Guest Communications
SRQ Daily Saturday Outlook
Saturday, May 25, 2024 |
by Dr. Larry Thompson
Photo courtesy of Ringling College: A staff table from the Ringling College Health Center is set up on campus to support the “Resilient You” campaign.
While college is a time of celebration of growing into adulthood and new freedoms, it can also be a difficult time for many students, especially at the beginning, and especially at a prestigious and rigorous arts school like the Ringling College of Art and Design.
Each year we welcome a new student body made up primarily of teenagers, many of whom have never lived away from their families before – some of whom have moved halfway across the country or even around the world to attend Ringling College. It is natural for them to feel homesick, lonely, sad or isolated.
Add pressure to succeed (whether from family or self-imposed) and the crisis that arises when a talented young person’s artistic abilities are evaluated to higher standards and exposed to academic critique than they have ever experienced before, and emotions can begin to swirl.
In today’s world, mental health issues are not a special problem but a common part of college life, especially at high-level arts institutions. However, that doesn’t mean these issues should be accepted as a given. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but as educators, we need to keep mental health at the forefront of our institutional thinking.
The Healthy Minds survey demonstrates the critical need for emotional support infrastructure at all universities. The annual survey draws nearly 100,000 respondents from 450 universities, including Ringling College and 41 other schools in the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. The survey examines not only people’s mental health, but also their attitudes toward seeking help, accessing services, and overcoming stigma around mental health support.
The latest HMS survey results found that respondents from Ringling College and other arts colleges were more likely to report feeling lonely or isolated than the national sample overall: For example, 84% of Ringling College respondents and 82% of AICAD respondents overall said they sometimes or often feel isolated from others, compared with 70% of the national sample.
Even more alarming is that 24% of Ringling College respondents and 21% of AICAD respondents reported suicidal thoughts in the past year, compared to 15% in the national survey. We must acknowledge the seriousness of these reports and continue to take realistic steps to ensure that mental health services are not just available but fully integrated into campus life.
At Ringling College, we have established mental wellness, support, and education networks that are integrated into students’ daily lives, and we work to ensure that students are not only aware of but comfortable with these programs from the very beginning when they join campus.
Our support programs are centered around the on-campus Student Health Center and the Peterson Counseling Center, where students can receive individual and group counseling, crisis psychological services, and consultations with off-campus providers if specialized treatment is needed.
The health center also You are resilient The campaign focuses on a strengths-based approach and provides students and their families with a set of emotional tools they can use to deal with the many stresses that negatively impact their mental health. In addition to professional counseling, You are resilient There is an emphasis on peer support, including ways to support classmates and a hotline for advice on what to do if you think another student is struggling.
Mental health resources aren’t just symbolic. These programs should be a fundamental cornerstone of higher education. Creativity, intellectual development, and economic success should not come at the expense of mental health.
But awareness isn’t enough. We can’t expect students to tell us when they’re struggling or ask for help when they need it. Mental health support must be as rooted in our institutions of higher education as our libraries and classrooms. That’s why at Ringling College, we continue to prioritize and expand programs like: You are resilientWe use multifaceted evidence-based research to provide real support for students.
Dr. Larry Thompson He is the dean of Ringling College of Art and Design.
Photo courtesy of Ringling College: A staff table from the Ringling College Health Center is set up on campus to support the “Resilient You” campaign.
