Anxiety 101

Such statistics seem to suggest that today’s students are not as bothered as past generations by the perceived stigma of mental illness. But Erica Hynes of Active Minds believes the numbers may tell only half the story. “There’s probably more awareness, but I’m not sure there’s the understanding to go with it,” says Hynes, who lost her father to depression-related suicide during her sophomore year. “I was really stunned by how many bright, smart, brilliant people came up to me after he died and said, ‘How selfish of him. How could he do that to you?’ You wouldn’t say that if he’d died of cancer or a heart attack, but mental illness is a disease.”

Changing those attitudes is one reason Hynes became a member of Active Minds, a nationwide movement started in 2001 at the University of Pennsylvania by a student whose brother had committed suicide. The group now comprises 144 chapters across the country, including one at the U of M and another at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. Hynes has also been involved in Stamp Out Stigma, a faculty- and administration-led campaign at the U of M to encourage students to seek mental health care as they would any other kind of health care.

“I would say we’re at the beginning of a revolution in how we talk about these issues,” says Hynes, who plans to study clinical psychology in grad school. “But there’s still a long way to go.”

Like many colleges across the country, Macalester has nearly doubled the staff of its counseling center in recent years—a fact incoming freshmen are unlikely to appreciate during New Student Orientation, but one the college makes sure their parents understand. “Many students just aren’t in a place where they think they’re ever going to need those resources,” says Ted Rueff. “But parents are more attuned to the possible pitfalls.”

It may seem paradoxical for colleges to provide mental health information to parents when privacy laws prohibit them from telling parents if their children are using those services. “It’s a balancing act,” Rueff concedes. “But parents can be really important partners in helping their students through hard times.”

“Truly the biggest danger we face is when students come to campus with a previous diagnosis, but want to leave it behind and look at college as a fresh start,” says Marjorie Savage, director of the U of M’s Parent Program, a fifteen-year-old outreach initiative designed to help parents understand and support their children’s collegiate experience. “Consequently, they may not tell anyone [about their condition] and may stop taking their medications. But, because starting college is such a huge transition, it’s the worst time to stop that support. That’s why we tell parents, ‘You know your child best. You will be able to tell, in many cases, if something’s going wrong.’ ”

That’s also why the U of M recently consolidated its mental health resources at a single website: mentalhealth.umn.edu. The site includes a selection of online workshops where the university’s experts explain to parents how to tell if a student is merely feeling a little blue or truly depressed or is suffering from typical test anxiety or a more troubling anxiety disorder.

Though no one expects parents to diagnose their own kids, the experts say parents could give students a potentially life-saving lesson before they get to campus. “I would tell parents to sit down with their students before there’s a problem and say, ‘You know, if you have a sore throat, I expect you to go see a doctor, and if you have a hard time, I hope you know I want you to see someone who can help,’ ” says Harriett Copher Haynes. “Students are often able to put on happy faces and say what they think their parents want to hear. But parents can get through that by asking really pointed questions—‘How bad do you feel?’ ‘How disappointed do you get?’—so when their student does run into a problem, they can help steer them toward the help they need.”

And given students’ fondness for free stuff, parents should also mention that mental health care is often included in the cost of tuition.

You can reach columnist Laura Billings at edit@mspmag.com.