As part of National Mental Health Awareness Week, University health officials are spreading the word that mental health issues are as common as stress in college students.
ASU’s department of Wellness and Health Promotion is giving presentations in ASU 101 classes, explaining how stress can damage mental health.
The department’s director, Karen Moses, said its focus in freshman classrooms and across campus is to emphasize what the symptoms of mental health issues are and to get students who suffer from them to seek help.
Moses said 60 percent of ASU students felt overwhelmed at least five times in the last school year, while 30 percent reported their academic performance was affected by stress, according to a Wellness and Health survey last year.
Stress can lead to other mental disorders, which Moses said ASU officials are working to fight.
ASU is a two-time recipient of the “Campus Care Suicide Prevention Program” grant that allows the University to provide education and increase awareness, she said.
“Protective factors for suicide are involvement, feeling connected with other people, taking care of yourself in regards to fitness and nutrition and getting [enough] sleep,” she said.
Aaron Krasnow, associate director for Counseling and Consultation, said any student feeling emotional distress is encouraged to get counseling on any one of ASU’s four campuses.
“Any change in behavior … could be an indication that something is going on,” he said, adding that students experiencing mental distress often pull away from friends and activities, have irregular eating and sleeping patterns and have trouble with relationships or classes.
It’s important to tend to the mental health of students because it supports the University as a whole, Krasnow said. When people are mentally stable, they are happier and can contribute more, he said.
The most common mental health issues seen at the ASU counseling centers are depression, anxiety, relationship concerns and eating disorders, Krasnow said. The facilities the centers provide are available to all registered ASU students.
A new option for students suffering from mental disorders will emerge with the Nov. 2 opening of the College of Nursing’s Southwest Health Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child-Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Disorders.
The center will not only focus on children between 8 and 17 years old, but will also offer services to ASU students, program director Janet Cooper said.
The clinic will be nurse-run and located on the Downtown campus.
“The statistics on mental health are staggering,” Cooper said. “By having the center, we will be able to enhance services for students on campus.”
Nursing students involved in psychiatric programs may also be involved in administering treatment, she said.
Reach the reporter at ndgilber@asu.edu.
