NOVEMBER 11. 2009
THE MEREDITH HERALD • Educating Women to Excel \ VOL XXVI • ISSUE X
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Analyze This
Anna Turner
Staff Writer
As reported by the News and
Observer, "nearly 15 percent of
college students in spring 2008
said they had been diagnosed
with depression." That number is
up nearly 10 percent from 2000.
With more pressure to make good
grades, graduate, and find jobs in
today’s dog-eat-dog economy, it’s
no wonder more students are be
ing diagnosed with depression and
anxiety. Even finding free time to
take a breather and deal with prob
lems Is a job within itself, That's ’
where the free counseling services
offered at Meredith can help!-
Meredith College offers many
services to its students, but one
service that many students don’t
even know exists is Meredith's
counseling sen/ice. Some students
may know abo^ut'the Counseling
Center, but may not know exactly
how to get there. The Counseling
Center is located in 202 Carroll
Hall in the same building as the
Health Center. All of the Meredith
counselors are licensed and have
master’s degrees in social work,
rehabilitation counseling, marriage
and family counseling, and coun
seling psychology. They are here
to help with all types of problems
ranging from school and life stress
es, to even more serious mental ill
nesses. The most common issues
that students come to the Counsel
ing Center with Involve anxiety,
depression, fear of failure, relation
ship issues, and/or financial stress.
Elizabeth Meier believes the rise in
depression and anxiety is because
“students have more and more
responsibilities: work, school, and
Photo courtesy http://secure.mcc.org/mccstore/images/Tal
kAboutltDepression ST.i
family.” She also
notes that Mer
edith students
'“are juggling a
lot.”
Students
are encouraged
to come to the
Counseling
Center to help
find a solution to
their problems.
Elizabeth Meier
also explains
that counsel
ors “listen to
and Work with
students to
help identify the.
primary issues
and goals for counseling. We use es
tablished, evidence Based approach
es to meet those goals. We assist
students with learning new coping,
relationship, and effective communi
cation skills." Counselors use Cogni
tive Behavior, Narrative Therapy,
Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, Family
Systems, and Psychodynamic ap
proaches. In cases where serious
mental illness is concerned, counsel
ors work with student and their insur
ance to find psychiatrists on their
insurance plan. If a student doesn’t
have insurance, the counselors help
her find community resources. As
stated on the Counseling Center's
website, it is their goal “to teach
those who seek services how to cope
with the challenge of college and life
in a healthy, productive manner"
According to the News and
Obsen/er, colleges and universities
all across the nation are seeing a
rise in students who
seek counseling for
depression, anxi
ety, and a variety of
other needs. As of'
October 16, La Salle
University in Philadel
phia has seen their
number of counsel
ing sessions rise 48 -
percent, from 137
appointments last
year this time, to 204
appointments this
year. Results.from an
Associated Press-
mtvU poll report that
eighty-five percent
of students polled
felt stress in their
. daily lives in recent
months. Worries
Photo courtesy http://www.meredith.edu/
students/counsel/contact-us-htm
about grades, school work, money
and relationships were the major
contributing factors. Within this
same survey, 42 percent said they
had felt depressed or hopeless for
several days during a two week
inten/al, and 13 percent showed
signs of being at risk for at least
mild depression. These statistics
were based on the students' an
swers to a series of questions used
to diagnose depressive illness.
In addition, these students had
trouble sleeping, little energy, or
felt down or hopeless. Most had
not received professional help.
Eleven percent admitted to having
thoughts that they would be better
off dead or had entertained ideas
of inflicting self-pain.
These studies show that there are
significant numbers of college stu
dents who experience depression,
anxiety, relationship and family
issues, stress, and other mental
illness. Meredith’s Counseling
Center is free and confidential. In
addition to helping with these, and
other related issues, the Counsel
ing Center also works with students
who have disabllitres.
The Counseling Center is there
for the Meredith comrpunity and
urges students to use their ser
vices. There is a daily crisis hour at
1:00 pm where students can come
and seek help. Call (919) 760-8427
if you wish to speak to a counselor,
or send an email to counselingcen-
ter@meredith.edu. There is also
a link on the Counseling Center's
website (http://www.meredith.edu/
students/counsel/) for students
who need immediate assistance.
In the words of Elizabeth Meier,
'‘free mental health care: you can’t
beat It."
mm:
Green Tip for
the Week of
November 11
Only do laundry when it’s ab-
, solutely necessary and orily
in full loads. This will save
time, money, and energy.