situation, by the way, call Evanston's psychiatric dept for an appointment, which is usually able to serve you quickly, takes most insurance and is walking distance from campus (no, again, never recommended to me by CAPS). I told CAPS about my experience, and they were nice about apologizing and wanting to look into it. But without a lot more money and major reforms-why not let health services prescribe other family doctor-issued anti-depressants, and more fully incorporate mental health there?-nothing's going to change.
I got what I needed, I am fine. If you're fortunate like many NU kids to live and grow up in a solid community, you're able to get access,at home to psychiatrists and any manner of mostly referral-based services through a network of friends and family. it's only reasonable for a college like NU to furnish (efficiently/suitably) the same services to its students, no less recently-relocated, stressed-out kids at high risk for depression and yes, suicide. Cynically I believe the only way to do this is to get NU parents and high-profile alumni involved in what's sure to be a pricey reform effort. I think the Essential NU's a noble idea but doesn't quite address the issue. Not a bad place to start, though.
I know I am far from being the only one to have suffered this bureaucratic nightmare at Northwestern. I apologize for the anonymity, though undoubtedly CAPS knows who I am, the important thing. Good for you, Miriam, for being brave enough to use your name.
It's impossible to know whether needed reforms might've helped Alyssa or Rebecca or any of the other good, smart, sad students who've died at Northwestern from this horrific illness. But other students continue to suffer, and quite simply I just don't think the school is doing all it can. Please, please fix it.
[Reply]
Miriam,
Thank you so much for your article, it's a story that is all too common in this world and one that doesn't get the attention it deserves. Luckily, there are students across the country that are spreading the word about mental health and helping their peers get the help they need. Many of those individuals are part of an organization called Active Minds.
I don't know if you've heard of Active Minds, but we are the country's only non-profit working to change how students view and discuss mental health issues. We work to spark conversations on campus about issues like suicide, depression, and the range of mental health disorders--encouraging people to speak up and reach out for help.
These issues don't have easy solutions, but it's our generation that will change how these issues are prioritized. And you can start making that change right now. If you, or anyone else reading, is interested in joining Active Minds, there is a developing chapter on your campus I'd be happy to connect you with.
Please email me at becky@activeminds.org. Or visit our website to learn more http://www.activeminds.org.
Thank you again for your heartfelt message,
Becky
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Thank you for sharing your story, Miriam.
I struggled with depression for years, and when I was finally ready to get past the stigma and try to deal with it, CAPs was zero help. They were finally able to pencil me in, and after giving me one session where I was uncomfortable (it being my first time in any therapy), they told me that there was a waitlist and that they could not help me. When they promised to refer me to a place that could help, what they did was give me a list of all the therapists and psychologists in Evanston and the surrounding suburbs, something I could have done on my own on Google. As a scared student with no idea how to proceed, I was frustrated. I just wanted to find someone who could help me when I hated every day of my life.
Thankfully I heard about the Family Institute on campus and I've been steadily seeing a wonderful therapist for the past few months. But CAPs was unprepared and unable, and it seemed almost unwilling to my cynical and pained mind, to help.
This school has a serious problem with mental health if CAPs is so overworked and underprepared, and we need to overcome the stigma around it and deal with it. We are a university of high achieving and highly stressed students who are more often more susceptible to mental health issues and we, as a university, cannot continue to fail them like this.
I knew Alyssa, and one lost student is far more than we should ever have.
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You hit the nail on the head, Miriam! As a person who has attempted suicide myself, I know the feelings that Alyssa and so many others must have felt. Luckily, I was able to get help and am now better than ever. Unfortunately, the services here at NU do not cut it. It's hard to get in to the services that ARE available, and there aren't many at that. I just hope that Northwestern wakes up and realizes that our student body needs help before another life is taken.
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To add to CAPS' inability to address student's acute problem...I am sharing my CAPS experience here.
I was not offered the follow up sessions in CAPS.
In winter 2010, I was lost, and could not see the end of the tunnel, as a sophomore. In my first meeting with CAPS, I expressed my inability to survive on campus, the level of stress, the social expectations added altogether with my break up, in the second to third week of winter quarter. CAPS said I had to reach out to professionals outside of campus, because of my hateful feeling to NU without any indication of who/ where I can go to. I felt like I was left alone and eventually I gave up sophomore year's winter quarter entirely, only flying back in town for midterms and finals, and resided with my aunt living in Canada till I felt stronger emotionally, of course, my grades severely suffered.
During my "winter quarter break", I got a "follow up" email from CAPS 2 weeks after my first consultation, the representative wrote " I am attaching a one-page document that might find
useful in seeking services from therapists outside of NU. To use your insurance to cover the fee for counseling, you can call the insurance company and find out how you can go about finding a therapist in the Evanston area. They will likely direct you to a list of providers they prefer you to see, and you can choose someone on that list." I mean, as a student experiencing significant amount of frustration, reading this, only made me feel more frustrated,isolated and irritated.
