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Minding Our Students
Amid growing concerns about mental health on college campuses, a new student organization forms to raise awareness about the issues.

By Lindsay Beller

(From left) Active Minds board members Armond Thigpen '09, Caterina Newren '10, and Katie Gorga '10 gave away free candy to stressed-out students before final exams began. Stress is one of the most common mental health issues experienced by college students. (Photo by Lindsay Beller)

It's dinnertime on Wednesday, April 30, and final exams start in two days.
      
Outside the cafeteria, three students sit behind the tables in the hallway - a well-traveled spot where campus organizations typically promote their causes to students streaming in and out of the dining hall. Two big bowls filled with lollipops, chocolate bars, and other sugary confections sit enticingly in front of them.

"Do you want some candy? It's free," Katie Gorga '10 calls out. Many students walking by shoulder heavy backpacks and are on their way to study, but the invitation stops them in their tracks. 
 
"Okay!" they smile. Their inner child takes hold as they dive into the candy bowl. Sweets get stashed in their pockets for study breaks. 
 
"Have a great finals week!" Gorga adds.
      
The idea of the candy giveaway is to offer some stress relief to students who are spending long nights studying for finals. Stress, along with depression, anxiety, and interpersonal problems, are the most common mental health issues that affect Lake Forest students.
      
But Gorga, along with Armond Thigpen '09 and Caterina Newren '10, are out to change that. As board members of the new student group Active Minds, they aim to raise awareness about mental health issues, de-stigmatize mental illness, and help refer students in need to mental health resources on and off campus.
      
They believe that students are more receptive to hearing about such issues from other students rather than administrators, faculty, or counselors, and that their efforts might help reduce the stigma associated with seeking help for mental health problems. "It's students talking to students rather than psychologists talking to students," says Thigpen, the group's president and a psychology major. "We're trying to make a more comfortable environment to reach the most people."

The peer-to-peer mental health awareness organization was started in 2001 by a University of Pennsylvania student after her brother committed suicide and now has more than 100 chapters on college campuses nationwide. But news about the mental health of college students has spiked in the wake of recent shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, where both gunmen had documented psychological problems.
 
While these incidents are rare, the number of college students with depression is on the rise. The rate of students reporting a diagnosis of depression has increased 56 percent in the past seven years, from 10 percent in fall 2000 to 16 percent in fall 2007, according to an annual American College Health Association survey.
 
There are many reasons why this is happening, says Bill Divane, director of the Health and Wellness Center. He attributes the rise to several factors, including increased pressure on college students, more students coming from families of divorce, and the alienating aspects of technology, which can hinder students from interacting with others.
 
The stigmas around mental health continue to be a problem, particularly among men, who are less likely to seek help, and international students, who have cultural differences, he adds. "We're trying to create a healthy learning community on campus and trying to think about all the things we can do to remove barriers to students getting the help that they need."

At Lake Forest, it appears to be paying off as more students are using counseling services at the College than ever before. Divane says that approximately 20 to 25 percent of the student population used the College's counseling center during the academic year, and the number has risen steadily over the past few years. "We're getting better at increasing awareness around depression and treating it," Divane says.

In addition to moving the Center from Hotchkiss Hall to more private office space in the newly renovated Buchanan Hall, the Center has stepped up its student outreach efforts in the past two years with more programming in the residence halls and Mohr Student Center. In the past year alone, the Center offered more than 85 programs on different mental health topics and offered services like depression screenings. "We've been very intentional in trying to be more visible," Divane says. "We're involved in a more educational role and this has increased our accessibility."

The Center also helped start up and continues to support the Active Minds chapter, which was officially recognized as a campus group earlier this semester. So far, the group has held events around stress relief and eating disorder awareness, with more activities planned for the fall.
 
During Eating Disorder Awareness Week in February, the organization pinned up denim jeans in the hallway outside the cafeteria and asked students to write positive messages on them. Students wrote slogans like, "Love Your Body!", "Love Every Body!", and "Love Your Genes!"In the fall, the group plans to organize events around alcohol, depression, and suicide prevention.

"One goal is to get students to take an active role and take a sense of ownership about what kind of learning community we will create, a kind where students will help each other," Divane says. "I hope that as a whole community, we're really looking out for our students who might need help."

Lindsay Beller is the editor of Spectrum.