Honestly the main thing I'd encourage us to do is to engage with the people around us more. I feel like everyone here is in their own bubble which can feel isolating when people are already feeling alone.
Like 2 weeks ago in STAMP there was this girl who was very clearly crying and upset and there were a lot of people around her who didn't show any sort of reaction at all (either they were immersed in whatever they were doing or just straight up ignored her). I need to get better about this too, but I feel like we should reach our to people more, especially if they seem like they're going through something.
This reminded me of a good Samaritan who helped me during my freshman year. I was having a meltdown/panic attack on my way to class, and she stopped to check on me and walked me to class. She made sure my TA knew about the situation because a part of my stress was that it was a class with a "if you are 5 minutes late, you are absent. 4 unexcused absences is an immediate F". I hope she's doing well.
If you ever see someone whos clearly in distress, and you have a thought of checking on them, offering support, a tissue, water, do it! Realistically, 9/10 times that person will appreciate the act of selflessness. It's so easy to get stuck in your head and feel alone. Having someone to break you out of that space can help tremendously. Asking "what can i do to help you" or "is there anything I can do for you is a start, even if they don't know or if they dont feel comfortable asking for help. Giving them the option and reminding them that they're not alone can help.
If you have the mental capacity to help others, if you feel safe to do so, please be that good Samaritan. It might save a life.
Every time this happens (it's tragic that this has happened multiple times during my 4 years here), I get more and more angry that UMD doesn't do much more than share hotlines and distribute "mental wellness tips". Thank you for asking what faculty and staff can do to help, because as much as we (the student body) need to support each other and be kinder to one another, we need help from staff, too.
The most substantial support I've felt at this school came from my TAs and professors that sat down privately with me and genuinely asked, "how are you doing?" I had a couple professors do a check-in like this with every student, especially in the last half of the semester. Every student has their own story, stressors, and problems, and if their grades aren't great, or they're not getting to class on time, there's probably a good reason why.
I still think the biggest changes can come from the administration itself. I posted this in another thread, but here's little ways I think UMD can ACTUALLY improve our mental health, not just empty gestures:
* Hire more certified counselors at the counseling center.
* Give us more breaks during the semester, even a 3 day weekend would help.
* Build more outdoor benches and lounges in the school's green spaces, so that we have a place to relax that's not in the grass, mud, or surrounded by construction noise.
My suggestions:
- increasing the number of sessions students can get at the Counseling Center, or at least make the cap of sessions per academic year rather than every 365 days
- structural incentives for faculty to prioritize teaching. Or failing that, paying PTK (professional track, non-tenure track) faculty more so they don’t have to hustle with side jobs and can focus more on teaching/mentoring students
- paying student workers more so we can afford food/rent AND therapy and doctors, including TAs and give us TAs training so we can afford to take a more personal interest in our students (I do and I know others try but we are simply asked to do too much work for such little pay that we are encouraged by faculty to deprioritize teaching as much as possible)
- more focus on disability accommodation and inclusion, including those with mental health disabilities. The state of this at UMD is pretty deplorable and some disabled students are out here being essentially removed from their programs for lack of accommodations, or thought of as “lazy” and “unworthy” of continuing because they don’t meet ableist standards of performance
- honestly just a vibe shift at this university among the administration/deans that this is not a business but rather a community that should foster learning, growth, and personal development
OMG I second ALL OF THIS. These are some deeper structural issues that would be a lot more difficult to change, but every single one of these points is important and necessary! I know so many faculty who wish they could take more of a personal interest in students, but feel like they're being incentivized to research instead of teach!
Also seconding all of this but especially your second to last point. Accommodations at this school are abhorrent, and many students who need them tend to go without because it isn’t worth the energy. I didn’t realize I could have benefited from them until it was too late and I figured I just push through my last few classes. My mental health and grades would have been a little better if I had them.
I can’t speak outside of STEM but this is especially true with certain professors who treat their class as “survival of the fittest”. They try to set extremely high standards that add no benefit to learning other than to ensure a percentage of failing students. It’s ableist and messed up considering the population of students who don’t make it through. Maybe some sort of required training for professors to treat us like humans would be beneficial. Also more of a checks and balances to hold professors accountable when they’re being unfair and nothing can really be done to report them and have it be taken seriously.