I spent my junior year abroad, taking my time to recuperate, to reignite my love and passion for knowledge, to rebuild my strength emotionally. And finally, became more attached to NU in senior year and appreciated the opportunities given by NU.
I am glad I have a really supportive family and my cousin was there to keep me accompanied and taken care of, when I needed someone to be there for me.
Alyssa, rest in peace, I will miss you.. and wished I could have shared my experience with you..I didn't share this with anyone, until now, 5 months after I've graduated.
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j Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Look, if you really wanted help you would've done what they said or made your concerns clear. Not to sound harsh, but CAPS helped me a LOT. You need to take the helm - you're an adult and if you're not feeling well then you need to take care of yourself. You don't need to cure yourself, but you have to put the energy into getting help and it sounds to me like you just didn't want to. While many illnesses can stunt motivation, you need to be aware of your illness and fight it (by making calls, looking for doctors, appointments, etc)
I'm poor, I've got a plethora of anxiety/depressive disorders and I have NO family to help me through any of this - and CAPS led me to help.
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I have lots of personal experience with psychiatric disorders, but I don't think blaming NU helps. CAPS is incredible and my experience with them has been great. They aren't here to cure your Depression - that's too high a standard.
I think it's sad what happened to Alyssa, but she should've been seeing a shrink and she wasn't. That isn't NU's fault, it isn't her family's fault, to a certain degree it isn't even *her* fault. But we ALL have heard of CAPS, we ALL have access to it and it's affordable for EVERYONE (I know this because I am extremely poor as well).
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rr Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Forgive me if I make assumptions, but some of the poorest students get the best service at CAPS, because they're on NU's health insurance and automatically get preference to see NU's shrinks. Being in the middle in this case is not really an advantage. Look at all of the other testimonials here and you'll see your experience is a minority one. It's awesome that you had a great experience at CAPS, and good that you shared that in a CAPS bash-off, but don't assume that it's the patients' fault. No one's saying people at CAPS are out to NOT help kids....it's more that people at CAPS are understaffed. That's why they have to prioritize kids on NU health insurance (for whom I imagine they are MOST liable, after all).
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j Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 6:02 pm
We actually don't get priority on the waitlist at all, and DO have to pay for it. NU's health insurance is still health insurance nonetheless. It is no different from not being on any other plan.
You're looking at anecdotal responses from people who agree with this article - not all of the reviews from CAPS-experienced students. That is not evidence of anything.
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rr Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
No, and your assumptions are more irritating than mine, which appear to have been confirmed. I was literally turned away because they didn't have space in favor of giving spots to people who could not as easily seek treatment elsewhere — students on NU's highly specific (I think Aetna?) plan.
rr Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Let me see if I can explain more (I'm not sure why you have such vehemence about not making CAPS better....ill-placed to say the least). Sounds like you paid for your insurance through the school, yes, because NU demands you have it and you say you didn't have family to allow you this benefit (maybe a moment, too, to commend you for obviously coming very far in very challenging circumstances...not to patronize you, but rather to say maybe you're not the everyday NU student, and that your suggestion of tough love in the form of making students self-advocate when they're in the depths of self-hate is perhaps not the best way to fix the issue). From personal experience and research, I can tell you that, at least sometimes, particularly during busy times, NU students go through the triage at CAPS and have an intake, after which they are sometimes they will be best-served outside the university. This is not told to students on NU insurance, because they will have significant difficulty getting good coverage for psychological treatment outside NU's walls....at least this has been the case in the recent past.
Although I agree that there is always room for improvement, I am a NU student currently getting help from CAPS and the Women's Center for my depression, and I am very happy with my experience thus far. The Women's Center offers 50 FREE sessions with a counselor for women AND men, and I had a wonderful counselor last year and also this year. When I was referred to CAPS by my counselor to be diagnosed for depression, I got an appointment easily and was seen by a psychiatrist, who helped me get a prescription with no problem. To those saying that CAPS is hard to get into, etc. try making an appointment with someone at the women's center, and they can get you a referral if deemed necessary. Also, in addition to the 50 free women's center sessions, CAPS offers 12 FREE sessions, so together it is not unreasonable to see someone every week of your academic career here at NU.
Although I'm sure there are ways that these services at NU can be approved upon, my experience has been great and I know that other people can have a similar experience if they know where to look. Education and getting the word out there about these services is the best thing that NU can do at this point.
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rr Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Do you mean every quarter? If you think that one therapy session a quarter is enough, you were never seriously depressed. Moreover, it's been clearly established (you know, with facts) that CAPS isn't meeting NU's needs. Kids getting waitlisted for services they need immediately is simply unacceptable — and, by the way, it ISN'T accepted at other schools. And though the women's center therapy sounds great, can they prescribe medication? And why, after three years looking at this and struggling with NU's system, am I first hearing about it now? Probably because it's not meant for everyone (and maybe too that it's not publicized well). Regardless, the women's center should not be responsible for picking up the slack of a system meant to assist students with their mental health.
