Mental Illness/Mental Health Awareness

[winneythepooh7]

I am just curious as to how aware undergrads in particular are to mental illness/mental health issues? The reason I ask is another thread (the psycho/stalker PNM one) got me to thinking about when I was in undergrad and how we really (unless personally affected by family/friend) had no knowledge on dealing with say, a fellow sister who may be affected by these issues. Also I am wondering how receptive undergrads would be in addressing an issue such as mental illness? Have any alums done any work in this area with a particular chapter you may advise? What about on a national level? Just opening up a hopefully interesting, non-confrontational discussion with hopes of us learning from each other about very serious matters that are often thought of as "embarrassing" or "swept under the rug"...........

[ADqtPiMel]

There are a few sisters in my chapter that I know of who suffer from mental illness. Everyone tries to be understanding of it.

I have extreme ADHD, and my sisters have been comepletely understanding and very helpful to me.

[mmcat]

sensitivity, a biggie, to allow help or not, depending on the individual.

[Munchkin03]

I think today's undergrads are a lot more familiar with mental illness than they were even 15 years ago. Almost everyone has a friend who's on Ritalin, Adderall, Prozac, Paxil, or Zoloft. As a result, they are much more receptive to discussing these things as they may have been in the past.

A program in conjunction with the campus counseling and psych center, focusing on overall mental health and shattering myths that are commonly held about mental illness, would be something that's very well received. I know this is something that chapters I'm familiar with have discussed, and I've helped out with programming for independents.

[AChiOAlumna]

I used to work for a university Disabled Student Services center as a counselor and I can tell you that there are A LOT of students across campus who are dealing with mental health issues. There were people I saw with depression, Bipolar Disorder, AD/HD, Autism, Tourette's Syndrome, etc. Then there are many other students who obtain treatment for milder depression, etc. that don't register for DSS services because they can succeed on meds from their private doctor, and chose not to use our services.

[Dionysus]

There's a member who I think has serious ADHD issues (worse than me), everyone thinks she or he is purposely being obnoxious. S/he talks and talks and doesn't always exercise the best judgement. I give her/him the benefit of doubt, I do think s/he's a good person and I don't think s/he annoys people on purpose (or even is aware of it). There's another member who always brings snacks and treats to meetings, maybe I should sneak my meds in them and give it to her. I'm joking, lol.

There has been members in both GLOs I was in that showed signs of serious depression....majority of the members blew it off as PMS or being bitchy.

Yeah, I think GLOs can fall short in this area of recognizing and reacting appropiately to those with conditions.

[Optimist Prime]

I have Bipolar Affective Disorder (I think its type II but forget the exact diagnossis, I was paying attention. I also have ADHD)so I'm pretty aware of it.

[KSUViolet06]

I'm dealing with depression currently, but I am on meds that really help me deal with it along with my friends and family. One of my chapter's New Members has ADHD.

[JupiterTC]

I'm also dealing with major depression. My mom has had it for over 20 years, but like Dionysus said, I thought it was just PMS. And honestly, I thought that was the case for me, until I realized that I felt horrible throughout the month. I think depression is a very hard illness to diagnose. Most people don't know if someone is depressed, having a bad day, or mean.

[Jill1228]

I worked as an admin assistant for a non profit mental health facility for a few years (until budget cuts hit, and I was a casualty) Dealt with some interesting patients.

I myself have major depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Until a few months ago, I was on meds

I think people are more open about mental disorders now

[winneythepooh7]

When I "look back" to undergrad I can think of so many people I interacted with regularly who probably had some form of mental disability and I just didn't realize it then, but now that this is my field, I understand it a lot more.

[_Q_]

In college, life is generally much different than it was in high school. In high school, there's often a lot of externally imposed structure and the expectations may be a lot lower. At a university, though, the parameters are a lot different, and some behaviors don't "work" any more. So for someone with a cognitive/psychiatric issue, this could be a major source of stress. For me, things started to unravel during the beginning of undergrad, because I was facing difficulties on both social and academic fronts, and the compensation mechanisms I'd used previously were no longer enough. I remember feeling like I was drowning.
As far as issues with GLOs and members with cognitive/psych issues, I think there might be a lot to be said for early alum status or some kind of alternative membership that reduced the demands on both the member and the other people in the organization. Punishment doesn't make sense, but it might be reasonable to look for an approach that reduces the stress on everyone involved.