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Colleges Address Student Depression
Campuses Adapt to Needs of the Mentally Ill
 Listen to Madge Kaplan's report.
Aug. 13, 2002 -- In response to several suicides in recent years, many of the nation's top schools are now among the most proactive regarding the mental well being of their students. Harvard, M.I.T. and Dartmouth alone have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to become more adept at handling students with chronic illnesses.
American colleges haven't always been equipped to help students with serious mental illness, but the Americans with Disabilities Act has changed that. Since it was passed in 1990, schools have become more accessible for students with mental disabilities. For Morning Edition, Madge Kaplan from member station WGBH profiles how some college administrators and students are dealing with the challenges of mental illness.
Under the Disabilities Act, mentally ill students are entitled to "reasonable accommodations" as long as they can still meet a school's academic standards and graduation requirements. Nancy Pompian, Dartmouth College's student disabilities coordinator, says one of the most helpful accomodations is reducing course load.
Pompian is currently helping about 30 to 40 students with mental illness make it through school, usually by taking fewer courses each term and getting extra time to complete assignments and finish exams. Pompian says she's often awed by the students' drive to hang on despite the mental difficulties.
Across the country, college counseling centers report they're seeing more students with severe mental illness. Exact numbers aren't tracked and explanations vary -- from the pressures of college itself to the rise of depression and other mental illnesses in the general population. But there's no doubt that earlier diagnosis and better drugs enable students who want to go to college to function at higher levels.
Some schools worry that students in search of counseling for short-term crises may be shortchanged when more resources are allocated to helping those with chronic mental illness.
Carol Mowbray teaches social work at the University of Michigan and specializes in higher education opportunities for the mentally ill. She advocates a policy of "no wrong door."
"We don't expect universities to turn into mental health clinics, to adequately treat every disorder that might be presented," she says. "But if they don't have that capacity, then they should have good strong referral arrangements with an appropriate source."
"That doesn't just mean handing a kid a card and saying, 'Here's a number you can call up. Go see them,' " she says. "If someone is in a psychiatric crisis, you have to help them."
In Depth
 More NPR stories on treating mental illness.
Online Discussion
Post your thoughts and experiences on the issue at NPR's discussion board.
Other Resources
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The Surgeon General's 1999 report on mental health.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act homepage.
• The National Mental Health Association offers a special section on depression among college students. The site includes a list of symptoms for depression and anxiety and where to go for help.
• The National Institute of Mental Health's Web page on college students and depression.
• A New York Times Magazine article on the suicide of M.I.T. student Elizabeth Shin. Shin's parents have filed a wrongful death suit against the school.
• Some of M.I.T.'s news releases on Shin's death.
• M.I.T.'s plans to improve mental health services for its students.
• The Harvard-Radcliffe Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy Group is an undergraduate organization dedicated to increasing mental health services for students. Its Web site offers an extensive list of online mental health resources.
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