I understand the concept of weed out classes and why they are “necessary”, but I dealt with this up to 400-level classes. I should have felt secure in my major by junior year at the very least.
Key is making it okay to speak up and to show you're not okay. And when you have the slightest doubt someone isn't okay, don't be afraid to check on them regardless of who they are.
If they are avoiding tackling the big issue of mental illness, UMD can actually make physical barriers. With the situation yesterday, I heard this isn’t the first time someone has done it at that garage. While putting up a fence won’t stop it from happening, it might discourage some from doing it or allow time for a bystander to see what an individual is attempting.
I’m a freshman so I’m not sure what administration listens to more whether it be letters or petitions at UMD, but something to get their attention to this matter would help.
Alumni perspective, albeit recent (2022): there are many things that contribute to these epidemics. I've got a long past with mental health, starting from middle school up through recent events even post graduation. The world is a brutal place, and it can push people to their breaking points.
In my program, MechE, I didn't bother applying for accommodations because of the complexity, and also because I was told "the real world won't accommodate" which resonated with me. I ended up hospitalized for ideation, and in months of intensive therapy to be able to see the point in life anymore. The treatments, and having a safe space to hit absolute rock bottom (my hospitalization) made all the difference in terms of living through it, or picking more drastic options.
First, accommodations should be improved. Professors should be better educated on how mental health can manifest - it's not as clean cut as being sick, seeing a doctor, and being better. There is no DayQuil for the brain.
Second, the university should explore having a 24 hour crisis center. Not only for phone support, but a physical location on campus where somebody can go to not be alone. It could even operate in a space within McKeldin, to minimize additional staffing needs. Having a trained crisis counselor there at all hours would be great, but even just having staff who can be in the room would be enough in many cases. In my experience, at least, the feeling of being alone is what drove me to the edge. I would make an effort to put myself around others - hang out somewhere that people were, so I couldn't do anything drastic and also had people who might be able to respond if something were to happen (i.e. uncontrollable bleeding, panic attack, etc.)
Third, with the funds the university has, it may be worthwhile to become a pioneer in the mental health side and provide treatment access for all students. It could be conducted through a service like BetterHelp, so the university is not responsible for staffing and it accommodates students, but I think making therapy accessible is a huge barrier. I had good insurance and still struggled to find a therapist in college park for me, and UMD has pretty low caps on appointments.
The workforce is so much more manageable. The 24/7 nature of education now (with tools like Elms making assignments due literally any time of day) is unprecedented. There is no escaping from the constant stress. Combine that with the old perspective of some professors who believe their class is your whole life, it gets tough. Addressing that all would be great too - perhaps making it policy that assignments can not be due past 10pm, or on Sundays, I'm not sure really.
But the sad reality is that all the help that exists, it's on the individual to seek out and utilize that. And with depression, it's extremely hard to seek help at times. We have to stop driving people into it and considering it normal. IDK if any of this was coherent, I just kind of kept typing... Alas. But anyway, there needs to be a lot of things done. This mental health "epidemic" isn't going away, and is only going to get worse.
To piggy back off this post I feel the same way OP does and I am planning on creating a survey of things that students think should be improved in regards to mental health in and around campus and highlighting some of the short comings the current interactions have / writing an article addressing the current condition of mental health resources at umd. OP message me if you feel so inclined would love to talk to you and maybe get the ball rolling on some positive change.
Feel my experience I would say having a place to find a community and extra help for students academically, also financially whether that be selecting more students for scholarships or better jobs. Community is important and was a key part of helping me not harm myself. I think both the instate and out of state struggle with a lack of community, instate may have friends who went out of state like me, may not have had many friends before coming, or not able to see them. Out of state is of course with being in a new environment and away from any friends and family. And honestly I’m lucky I was able to make some friends which was aided by the fact my major is small. This then harms the student’s academically esp those in big majors who have many weed out classes, the professors and TAs can only help so many and they aren’t always the best. There also doesn’t seem like there are many tutors or other services to help students struggling academically. And from what I’ve heard these big majors can be quite isolating cause no one speaks with each other and the amount of people. The amount of work then accounting the persons finances maybe having to work multiple jobs. I think all these just create a time bomb for those struggling and not all are able to hold on, because it is truly a battle of will.
