CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Weber State sees uptick in use of mental health services as student health takes focus

Standard-Examiner - 1/13/2017

Jan. 13--OGDEN -- The Stress Relief Center at Weber State University is a quiet, calm island amidst a sea of busy college students. The lighting is dim and the air smells like lavender.

Senior Mary Mecham tries to go there often because majoring in music and practicing piano for three hours every day is physically and emotionally draining.

"The ability to maintain your mental health isn't just going to help you in college but it's literally training you how to be successful in life," she said. "If you can master your mind, you can do anything."

Michael Olpin, the director of WSU's Stress Relief Center, has studied stress management for about 25 years and led the center since 2008. In his opinion, people now are more stressed than ever before and he wants the Stress Relief Center to be a place where students and community members can simply relax.

The center has seven massage chairs, a water massage table, a chi balancing machine and more.

"It relaxes you all the way to your bones," Olpin said, pointing to the chi balancing machine that gently shakes a person's body back and forth.

The Stress Relief Center is just one aspect of Weber State's mental health services, as the school also offers free counseling and therapy for individuals, groups and families.

The number of students seeking help has increased in recent years, as has the severity of their problems, said Dianna Abel, Weber State's Executive Director of Counseling Health and Wellness.

"The students we see are struggling with severe anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma," she said. "This is not easy stuff."

About 1,260 students received individual or couples counseling at Weber State in the 2015-16 school year, a 10 percent increase from the year prior. That total doesn't include those who participated in group therapy.

There were about 8,700 scheduled individual or couples counseling appointments during the 2015-16 school year, a 21 percent increase from the year prior.

On top of that, 143 students participated in group therapy, which was a 9 percent increase from the 2014-15 school year.

Personnel available to Weber State students include five psychologists (including Abel), two clinical mental health counselors, two social workers, one marriage and family therapist, a psychiatric nurse and three graduate students completing their practicum in the field. The school also offers limited crisis intervention for critical cases like suicide.

There were 150 crisis appointments in 2015-16, a 16 percent increase over the year prior.

"I think those numbers are eye-opening for people when they think what we're dealing with is 'My roommate won't wash their dishes,'" Abel said. "Nope. We've got people who are thinking about killing themselves."

Counselors at Utah State University are also busy.

The stigma related to mental health problems has essentially disappeared for college students, so more of them are coming in than ever before, said David Busch, USU's Director of Counseling and Psychological Services.

Busch said while people who went to college decades ago might have used denial as a coping strategy, today's college student is dealing with a lot of serious childhood trauma and are much more connected to global problems in the age of the internet.

"If you can avoid all those thoughts, life is a lot simpler and a lot more pleasant, but if your'e dialed in to the suffering in the world it can be on the discouraging side," he said.

Utah State has eight licensed psychologists, one of whom is part-time, four pre-doctoral interns and a psychiatrist. Counseling services are free to students enrolled in nine or more credits.

According to data provided by university spokesman Tim Vitale, the most common issues facing students there are anxiety, relationship problems and depression. Busch said anxiety is the most common problem he sees among students.

A total of 1,214 individuals sought counseling support in the 2015-16 school year and this year's numbers are expected to be higher.

Nationwide, self-reported depression, anxiety, and social anxiety has grown slowly and consistently over the last five years, as has the lifetime prevalence rate for non-suicidal self-injury.

These statistics, according to the Penn State University Center for Collegiate Mental Health 2015 annual report, apply to college students receiving mental health services at 139 colleges across the country.

The report also found the lifetime prevalence rate for seriously considering suicide increased from 24 percent to about 33 percent in the last five years.

An increased need for professional mental health help is happening across age groups in Ogden.

For instance, the Ogden School District has plans to launch a separate, all-day class for elementary school-aged children in need of a higher level of mental health therapy. Box Elder School District Board of Education members also discussed the need for more counselors at a January meeting.

Olpin attributed an increase in the number of people seeking mental health treatment to the loss of needing to "tough it out." He said today's students are more eager to seek help faster. For example, an online stress management class Olpin teaches has 120 students enrolled even though it's not required for any major at Weber State.

The Stress Relief Center is free for Weber State students and employees, and sees between 3,000 and 4,000 clients annually. Olpin said on busy days, about 75 people come and go.

Since 2010, Olpin has conducted a study of about 17,000 of the center's clients and found that the stress-relief and massage equipment is effective, which he tested by measuring heart rate, blood pressure, perceived stress and stress-related pain,.

"Statistically when people come in and when they leave, they're better off stress-wise," he said.

Both Weber State and USU have mental health outreach programs throughout the year that include bringing in dogs during finals week, classroom presentations and informational booths.

"They just need some support and that's why we're here," Abel said.

Contact education reporter Anna Burleson at aburleson@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @AnnagatorB or like her on Facebook at Facebook.com/BurlesonReports.

___

(c)2017 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah)

Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at www.standard.net

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.