RCL Post 3: Deliberaton Reflection

During our deliberation, State of Mind, many students expressed the importance of mental health on college campuses. Therefore, throughout this deliberation, we discussed ways to enhance the quality of CAPS at Penn State, to increase knowledge and awareness of mental health disorders, and to extinguish the stigma that surrounds mental health. Working to improve these aspects of mental health would increase students’ understanding of these disorders and would increase the number of college students who receive help from the services provided by Penn State. Since the mental health of students is valued, the community at Penn State must expand its resources and increase the awareness of mental health disorders.

For the first approach, students discussed the benefits of improving the website of CAPS so that more students will know how to schedule appointments and will be able to learn about the services that CAPS provides. In addition, increasing the number of counselors that CAPS employees would decrease the wait time for students to schedule an appointment so that more students are willing to seek assistance. For approach two, students discussed the importance of storytelling for decreasing the stigma around mental health. If students are exposed to other individuals similar to them who have suffered from mental health disorders, they will understand their difficulties with more compassion. Lastly, for approach three, students agreed that educating faculty at Penn State would be beneficial because they interact with students the most. Also, students discussed a required class or section of freshman seminar that would focus on mental health disorders and services so that more students will be educated on this important topic. Through increasing the awareness and knowledge about mental health, students at Penn State would be more willing to seek help and to stand up for the end of the stigma around mental health.

 

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