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A comment on How Colleges Flunk Mental Health.

Re:How Colleges Flunk Mental Health by DanAndersen on Thursday February 13, 2014 @12:37AM (#7229683)
As someone who's planning to return to school as a grad student this fall, this article is very unsettling. I've never seen a therapist or sought the help of mental health professionals in the past, and while I've had periods of time where I felt some symptoms of depression I don't know if it was comparable to any of these experiences described. However, I know that graduate school is a high-stress environment for anyone, and I'm concerned at the notion that any potential issues I might end up having in the future could have such consequences were I to seek help or therapy.

If anyone here has experience in such matters, what should I know to be able to get any help or therapy that's needed, without risking this sort of punishment for something out of one's control? Is the solution to only seek non-student-health sources of mental health treatment, ones that in some way can't report back?

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Re:How Colleges Flunk Mental Health by therobot24 on Thursday February 13, 2014 @01:24AM (#7229832)
I asked a few questions relating to depression at our health center and felt like i was being interrogated by the doctor there. The worst part of it was that I had the feeling that no matter what I said his mind was already made up. I wasn't committed or ejected from school or anything, but I definitely don't want to bring it up again at my health center. There's a counseling center here as well, but after my experience at the health center I don't have the motivation to check it out.

I ended up going outside the school and am happy with my choice. This is anecdotal, but you might want to do the same.

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Re:How Colleges Flunk Mental Health by ballstothewalls on Thursday February 13, 2014 @01:27AM (#7229843)
Schools have counselors that you can go see and I would recommend doing it since they usually don't charge anything (which means it will be in your budget). I am 100% sure you will not be kicked out of school for seeing the counselor and this is completely different from what "Dan" from the story went through. The key difference being that you are seeking treatment for stress/depression/anxiety/whatever as opposed to seeking immediate medical care following a suicide attempt.
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