Yale students question mental health reforms

Penn students aren't the only ones questioning their school's mental health reforms.

After Director of Yale Health Paul Genecin announced in an email that the University would be expanding its mental health services, students were still skeptical of Yale's changes. The move came after significant criticism of Yale's mental health resources in the wake of sophomore Luchang Wang's suicide.

The email from the University also talked about changing the referral process for new students and adding helplines for students, similar to Penn's Mental Health Task Force's recommendation for the implementation of a Penn helpline.

According to a Yale Daily News report, many students are frustrated with the lack of specifics in the email, also paralleling Penn's lack of timeline for implementing its new recommendations. The report also says that Yale's mental health services have an issue with students not hearing back for months after their first appointment.

“[Survey respondents] said it was very painful to go to the first appointment, lay bare their problems and not hear anything back for months,” Yale Law School Mental Health Alliance member Rachel Dempsey said to Yale Daily News.

The University is also implementing a confidential emergency hotline for students unhappy with their treatment, but this has also met some backlash.

“We’d rather have solid mental health care than a last ditch safety net,” Dempsey said.

Here's the full Yale Daily News report. For more on the final report from Penn's Mental Health Task Force, click here.

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