May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Got Anxiety, Depression, or Stress?

Many do on college campuses, including faculty, staff, and students.  Read biographies like Lab Girl by a botany professor or What Made Maddy Run about a college athlete.

So, you are not alone, although you may feel isolated, because mental illness has been stigmatized in our culture.  At times, life can spin out of control. Then we need to face the hard realities of mental-health disabilities, ask for help, and seek resources.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990 entitles you to seek accommodations.

Students, as you study for exams, complete projects, and write research projects, you may experience increasing stress and decreasing sleep.  You may be juggling jobs and family obligations, trying to pay bills, and more.

Faculty and staff, as you teach, grade, and advise students, you may feel stress, fatigue, and uncertainty about the future.

A FEW FACTS

“The statistics, in fact, are alarming. One in five teens and young adults live with a mental-health condition, and three-quarters develop it by age 24, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Colleges feel greater pressure to address these mental-health concerns because, in many cases, students are developing them during their formative college years.”
Patel, V. (2019, February 18). The new ‘in loco parentis”. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/Trend19-InLoco-Main

“Anxiety, in particular, seems to be on the rise among undergraduates. The most recent data from the American College Health Association suggest a mental-health crisis on American college campuses. In its 2017 survey of 26,000 undergraduates, 40 percent said that at some point in the previous 12 months they had felt "so depressed that it was difficult to function," 61 percent had experienced overwhelming anxiety, and nearly 13 percent had seriously considered suicide.”
Gooblar, D. (2018, December 17). How to help a student in a mental-health crisis.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-to-Help-a-Student-in-a/245305

“Over one-third (37%) of students with a mental health condition age 14­–21 and older who are served by special education drop out—the highest dropout rate of any disability group.”
National Alliance on Mental Illness. Mental health by the numbers. Retrieved from: https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers

RESOURCES

Rather than isolate yourself, connect with those trained to listen and support you.  There are many Miami University programs, professionals, and counselors willing to accompany you through this rough stretch into a future with hope.

Miami Students at Miami University Regionals may request free Counseling Services for personal concerns, relationships, suicide prevention, veterans, and career.
Call 513-727-3431 for a Middletown appointment, 14 Johnston Hall

Call 513-785-3211 for a Hamilton appointment, 127 Rentschler Hall

Miami Employees, those in their household, and their dependents have access to 5 free counseling sessions through Impact Solutions, our employee work/life assistance program.  Counselors are licensed mental health professionals with a master’s degree or above.  Counseling is available for stress, anxiety, depression, mental health, substance abuse, relationships, parenting, divorce, bereavement, financial, legal, nutritional, daycare concerns, etc.

Call 24/7:   800-227-6000.  

Find resources on the Impact Solutions Website  
Click the orange member login button. Enter username:  Miamioh. Click “Sign In”

Access other free Miami Benefits and Wellness services like virtual weight loss counseling by Real Appeal or Fresh Start Tobacco Cessation

The Gardner-Harvey Library provides books and eBooks like Saving Normal, articles, streaming videos in Kanopy, and databases like PsycINFO on mental health topics.

Community Resources
Many provide free information, publications, classes, and services.  See Butler County Ohio Social Services Guide  Examples:

Hospitals:  Lindner Center of Hope - Library
Government Agencies:  
National Institute of Mental Health - Health Topics
U.S. National Library of Medicine. Mental Health and Behavior
Nonprofits:  National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - Mental Health Conditions
Virtual Therapists:  Better Help - Advice

Beth Tumbleson, Librarian and Member of Miami University Regionals Wellness Committee