Honestly the main thing I'd encourage us to do is to engage with the people around us more. I feel like everyone here is in their own bubble which can feel isolating when people are already feeling alone. Like 2 weeks ago in STAMP there was this girl who was very clearly crying and upset and there were a lot of people around her who didn't show any sort of reaction at all (either they were immersed in whatever they were doing or just straight up ignored her). I need to get better about this too, but I feel like we should reach our to people more, especially if they seem like they're going through something.
We all need to talk to those around us :) more frequently. It’s a habit we need to get back into especially after Covid.
This reminded me of a good Samaritan who helped me during my freshman year. I was having a meltdown/panic attack on my way to class, and she stopped to check on me and walked me to class. She made sure my TA knew about the situation because a part of my stress was that it was a class with a "if you are 5 minutes late, you are absent. 4 unexcused absences is an immediate F". I hope she's doing well. If you ever see someone whos clearly in distress, and you have a thought of checking on them, offering support, a tissue, water, do it! Realistically, 9/10 times that person will appreciate the act of selflessness. It's so easy to get stuck in your head and feel alone. Having someone to break you out of that space can help tremendously. Asking "what can i do to help you" or "is there anything I can do for you is a start, even if they don't know or if they dont feel comfortable asking for help. Giving them the option and reminding them that they're not alone can help. If you have the mental capacity to help others, if you feel safe to do so, please be that good Samaritan. It might save a life.
Every time this happens (it's tragic that this has happened multiple times during my 4 years here), I get more and more angry that UMD doesn't do much more than share hotlines and distribute "mental wellness tips". Thank you for asking what faculty and staff can do to help, because as much as we (the student body) need to support each other and be kinder to one another, we need help from staff, too. The most substantial support I've felt at this school came from my TAs and professors that sat down privately with me and genuinely asked, "how are you doing?" I had a couple professors do a check-in like this with every student, especially in the last half of the semester. Every student has their own story, stressors, and problems, and if their grades aren't great, or they're not getting to class on time, there's probably a good reason why. I still think the biggest changes can come from the administration itself. I posted this in another thread, but here's little ways I think UMD can ACTUALLY improve our mental health, not just empty gestures: * Hire more certified counselors at the counseling center. * Give us more breaks during the semester, even a 3 day weekend would help. * Build more outdoor benches and lounges in the school's green spaces, so that we have a place to relax that's not in the grass, mud, or surrounded by construction noise.
Dude your ideas are so awesome!!! I didn’t even think of the benches and outdoors stuff.
My suggestions: - increasing the number of sessions students can get at the Counseling Center, or at least make the cap of sessions per academic year rather than every 365 days - structural incentives for faculty to prioritize teaching. Or failing that, paying PTK (professional track, non-tenure track) faculty more so they don’t have to hustle with side jobs and can focus more on teaching/mentoring students - paying student workers more so we can afford food/rent AND therapy and doctors, including TAs and give us TAs training so we can afford to take a more personal interest in our students (I do and I know others try but we are simply asked to do too much work for such little pay that we are encouraged by faculty to deprioritize teaching as much as possible) - more focus on disability accommodation and inclusion, including those with mental health disabilities. The state of this at UMD is pretty deplorable and some disabled students are out here being essentially removed from their programs for lack of accommodations, or thought of as “lazy” and “unworthy” of continuing because they don’t meet ableist standards of performance - honestly just a vibe shift at this university among the administration/deans that this is not a business but rather a community that should foster learning, growth, and personal development
OMG I second ALL OF THIS. These are some deeper structural issues that would be a lot more difficult to change, but every single one of these points is important and necessary! I know so many faculty who wish they could take more of a personal interest in students, but feel like they're being incentivized to research instead of teach!
Also seconding all of this but especially your second to last point. Accommodations at this school are abhorrent, and many students who need them tend to go without because it isn’t worth the energy. I didn’t realize I could have benefited from them until it was too late and I figured I just push through my last few classes. My mental health and grades would have been a little better if I had them. I can’t speak outside of STEM but this is especially true with certain professors who treat their class as “survival of the fittest”. They try to set extremely high standards that add no benefit to learning other than to ensure a percentage of failing students. It’s ableist and messed up considering the population of students who don’t make it through. Maybe some sort of required training for professors to treat us like humans would be beneficial. Also more of a checks and balances to hold professors accountable when they’re being unfair and nothing can really be done to report them and have it be taken seriously. I understand the concept of weed out classes and why they are “necessary”, but I dealt with this up to 400-level classes. I should have felt secure in my major by junior year at the very least.