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j Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 5:58 pm
I agree with you. CAPS is fine, people are trying to blame anyone.
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rr Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
Seriously, J, not a question of blame but a question of bettering the school. No one's blaming anybody.
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I think that you fail to release that a person has died. '
Getting a job in corporate America or anything else is meaningless relative to this issue. Could this person have been helped? I don't know - but perhaps. Suicide is linked to but can also be exclusive of depression. There are services and programs that can help prevent a lasting tragedy. It is not a question of is the school responsible for insuring happiness but rather I believe that all folks should endeavor to work to prevent an unnecessary death - that is a value that I would expect ANY school of any intellectual and humanitarian worth to uphold. - and any individual. The loss of this young woman is a profound sadness for all of us.
Suicide prevention program are challenging programs to integrate - often people don't listen until they need them. And often people mock and fear anything that has to do with stigma such as mental health issues. It is estimate that thoughts of suicide occur in about 80% of the population before age 25 - however barriers such as supportive friends, medications, coping skills, faith, etc can help a person through. Alcohol, stress, depression, brain injury, loss, trauma and personal bio chemistry can lower the barriers and allow an impulsive moment to become a lasting act.
Compassion for the struggle of this young woman and the pain her family must feel should be uppermost.
TRy to respect the struggle of the person who is dealing with suicidal feelings - some day it could be you.
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There is a critical part of this issue that no one seems to be addressing in this argument, and this has to do, not with CAPS, but with educating the Northwestern community.
I am a senior and have suffered from depression since I was 16. I have never been to CAPS and cannot comment on how effective their services are. But my friends here at Northwestern have been invaluable to me. I am blessed with friends who went out of their way every day--sometimes for weeks or months at a time--to let me know how loved I was and how much they cared about me. These people did not give up on me when I went through my slumps. Most importantly, I never felt that these people pitied me or treated me any differently because of my illness. They were there for me because they were my friends and they cared about me, in the same way that they were there for one another. Their actions are a huge part of the reason I was able to beat back dark, sometimes suicidal thoughts and find a way forward.
I realize that I am extremely lucky to have such caring, attentive, and perceptive friends. This is the environment we should strive to achieve as a community. Someone objected earlier on this thread to another essential NU on mental health because it is an issue that "will not affect most of us." That may be true in a narrow sense, but mental health issues are likely to touch your friends and acquaintances in ways that you may not be aware of. Maybe an orientation program is not the answer, but it is a start: it is a way to foster dialogue and expose people to these issues. Everyone should learn to recognize the signs of depression, anorexia, and other mental health issues. Everyone should be taught ways of reaching out and helping others. Speaking from my own experience, I can say that fostering this kind of dialogue through events like the NU Active Minds panel yesterday is one of the best ways to improve mental health on campus. If more students are educated about how to deal with mental illness, maybe more people will have stories like mine to tell--success stories with happy endings.
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In my freshman year, a friend had committed suicide, and I was in desperate need of somebody to talk to because I did not know how to cope with this. All of my friends referred me to CAPS, which was the right thing to do because none of them could have better helped me. So I went, only to find out that they could not help me. They were booked for three months, and with only ten sessions, this counselor did not want for me to become one of the many students who “disappeared.” I was referred to off campus services that recognized my Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance. I never went because my mother was laid off and I lost that health insurance. Fortunately, I have coped with the friends through which I have found love in this school.
It is ridiculous that the University has only publicly taken into account this problem after the suicide of a student in the U.K.. This new attention has only furthered the negative assumption that the University is only concerned because of the fact that its reputation has been internationally compromised. This is further bolstered by the fact that the new attention is reactionary. I know so many students who have been campaigning and working hard to support persons with mental health concerns and have been starting groups, i.e. doing what the University has not been doing. However, many of my friends have been hindered because University officials have told them off.
I have only recently stopped battling with suicide, but I know that there are so many people dealing with these problems. It is going to take more than short term events, understaffed counseling programmes, etc. to save as many lives as we can. The fact that all of this new attention is reactionary only proves that we are not one Northwestern. We will not move towards this idea until we start looking out for people in a pro-active and preventative way, not until after they have already undergone something horrible. I am just glad that this is starting now and not after so many other suicides. I still remember that girl who put a bag over her head, and none of this happened in her name. How many other deaths have I read about in my four years here, and how many of them are so well remembered?
CAPS only goes so far because it offers 12 free services, and I would have waited three months to get those. What about the people who need dire help but don't know where to go? I think that CAPS should start to model the Women's Center, in which one gets 100 free sessions, because then it's available to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay for their thirteenth session (plus, for someone who has gone through gender correction therapy, that's not a lot.)
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