You’re given some slack if you’re in a fit of coughing, or nursing a high fever. When you’re fumbling around on crutches, people open up a door for you to give out their assistance. However, if you wake up and can’t find the willpower to get out of bed and face the day, or if your day-to-day life feels meaningless, it can feel like there isn’t a helping hand to be found.
Read More: ASU's counseling services try to fight negative stigmas to treat students
One in five adults experience mental illness in a given year, and three-quarters of all chronic mental illness begins by age 24, making it a particularly concerning issue for college students. At any point in our lives, we can be overwhelmed, and college is no exception.
ASU has counseling services available for those students that need help in these areas. The first step to using these services, however, is knowing that you need them. Every student should periodically assess their mental health and see if what they’re feeling is out of the ordinary.
Depression, anxiety and any other mental illness is a day-to-day battle with various triumphs and losses in the journey on the path to living healthily. When the losses become more frequent, counseling services should be considered. Having consecutive bad days could lead to a greater problem that numerous students overlook.
Although these outlets are present, more students need to be informed of their existence. ASU's counseling center does advertise at “orientations and move-in days and ensuring that the services are promoted by various academic units, offices and residence halls,” as reported by The State Press. However, the fact that some students still don’t know there is a nearby place to combat how they’re feeling is an issue. Off-campus students face the same level of stressors, but they don’t attend nearly as many events as on-campus students do.
Campaigns for these services should be more plentiful on campus, not just so students realize they are there for them. Other students realize mental health is not an issue that should be shoved in a corner or deemed to be less serious as other challenges in our lives.
In addition, the financial help these offices offer should be broadcast better. As found in the same recent State Press investigation, students can utilize ASU's health insurance, a plan that allows payment in installments, or an a-la-carte $40 per session rate. The center, to our surprise, will also sometimes waive the fee.
Despite these myriad options available to students, it seems like a topic that should be a more preliminary conversation. Getting help is not as difficult as it seems, and the counseling center must make these options known and take the lead in instigating this conversation on campus.
When a student is facing such a troubling time, they shouldn't be burdened with worrying about the finances of getting help.
Mental health services need to be talked about so students know where to go when they are facing it. On that same note, it should be more widely discussed so it is more widely accepted. Mental health services within ASU need to be louder so the students that desperately need it can hear.
Editor's Note: If you're having trouble with any stress or depression, please contact ASU Counseling Services. You can call or walk into locations on any of the four campuses during the day or call ASU's EMPACT hotline after hours or on weekends at 480-921-1006.
Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