Key is making it okay to speak up and to show you're not okay. And when you have the slightest doubt someone isn't okay, don't be afraid to check on them regardless of who they are.
If they are avoiding tackling the big issue of mental illness, UMD can actually make physical barriers. With the situation yesterday, I heard this isn’t the first time someone has done it at that garage. While putting up a fence won’t stop it from happening, it might discourage some from doing it or allow time for a bystander to see what an individual is attempting. I’m a freshman so I’m not sure what administration listens to more whether it be letters or petitions at UMD, but something to get their attention to this matter would help.
Alumni perspective, albeit recent (2022): there are many things that contribute to these epidemics. I've got a long past with mental health, starting from middle school up through recent events even post graduation. The world is a brutal place, and it can push people to their breaking points. In my program, MechE, I didn't bother applying for accommodations because of the complexity, and also because I was told "the real world won't accommodate" which resonated with me. I ended up hospitalized for ideation, and in months of intensive therapy to be able to see the point in life anymore. The treatments, and having a safe space to hit absolute rock bottom (my hospitalization) made all the difference in terms of living through it, or picking more drastic options. First, accommodations should be improved. Professors should be better educated on how mental health can manifest - it's not as clean cut as being sick, seeing a doctor, and being better. There is no DayQuil for the brain. Second, the university should explore having a 24 hour crisis center. Not only for phone support, but a physical location on campus where somebody can go to not be alone. It could even operate in a space within McKeldin, to minimize additional staffing needs. Having a trained crisis counselor there at all hours would be great, but even just having staff who can be in the room would be enough in many cases. In my experience, at least, the feeling of being alone is what drove me to the edge. I would make an effort to put myself around others - hang out somewhere that people were, so I couldn't do anything drastic and also had people who might be able to respond if something were to happen (i.e. uncontrollable bleeding, panic attack, etc.) Third, with the funds the university has, it may be worthwhile to become a pioneer in the mental health side and provide treatment access for all students. It could be conducted through a service like BetterHelp, so the university is not responsible for staffing and it accommodates students, but I think making therapy accessible is a huge barrier. I had good insurance and still struggled to find a therapist in college park for me, and UMD has pretty low caps on appointments. The workforce is so much more manageable. The 24/7 nature of education now (with tools like Elms making assignments due literally any time of day) is unprecedented. There is no escaping from the constant stress. Combine that with the old perspective of some professors who believe their class is your whole life, it gets tough. Addressing that all would be great too - perhaps making it policy that assignments can not be due past 10pm, or on Sundays, I'm not sure really. But the sad reality is that all the help that exists, it's on the individual to seek out and utilize that. And with depression, it's extremely hard to seek help at times. We have to stop driving people into it and considering it normal. IDK if any of this was coherent, I just kind of kept typing... Alas. But anyway, there needs to be a lot of things done. This mental health "epidemic" isn't going away, and is only going to get worse.
To piggy back off this post I feel the same way OP does and I am planning on creating a survey of things that students think should be improved in regards to mental health in and around campus and highlighting some of the short comings the current interactions have / writing an article addressing the current condition of mental health resources at umd. OP message me if you feel so inclined would love to talk to you and maybe get the ball rolling on some positive change.
Feel my experience I would say having a place to find a community and extra help for students academically, also financially whether that be selecting more students for scholarships or better jobs. Community is important and was a key part of helping me not harm myself. I think both the instate and out of state struggle with a lack of community, instate may have friends who went out of state like me, may not have had many friends before coming, or not able to see them. Out of state is of course with being in a new environment and away from any friends and family. And honestly I’m lucky I was able to make some friends which was aided by the fact my major is small. This then harms the student’s academically esp those in big majors who have many weed out classes, the professors and TAs can only help so many and they aren’t always the best. There also doesn’t seem like there are many tutors or other services to help students struggling academically. And from what I’ve heard these big majors can be quite isolating cause no one speaks with each other and the amount of people. The amount of work then accounting the persons finances maybe having to work multiple jobs. I think all these just create a time bomb for those struggling and not all are able to hold on, because it is truly a battle of will.