Student Mental and Behavioral Health
In sharing her positive experiences with an 18-month mental health leave of absence, Syracuse University student Delaney Arias makes a strong case for the school’s policy of not applying minimum or maximum time for mental health absences.
New York Times editorial writer and UC Berkeley professor David Kirp explores how feelings of self-doubt and fear of failure, particularly in freshman and minority students, can be alleviated through exercises involving mentoring and communication. Kirp argues for “giving students essential psychological tools and making their success an institutional priority.” He cites a large scale experiment where new college students heard accounts of how upperclassmen navigated university life and were then introduced to research showing that intelligence is “learned” over time, and not just genetic. As a result, students reported feeling more content and less insecure.
The suicide rate for Asian American women rose by 96.3% from 2000 to 2009. In response to this and other data showing that Asian American women have high risk for depression, suicidal feelings and risky sexual behavior, The Asian Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE) project will launch at Wellesley College this year. AWARE, which consists of culturally specific group psychotherapy, seeks to improve the mental and sexual health of Asian-American young women in a way that is sensitive to their unique experiences and challenges.
Should colleges offer a happiness course to improve wellness and wellbeing on campus? On OZY, Leslie Nguyen-Okwu says yes, arguing that mandatory happiness classes for college freshmen could help new students manage stress better and make time for self-care. As evidence, she cites research by Alejandro Adler, a positive psychology researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, whose data suggests that you can’t explicitly teach people to be happy but can give them skills to “live the best possible life.”
University of Virginia’s “Block Party” has become a first week rite of passage, but administrators hope the raucous off-campus gathering will take a tamer tone. The party, where underage students have been known to drink to excess and engage in risky and sometimes criminal behavior, will be highly supervised by an unprecedented collaboration between administrators and community partners such as the local police and fire departments, as well as homeowners and landlords.
In an effort to combat high risk drinking, Stanford University has banned all hard liquor from on-campus parties. The school is also placing a limit on bottle sizes; beer and wine will still be allowed on campus for students of age, but only in bottles smaller than 750 ml.
In a letter about the updated policy, Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs, wrote that he hopes students do not view the new rules as something to work around. Rather, people at Stanford must “create a campus community that allows for alcohol to be a part of the social lives of some of our students, but not to define the social and communal lives of all of our students.”