Mental Health and what BU Isn’t Doing to Help its Students
November 10, 2021
By Lindsay Boudreau
TW: Depression/Suicide
“I feel like I have reached a breaking point where I don’t think I can carry myself on.”
“I just can’t get myself together.”
“Probably no one I know from the school knows I feel this way.”
“I’m hitting rock bottom…Who should I ask for help?”
These are just a few quotes from anonymous posts to the unofficial Boston University Reddit page in the last two weeks alone, demonstrating that Boston University students are not exempt from widespread struggles with mental health. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, just under 30% of young adults aged 18-25 suffer from mental illness, making it more prevalent for college-age students than any other age group. BU recognizes these challenges, but it needs to do more to support its students.
Thankfully, BU students do have access to several school-sponsored programs that focus on mental health—most notably, Student Health Services. The Behavioral Medicine branch of SHS provides group therapy, workshops, and a hotline for emergencies. While these are useful resources, the Student Health Services website states that it only provides “brief treatment” for individuals followed by “referral[s] to community resources for longer-term care.” If we have qualified clinicians and a high demand for their time, then BU should sponsor longer-term mental health care for students. SHS claims that it is set up for short-term care in order to provide “greater access for all students in the community,” which hints that the department itself might not have the resources to support such long-term programs.
An anonymous student from Reddit said, “I had an appointment with SHS and they gave me a list of places which are either not taking any new patients or are booked out till the end of the year. Are there any other resources that I can go to/use? Honestly, nothing’s looking good at the moment.”
Another student reports that, when they requested a meeting, the most immediate opening (for non-emergencies) wasn’t for four weeks.
From what many students are saying about SHS, no blame should be placed on those working for Behavioral Medicine. It sounds as if SHS is just unable to keep up with the number of students requesting help.
Let’s not forget BU’s $3.35 billion endowment. BU should prioritize its students’ mental health by increasing the funding for Behavioral Medicine and hiring more therapists—facilitating the creation of a long-term therapy program that can cope with the demand.
The resources provided by Student Health Services are still important and should be utilized whenever a student believes they could benefit from them. At the same time, students in need are feeling left behind because they don’t regard their situations as emergencies and can’t get immediate appointments. Without further investment in health care for students, these could turn into life-threatening situations. BU needs to provide therapy that doesn’t make students feel like a burden, and this can be achieved with a long-term program.
Current Mental Health Resources:
BU’s 24/7 on-call service for mental health emergencies (617-353-3569)
Free group and short-term individual therapy by appointment at patientconnect.bu.edu
Free Headspace App for meditation/mindfulness through BU
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
Boston Area Peer Support Line (Wildflower Alliance): (888) 407-4515