Helping students battle a growing trend

The severity of mental illnesses among college students is increasing across the country, and Penn is no exception to the trend. According to on-campus counseling services, the severity of mental disorders experienced by Penn students has increased over the past few years. Both Counseling and Psychological Services and Penn Women's Center -- the two primary counseling organizations on campus -- have collected data suggesting the existence of such a trend on campus. "There is a small segment of the student population who is experiencing more serious illness," CAPS Deputy Director William Alexander said. Additionally, a growing number of students have sought help from CAPS. In 1998, CAPS reported about 17,000 service contacts -- including individual meetings, group consultations and workshops. By June of last year, this number had risen to about 23,000. "There has been a growth in the number of students who come forward," CAPS Director Ilene Rosenstein said. The increase at Penn parallels that at other universities -- a recent study by Kansas State University revealed an increase in symptom severity in the past 13 years. With about 10 percent of Penn's student population taking advantage of its services, CAPS offers "user-friendly" access to psychological counseling. The organization is dedicated to helping students with their problems -- whether these concern academics or personal issues -- and especially those in need of immediate attention. If necessary, the staff psychologists and psychiatrists prescribe medications or refer patients to the care of specialists -- always paying scrupulous attention to anonymity. Today, CAPS and other on-campus organizations report that students are most commonly diagnosed with clinical depression or anxiety. In concurrence with the rise of more severe disorders, counseling staff members have observed a decrease in the number of less serious cases. "We're seeing more clinical depression and less depressive symptoms," CAPS staff psychologist Eric Levin said. While there is no data proving that college -- or the world in general -- has become a more stressful place, experts say that students are now likely to feel more pressured than they did 10 years ago. "There are a lot more stresses and a lot more issues," Women's Center Associate Director Gloria Gay said. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have not noticeably worsened the situation, but have not been without consequences, either. "Post-9/11, it wasn't people complaining about the World Trade Center," Levin said. "By and large, everything going on activated people, and they came in with whatever issue they had." Penn specialists agree that such an increase in students seeking help is caused by two recent factors -- a widespread education about mental illness and new antidepressants on the market. Today, mental illnesses are far less stigmatized than in the past, allowing more students to seek counseling without the fear of prejudices, Penn's experts said. In this respect, education on the subject has played a pivotal role in changing the mindset of the general public. At Penn, such a service is provided by Open Minds, a student-run mental health awareness group. Founded in the fall of 2001 -- but not in response to the Sept. 11 attacks -- the group's goal has been to eliminate the stigmatization that surrounds mental illnesses and to encourage students to seek help. "We want to educate people about mental illnesses because we feel that a lot of students experience symptoms but don't know what those symptoms are," said Alison Malmon, the group's founder and a College senior. Apparently, the organization is achieving its goal -- many students said that they would take advantage of the counseling services on campus if they felt they needed help. Moreover, one reason why more college students with serious mental illnesses are present on campus is that antidepressants have enabled many young people to enroll in college that would not have been able to do so in the past, according to CAPS officials. Some students said that college life exacerbated pre-existing problems. "I saw myself feeling very depressed and out of control of my life," said a former CAPS student who was diagnosed with clinical depression upon arriving at Penn. The student added that the organization had been "very helpful."