EDITORIAL: Helping hands can save lives
College is a transitional experience for young minds.
After high school, maintaining relationships becomes more strained, achieving higher grades becomes more challenging, and new responsibilities increase exponentially.
For many, the four years leading up to graduation can represent a stressful period in our lives. Often, the expectation to succeed can cloud our minds of optimism – leaving students feeling like they are alone to face the burdens of the world.
You are not alone.
Central Michigan University offers a variety of resources to help students with mental health issues. Between the counseling center, student success centers for each quadrant of campus and university health services – the range of professional assistance is abundant.
However, our most important assets as students are our classmates.
According to the National Institutes of Health, 26.2 percent of adults have a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. That means that one in four – or around 4,900 on-campus students are experiencing trouble when it comes to mental health.
Of those with diagnosable conditions, only about half of those afflicted seek treatment. If CMU is representative of national trends, about 2,350 CMU students are going untreated for what, potentially, could be a serious mental condition. Their only support system: Friends, coworkers, relatives and acquaintances.
These students need your help.
For every 100,000 adult deaths in the United States in 2010, almost 18 were by suicide.
At CMU, there have been three instances this year where a student has committed suicide. That’s three lives cut far too short, young minds that are no longer able to make their impact on the world and three families that are crippled by the loss of a loved one.
These suicides do not only represent the death of a student, but the death of a member of our community. It represents the loss of a key element of our future and of a voice that can no longer be heard.
We can make a difference.
We can all do our part to recognize early signs of mental health issues in those we care about. With our focused support, students who need help can seek the treatment they need.
Regardless of whether it’s post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, eating disorders or schizophrenia – we can all strive to achieve a greater understanding of the issues and offer compassion to those who need it.
We urge all students to educate themselves. Become aware of common mental health conditions and their symptoms. Be prepared to recognize and address your concerns.
Read about the options for treatment and steps that can be taken to get our peers the help they deserve. Remind students in need that help is available to those who seek it. Ask questions, give advice, show that you care – but above all else, listen.
Sometimes the simple reassurance that you care can be all someone needs to hear. Whether that reassurance comes in the form of help with every-day tasks or simply extending an invite to include them in your plans – it could ultimately save a life.
