Advocacy and Support

What resources are being made available for your access to help manage your stress? Unfortunately, most college campuses are having a hard time keeping up with the demands of students to support their mental health issues (Drum, Brownson, Denmark, & Smith, 2009). This is mostly due to the decreased knowledge about student crises and how they are caused. Eventually, this leads to funding that may not be used in the proper areas to effectively meet the student’s mental health needs (Drum et al., 2009). However, this does not mean that colleges are leaving their students to fend for themselves when it comes to stress. Most college campuses provide students with counselors and educators that could be seen at the student health center. At that point, intervention will take place to provide the help a student needs. There are even such cases in which devices are obtained and put to use to teach methods of reducing stress (Ratanasiripong, Sverduk, Hayashino, & Prince, 2010). In one college, easy-to-use biofeedback programs were ordered at a low cost and were checked-out by students to take home. The program was a success as students reported learning techniques like breathing exercises and imagery that effectively reduced their own anxiety (Ratanasiripong et al., 2010). This type of research is one more way in which aid for the stressed student is being advocated.
But if one-on-one counseling doesn’t help you enough, you may want to try support groups as well. It is often helpful to talk or listen to others that are in similar situations to yourself. It could provide insight as to how to better cope with stress as well as eliminate some feelings of isolation (Varicolis, Carson, & Shoemaker, 2006). Below are a few links that could be useful on your search for the right support group for you:

• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/support-groups/MH00002 - This site explains the benefits of a support group and how to go about finding a good one.

• http://www.dailystrength.org/c/College-Stress/support-group - This site is an example of an online support group in which you could leave comments, ask questions, and even talk to some experts.

• http://www.supportgroups.com/support-groups/stress-support-groups - This site is also an example of an online support group for stress.

However, you must remember that advice received from support groups is not the equivalent of medical treatment and you should consult with a health care professional, especially before committing to any actions.

My Counselor Experience

To provide an example of how a college campus health center could be useful to you, I’ve set up an appointment at my own college with a counselor to see how they would help out a student under excessive stress. It began by filling out some basic contact information, reason for the appointment, and signing a consent form that allows treatment to take place if the situation calls for it. I was then walked in by the friendly doctor to her office, which in itself was a calm and quiet place. Once she closed the door, it was easy to imagine anxiety levels to start to decrease since everything was so clean, neat, and comfortable. She sat across from the couch I was at and we started to discuss how she would help a stressed-out student. She said that the first session would be devoted to assessing what could be the causes of stress, including influences from outside of school like family, social groups, and drug-use. The next session would be focused on issues agreed upon by both the counselor and student. The average length of each session is about 50 minutes and my college is a short-term counseling service, which means a student could only be seen about 10 times. If a student needs help beyond ten sessions, referrals could be made to other facilities or psychiatrists from the “Rainbow” book, which has a listing of almost every mental health contact in the Los Angeles area. The sessions are made to fit the needs of the student, but other than having the student try to understand him or herself and communicate feelings more clearly, the sessions are usually comprised of enacting stress-reduction techniques such as: muscle relaxation and breathing exercises, learning to take time-outs or walks, visualization, learning to reward oneself, journaling, role-playing, and problem-solving like time management. Even if you just need to vent, counselors are there to listen. In addition to counseling, the doctor mentioned that there are literature and pamphlets available for signs of stress and quick tips to reduce it, workshops and presentations are held every few weeks on balancing responsibilities, and at any time a psychiatrist could be seen and medications prescribed if necessary. My health center also provides walk-in triage in the afternoon, where you could be seen immediately for any troubles you may have at that time. In general, the doctor claims that most students who comply with the recommended sessions, leave the office happier and more able to cope with stress.

The doctor’s soft voice and kind demeanor convinced me to trust in my college campus health center if any mental health issue arose in me. I am confident that I would be able to find the help I would need from the services provided at my school. So I’m recommending to you, that if your stress is starting to get out of control and even affects your school work, don’t hesitate to give your campus health center a chance. The help you need could be just outside your classroom.

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