Mental Health Care Is Important For Every Student; Not Just Athletes

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Pac-12 has announced the allocation of $1.1 million in support of an initiative that focuses on providing on-campus mental healthcare for student-athletes.

The conference should be commended for the effort, and let’s not forget that access to quality mental healthcare is essential for every student.

My metaphorical hat also goes off to the University of Utah’s athletic department for their U Giving Day campaign. This year’s campaign focused on donations for student-athlete mental health, a very important cause.

Every student, not just student-athletes, likely saw the social media push for this campaign. The campaign, however, may give the impression of prioritizing one type of student’s mental health over other students.

Today is #UGivingDay and @utahathletics is raising awareness on student-athlete mental health. We want to make sure that all of our student-athletes know that they are not alone!#UAreNotAlone #UAreWorthIt pic.twitter.com/IxRABHHPhm

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) May 21, 2019

They may not be athletes, but most are there cheering them on as friends or supporters of the athletic program. It is important not to minimize the mental health of “regular” students by putting such a focus on the mental health of athletes.

It’s not just a question of what happens at the U or any other college campus. Nor is it a criticism of what the PAC-12 is doing. It’s a hope that all students who may be struggling get the help they need.

My Story

I don’t blame any person or institutions involved, this is simply my story, meant to bring awareness to an issue I am passionate about. Quality mental healthcare for all students.

“I want to die. I don’t want to do this. I CAN’T do this.”

That thought ran through my head every day during the spring semester of my freshman year at the University of Utah.

Luckily for me, that thought was always followed by, “I can’t leave my brother and sister.”

Older Sister is the role that I am most proud of. I am quite a bit older than both of my siblings, and taking care of them when they were younger gave me purpose. Now that they are older, they are my best friends. They don’t know how much just being in my life helped to save it.

My mistake was not telling my parents that I was struggling and needed help. At age 18, all I could think about was not wanting to worry them – not wanting to cause an issue. My parents are wonderful and would have rushed to my aid.

If I could go back in time, I would have told them of my struggles immediately, but I didn’t.

MORE:

• Utah Athletics Supporting Student-Athletes Mental Health With U Giving Day
• PAC-12 Announces Rule Changes With Intra-Conference Transfers

Instead of telling them, on a particularly bad day, I called the on-campus student counseling center and set up an appointment to meet with a therapist. It felt like a brave step as I struggled with my own mental health.

A week later, I found myself filling out forms about medical history and ranking bad days over good days. I sat with a therapist and talked for about 20 minutes about how and why I was feeling the way I was. She promised to call me within a few days with a plan of action.

Two days later, I had a voicemail waiting for me when I finished my day of classes. It was the therapist, letting me know that my case was beyond what they could handle. She suggested finding a therapist off-campus or with the University Medical Center.

I broke down. Hearing that my issues were beyond their abilities made me feel like I was really messed up.

Years later, I now understand that the therapist just wanted to make sure I was seeing someone fully qualified to help.

While I can appreciate that now, I argue that people should be much more gentle with the minds of young adults experiencing one of the biggest transition periods of their lives – leaving home often for the first time for college.

I grew up in a very small part of Utah, and moving to Salt Lake was a shock. With all the pressures of that first freshman semester, other students find themselves in a similar circumstance.

After meeting with the on-campus therapist, I didn’t seek help from anyone else – mainly because it would be expensive. I didn’t want to use my insurance, because that would require telling – and worrying – my parents. The counseling center I went to was a deeply discounted service provided to students (which I think is wonderful).

So, I just tried to figure things out on my own for about a year. It was hard. I almost dropped out of school and didn’t truly enjoy that part of my college experience.

I don’t recommend or endorse the way I coped to anyone going through similar struggles. If you are experiencing any mental health problems, help is only a phone call away at the National Suicide Hotline by calling 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255).

I was never taught or given the tools to seek help, but they are there. Eventually, I got the help I needed to heal and cope with what was later diagnosed as an anxiety problem.

Mental Health Care For All Students

There are other students out there having similar struggles. The Pac-12 is making big strides by working to prioritize the mental health of their student athletes. Just remember, EVERY student needs access to mental health care.

Every person is a priority.