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A Rise in Mental-Health Help on Campus: Colleges Respond As More Students Seek Help for Problems Small or Serious

Nov. 2—Mental-health counselors at La Salle University were feeling overwhelmed, their appointment books packed with students in need of help, seemingly more so than ever.

Counseling director Suzanne Boyll ran numbers last week and confirmed her suspicion. They were busier.

As of Oct. 16, the number of counseling sessions had spiked 48 percent to 204, up from 137 the same time last year, a jump not solely explained by the school’s record freshman enrollment.

“There are trauma-related problems, death of a family member, bad news about a class, other family stresses, boyfriend/girlfriend issues, conflict with a roommate,” said Boyll, a 30-year veteran and one of four psychologists on staff.

Counseling centers at many schools in the region and nationally note the same trend: more students seeking help for routine and severe problems.

Still shaken from the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, campuses are responding to the demand by adding counselors, reorganizing how they assess students to get to the most acute cases quickly, and training workers to deal with newly emerging problems.

Rutgers University’s main campus in New Brunswick, N.J., opened a new $5 million, 35-room counseling center this fall with all mental-health services consolidated there. It also has overhauled how it responds to students.

“If a student calls for help and they need urgent help, they’re seen the same day or same moment,” said Jill Richards, counseling director.

At Rowan University in Glassboro, an increased number of students are “coming in with heightened symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidality, as well as students with developmental disorders, specifically Asperger’s disorder, as well as attention-deficit disorder,” said David Rubenstein, counseling and psychological director.

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