(-- The Beacon)
By Sarah Hansell Staff Writer hansell14@up.edu
Every day the Health Center has a time slot reserved for a student experiencing a mental health crisis.
In past years, the Health Center did not have to schedule the time slot into the day until after Fall Break.
This year, according to Director of the Health Center Paul Myers, that slot has been filled almost every day.
The increase in demand for the Health Center's services is due to an increase in student population rather than a percentage increase in Health Center users, according to Myers.
"If somebody's having a mental health crisis, we don't want them to have to wait a week and a half," Myers said. "We want them seen right away."
According to Myers, 25 to 30 students visit the Health Center every day for mental health-related issues, while an additional 40 students visit the Health Center for physical health issues on average.
"When you finally are able to get in, it definitely helps a ton," Andrea said. "It takes probably upwards of three weeks (to first get in)."
The urgent care slot was designed to guarantee that students with the most pressing mental health crises would be seen as soon as possible.
The Health Center encourages students to clearly communicate their specific mental health issue.
"When you're asking for services from the Health Center, it's important to have a list of your concerns, and if you're not sure what you need, let us know that so we can sort it out with you," Myers said.
While the Health Center tries to free up space for students who are experiencing mental health crises, some problems are considered more urgent than others.
"The student may feel like they need to be seen immediately, but it may not be as urgent as some things that are going on in the counseling center," Health Center counselor Patrick Bartos said. "So we kind of try to be flexible and see students kind of based on how much need there is."
It also helps the Health Center better understand students' needs when they explain the source of the crisis.
"Telling us the reason why can help us help you sort out how serious it is," Myers said.
However, the Health Center does not publicize the slot and does not want students exploiting it. According to Myers, this has happened in the past.
"We don't want people pretending that it's a crisis," Myers said.
However, some students think the urgent care slot is important for students to know about.
"I definitely think that should've been advertised, if not to the entire student body then at least to the people in counseling," Andrea said. "I find it rare that people demand to get help that very day."
The Health Center is staffed with three psychologists, including Myers, one licensed social worker, one graduate student from Pacific University in training for a doctorate in psychology, two nurse practitioners, one registered nurse, one part-time nutritionist and one part-time psychiatric nurse practitioner.
"Give props to the counselors," Andrea said. "They're amazing."
The psychiatric nurse practitioner manages the more complicated mental health issues and is available one half-day a week, as is the nutritionist.
"You have to wait so long to see her that it tends to make the problem worse," Andrea said, referring to possible issues with medication, such as a student being unable to get or change medication when they may need it.
Because the Health Center is not open on the weekends, and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, students who have mental health crises after hours must go to an emergency room or health clinic.
If a student is unsure if his or her crisis merits an emergency room visit and it is after Health Center hours, they can call the advice nurse line at 1-800-607-5501.
"The idea is to save the student an emergency room visit if they don't really need one," Myers said.
According to Bartos, hall staff are another good source of help and information for students experiencing mental health crises.
"I think the first thing would be to reach out to someone who is accessible, so that could be a friend or a roommate or an RA or a hall director," Bartos said. "While RAs and hall directors aren't necessarily trained counselors, they do have training to know when a situation is serious enough … to contact or direct someone to some sort of crisis service."
Because of UP's growth and the Health Center's limited availability, there is talk about making changes to accommodate students' needs.
"There are questions about how to meet the demand, so different options are expanding hours of operation or trying to expand space," Myers said. "Expanded time seems to be the most cost-effective way to go."
Of those who use the Health Center in general, about 66 percent are women and about 33 percent are men.
"(Some) contributing factors are you have males socialized not to seek help, you have women socialized to seek help," Myers said. "Often what happens with males is when they have a problem, because they haven't dealt with it, it's more severe."
According to Myers, women also have more complex reproductive health issues and tend to have higher rates of depression.
Of UP's five professional schools, the School of Nursing students are the most likely to use the Health Center.
"They've been trained what to look for," Myers said.
They are followed, respectively, by students in the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Pamplin School of Business and the Shiley School of Engineering.
"The covariate there is the percentage of females," Myers said. "I think women's health needs are just more complex. They're more attuned to them, and I think that they're more open to engaging in prevention."
According to Myers, freshmen are the most likely to use the Health Center compared to any other class. One reason is the immunization requirements freshmen must fill.
"You also have the emotional stress of adjusting to college, and you also have the physical stressors of being exposed to people," Myers said.
The Health Center sees a large variety of mental health issues.
"We really see a whole spectrum of presenting problems ranging from your more college life issues … like breakups and homesickness and test taking anxiety," Bartos said. "And then we see the other end of the spectrum too, which are serious mental health problems."
Most mental health cases brought to the Health Center involve mood-related disorders such as depression and adjustment disorder.
The second most common condition is anxiety-related disorders such as social phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder, followed by relationship issues.
For example, sometimes students come to the Health Center in groups of two or three to learn how to intervene with another housemate about an issue such as depression or an eating disorder, according to Myers.
The next two most common mental health conditions the Health Center sees are nutrition and body image issues and substance abuse.
Myers stresses that especially from a mental health perspective, whether the Health Center can meet a student's needs or if they are full, they can always help direct them where and how to get help.
"While we may not be able to meet every single need, we're more than happy to try and to be sure that you are getting directed to some sort of resource where you can get help," Bartos said. "So I would just encourage people to continue to make their voices heard."
Andrea agrees and hopes that the Heath Center can expand its services.
"It's definitely a vital service on campus and needs to be available for more people at extended times," Andrea said.
