Prepared to help: Who distressed students can talk to
This is a five-part series covering a six-month long investigation on gun safety and awareness, inspired by the mass shooting event in Winder, Ga. at the beginning of the school year. Today is part five, which provides info on student mental health resources and includes some stats on mental health awareness on college campuses.
The Student Counseling and Psychological Services Summerville office is located across from the Washington Hall parking lot 108. (photo by CM Wahl)
By CM Wahl | Managing Editor
Last year, The Healthy Minds Network surveyed over 100,000 college students across 196 U.S. universities on their mental health. The final numbers revealed a prevalence of mental health problems, which included 38 percent struggling with depression and 35 percent dealing with anxiety.
To put these findings in perspective, approximately four out of every 10 students reported battling depression and anxiety in some way, with nearly half of them stating that their mental and emotional difficulties hurt their academic performance at least 3 days a week.
Of the participants, only half knew what school resources were available if they needed professional help for their mental or emotional health. If these numbers represent the average college population, it is possible that half of AU students are not aware of the university’s resources when they need help.
The Student Counseling and Psychological Services (SCAPS) office is likely the most well-known resource for students, offering individual, relational and group counseling, as well as workshops on topics like emotional regulation and decoding anxiety.
The Summerville location is across from the Washington Hall parking lot 108 and the Health Sciences Campus location is in the Student Center on the second floor. Appointments can be made by calling 706-737-1471.
Counseling services through SCAPS are free and confidential for all actively enrolled students. According to their webpage, most students find that one to six sessions generally address their needs, and they can provide community referrals for students who may benefit from longer-term counseling.
“This short-term model,” states the site, “allows us to serve the greatest number of students with limited resources, and is capable of addressing a wide range of concerns.”
For crisis services, emergency appointments are available and there is an After-Hour Support Line: 833-910-3364. Crises include harmful thoughts or plans, traumatic events, recent grief experiences, negative reactions to psychiatric medications, difficulties meeting basic needs, and even problems with bullying.
Criminal justice professor Candace Griffith, Ph.D., said bullying has often played a role in the lives of those who’ve committed acts of mass violence. She said that shooters tend to be a “little outsider,” and she recommended an increase in efforts to identify and assist these individuals before anything happens.
“Looking at anti-bullying policies, policies of inclusion, diversity, finding ways to help individual students,” she said, “fulfill the needs that they have.”
The SCAPS webpage offers other resources too, such as “Jags Live Well,” a student-focused initiative which promotes holistic wellness to improve overall quality of life, and the downloadable “Distressed Student Guide 2025,” which provides important phone numbers and offers tips on recognizing and responding to distressed individuals.
The “Jags Live Well” initiative helps students with emotional, physical, occupational, intellectual, financial, social, environmental and spiritual well-being. (photo by CM Wahl)
“We need to find ways to teach youngsters… how to deal with their emotions better,” said Kimberly Davies, PhD., dean of Pamplin College. “We probably need better mental health care in our society. Better ways to deal with one’s own frustrations. Our frustration tolerance is oftentimes very low.”
Davies stressed the importance of recognizing signs of distress and stated that the school’s CARE program was put in place for this reason.
CARE, which stands for Campus Assessment Response and Evaluation, has a team in place to “provide a caring program for student identification, intervention and response while balancing the needs of the individual with those of the community,” according to the university website.
The program is a collaborative effort from different departments, including but not limited to, Academic Success, Student Health, Testing and Disability Services, and University Police. Davies stated it came about after the “Virginia Tech massacre,” when a single shooter claimed the lives of 33 people on his college campus, including himself, and injured 17 others.
Davies said that similar programs exist in most schools across the nation to help students with things like housing, food, tutoring or mental health help. She said the CARE team usually helps those who are having difficulties and can also find out if a student is planning to do something.
“Some of them, it’s very obvious,” said Davies. “If they joke around even saying they’re going to do this, they should hear that, parents should hear that, other students should hear that. Almost every case of mass shooting… there’s been some tell. There’s been something that somebody said to somebody.”
Chief James Lyons of the AU Police Department stated getting in front of behavioral concerns usually prevents bad things from happening, especially active shooter events. He referred to it as being “left of boom,” a military term referring to the set of events that happen before an event, instead of after.
“When you look back at some of the incidents that have happened, like say, Virginia Tech,” he said, “that shooter was showing signs that he was disturbed, and he had disturbing behavior all over campus. But nobody was putting that information together.”
Lyons said the CARE Team plays an integral part in putting together information, especially if multiple departments receive CARE reports on one student.
“Our antennas start to go up,” he said, “and we say, ‘Oh, okay, we might have a problem with this student’s behavior,’ and be able to address it that way.”
Students can be referred to the CARE team through a form on the university’s CARE page. The team will reach out to them and develop a plan with campus and community resources to assist them. However, if it appears there is an impending threat to the person or the community, the university directs concerned parties to contact the police before notifying the CARE team.
“Consider the safety of the individual and the community first,” stated the site, “and then submit the CARE concern so we can connect the student with appropriate resources to help them be successful at AU.”
For the first article in this series, see Prepared to know: What AU experts say about mass violence.”
Contact CM Wahl at cwahl@augusta.edu.
