Mental health task force: suggestions and considerations

This week, the University announced its decision to create a task force of professors, students and staff to investigate the state of student mental health and to create recommendations for measures to improve health and well-being.

Daily life as a college student can be stressful; many Hopkins students experience stress of varying degrees resulting from juggling difficult courses, extracurricular activities, social responsibilities, job searches and more. This stressful time coupled with the recent national conversation on the seriousness of mental health issues, especially for young adults, necessitate the University’s actions. The Editorial Board commends the University for taking these steps to gather information about the current state of mental health on campus and to create a guide for action. As the task force begins its work, we have several suggestions.

The goal of studying and providing recommendations for all nine schools is ambitious and we appreciate the University’s awareness of the differences between all the different student populations. The University must refrain from generalizing all of its campuses and the groups of students within them. For instance, an international student, first-generation college student and a transfer student will all face different stressors. Each campus is structured differently and has a different makeup of students, and thus methods for improving the state of mental health on campus cannot be universal. It is important that the task force maintains their current understanding and not only draws useful conclusions from their work, but makes sure that it also treats various groups as the separate entities they are.

Convening a task force on mental health may not solve all of the mental health issues on Hopkins campuses. Issues surrounding mental health can arise from a variety of causes — some students enter Hopkins with a history of mental illness while others become stressed or suffer from depression due to issues such as homesickness, course loads, or interpersonal conflicts. Some factors cannot be changed or alleviated in their entirety, and the goal of the task force is not to eliminate all stressors but instead to help students manage them and help the University better serve its students.

Nevertheless, there are still several areas of student life on the Homewood campus that the task force can and should work to improve. Firstly, orientation could include a presentation or training on how students can recognize signs of mental illness in themselves and in their friends and how to utilize resources on campus. Awareness and understanding of mental illness is a key to successful early detection and treatment, so all incoming freshmen should be educated on the topic. This education could potentially take the form of a mental health training session, similar to bystander intervention training (BIT), that is mandatory for new students. Similarly, the Office of Residential Life should incorporate more training programs for Residential Advisors regarding how they can identify and address mental health concerns in their residents.

Students view RAs more as event coordinators and good for small talk, but don’t feel comfortable approaching them with serious personal concerns. RAs who can confidently say that they are trained and willing to help with mental health first aid would help students feel more safe and supported.

A more substantial method of improving students’ mental health and well-being on campus is the construction of a student center and an international center. Designating an area as a social center for international students could help this group meet peers who may be dealing with similar adjustment issues and become more integrated into campus life. The recent addition of the Brody Learning Commons to the Milton S. Eisenhower Library was a beneficial development by creating a social space on-campus with a positive atmosphere. However Brody is still a workspace and thus associated with stress and school work. Creating a new student union or another type of social gathering place, could improve the overall quality of life on campus by providing a positive space where students can socialize and relax away from the stressors of school. We know that the University is actively working on a student center (awaiting funding) and understands the benefits to the campus culture it will bring and we are excited for it to eventually happen.

Some departments, such as the public health department and the department of biomedical engineering, have annual get-togethers ranging from dances to barbeques, but most other departments do not host such events. More of these types of events would be helpful. These gatherings contribute to improving mental health on campus by helping students form friendships within their major while creating positive associations with their schoolwork and professors.

In addition to these social improvements, there are more direct means through which Hopkins can reduce the stress associated with academics. For example, the University could firmly enforce the rule that professors cannot hold finals or set papers’ deadlines to be during reading period. Similarly, the administration could prohibit professors from administering exams immediately following breaks. These changes would allow students to use their breaks as actual vacations, as a time for relaxation and rejuvenation instead of forcing students to spend their time off from classes cramming for exams. These changes need not be specific to Homewood and could be implemented at any of the other campuses as well.

Lack of accessibility to mental health resources and support services is an issue at Hopkins and across the country. The Editorial Board is glad it is finally being addressed and studied with the focus it deserves, and we hope that the University remains cognizant of the many complexities of mental health as its task force begins its work at Homewood and the other campuses.