29 October 2019
Douglas Androsiglio
In 2017, over 25 percent of college-aged students (ages 18-25) reported living with mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health in the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This age group has a higher number of people diagnosed with a mental illness than any other age group, reports the same survey.
UCCS students have access to resources to alleviate the difficulty of managing stress, depression and anxiety through services like the Wellness Center in the Gallogly Recreation and Wellness Center.
According to their website, the Wellness Center offers services, sessions and classes related to physical health, nutrition and mental health.
The Wellness Center offers individual, couples and family therapy with licensed psychotherapists for $20 per session. If a student is dealing with financial difficulties, however, a lower rate can be negotiated with their therapist, according to their website.
The Wellness Center serves students with issues including depression, anxiety, grief and loss, sexuality or trauma of any kind.
The Wellness Center focuses on short-term psychological therapy to serve as many students as possible. If long-term or specialized treatment is needed, the patient may be referred to off-campus resources.
The Wellness Center also runs group sessions that can help students connect with others dealing with the same issues. The group sessions are $10 per session and typically do not require the attendees to enroll in individual therapy.
According to their website, the Wellness Center offers consultation sessions for those worried about people they know who are experiencing difficulty, which help develop an appropriate course of action.
In addition to the Wellness Center, students have the Disability Services office as a resource.
“Right now, Disability Services is serving 1220 active students. Out of that 1220,” said Disability Services director Ida Dilwood, “we’re about 6 percent of undergrad population, but essentially, we’re serving 10 percent of the entire population.”
According to Dilwood, about 30 percent of the population her office serves have some diagnosed psychological condition.
Located on the first floor of Main Hall, Disability Services provides accommodations for students with disabilities. These accommodations include testing, alternative books, peer notetakers and housing accommodations.
Dilwood said that documentation is necessary for them to aid students, especially students with hidden disabilities.
“A lot of accommodations are round the testing environment. Not just extended time, but an alternative date and time as well,” said Dilwood. “74 percent of the students have some type of testing accommodation.” Testing places the most restrictions on students, and accommodations with Disability Services can prevent students from failing classes because of complications with their condition.
“They [The Wellness Center] also do psychological and neurological testing,” said Dilwood.” If a student was not diagnosed or they were diagnosed a long time ago and don’t have that documentation that we need, we refer them to the Wellness Center.”
If a crisis occurs on campus where death, significant trauma or otherwise problematic situations where the safety of others is at risk, the CARE team is also available to intervene.
Previously known as the Student Response Team, the CARE team works in concurrence with the chancellor to respond to incidents with a variety of appropriate responses in their arsenal, both formal and informal.
These may include support services on-campus or off-campus, mediation or facilitating discussion between parties involved.