Making Happy Valley Happy

Saw this image while browsing the internet earlier today, and it blew my mind with its accuracy. Only today (in the 6 hours I have been awake) I have already heard a classmate of mine say, “I forgot to do my blog post that was due last night, so I was up all night rushing it like a schizo.” This statement blew my mind, so I casually asked them what they meant by such a statement, their response “It’s a west coast thing.”

I am still a bit confused as to what this statement means, but moral of the story (and the image) is be conscious of what you are saying. You never know what people around you may be going through, and by conforming to use this every day slang is simply hurtful and insensitive.

I know this is a little length for the typical blog post, but it is a paper I wrote for my English 15 class that I feel brings up some interesting points about the CAPS program here at Penn State, so feel free to give it a read.

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Dear President Barron,

I want to bring a pivotal issue to your attention: the flaw in the mental health program provided for students at the University Park campus. It is known as the campus that evolves into the third biggest city in Pennsylvania on home football game weekends, it is the oldest campus, and in the eyes of many it is regarded as the most prestigious campus. However, unfortunately University Park is also the campus that has the highest quantity of student suicides, the one with the greatest number of students struggling with mental health related illnesses, as well as regarded as one of the top 50 most stressful universities nationwide (The 50 Most Stressful Colleges). With this in mind, it is time for a drastic alteration to better assist mentally ill individuals here at Penn State. In order to remedy the current situation, I propose a plan that would reallocate funding to our CAPS program, while shifting the emphasis to short-term crisis management.

Issues with mental health are a burden that a majority of students have faced or will face at some point during their studies at Penn State. This is due to the fact over 75% of mental health conditions begin during the ages 18-24, the college years (Learn About The Issue). Throughout the United States, there has been an increasing demand for mental health services on college campuses. According to research conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles, 48.1% of college freshmen come to school with below average mental health (Sieben). This fact was made apparent even prior to the first day of classes during your tenure with the tragic suicide of incoming freshman student Jack Crean, who it was later revealed struggled with mental illness (Over). In addition, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has found that an estimated 27% of college students have diagnosable mental problems. This number includes students who have diagnosed conditions and an estimate of students who are undiagnosed but should be diagnosed (Students’ Voice on Mental Illness). Although these statistics are nationwide, they represent a clear indication of the problem, one that warrants immediate attention at Penn State.

Many are under the impression that the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) program provides sufficient assistance to mentally ill Penn State students. However, I would like to shed light on some of the flaws in this program. In theory, this program is excellent. It entails trained professionals, is conveniently located on the fifth floor of the Student Health Center, and provides a wide variety of services free of charge to full-time students. Despite all this the program is currently incapable of satisfying the needs of students. Although there is a tremendous success rate among the few students who have used CAPS services, the primary issue is the fact that the services are already at their capacity. Currently, there is a waitlist in order to receive these imperative services at Penn State, and as a result the program is required to use a triage program to select only the most severe cases (Tully). This is an issue due to the fact that it leaves a number of students unable to receive treatment, and also because it deters students from getting the help that they need at a critical time in their illness. It yields students who are already feeling unworthy, upset, and unimportant to feel that their problems are not worth their university’s time. Along with these inopportune services CAPS has limited resources and is often forced to tell students that they essentially are “too far gone,” meaning that their mental illness is too severe for the 4.75 average visits that CAPS typically allots per student (Tully).

Both of the major flaws in the CAPS system stem from the fact that they are underfunded, understaffed, and thus are struggling to keep up with an ever-increasing demand for their services. As you are well aware, this past summer the CAPS program received $300,000 in additional funding, but this is just merely a drop in the bucket. It will be able to provide care to approximately 20% more students this year, but it does not totally solve the problem, nor does it indicate a long-term commitment to the program (Coulliard).  It would be easy for me to say that we need to just increase the funding and that will solve all of the problems, but I recognize the fact that it is much more complicated. This is because all of the programs that a university provides to students are partially paid for by tuition money. For example at Penn State this would mean that the entire student body would be paying for a more intensive CAPS program when currently only 7% of the students are able to utilize the program (Couillard). Although I luckily have not required any CAPS services thus far, I still feel that it is incredibly important that students, like myself, have a reliable resource available to them if deemed necessary. Penn State has upwards of forty thousand enrolled undergraduates, many of which have close friends or relatives struggling with mental illness. Thus, a reallocation of funding to increase private practices in the State College area would be approved by a majority of the student population and their loved ones, because it means everyone will have the opportunity to seek help, not just a select few.

My reallocation of funding would be used to increase the services that are provided locally in the private sector. A dramatic increase to the number of mental health groups in surrounding areas needs to happen. Currently, the CAPS program is forced to refer around one third of the students who seek help to outside sources. But on top of this there is another issue: “In the State College community, private practitioners are often full within six weeks of the start of the fall semester” Mary Anne Knapp, senior staff therapist at CAPS said in an article to The Daily Collegian (Tully). In order to overcome the current state, we are going to need to get a bit creative. We will need to reach out to Mount Nittany Medical Center, Hershey Medical Center and other local offices requesting that they increase their services. One great way to do this would be by marketing to professionals in other areas that they could work and take summers off. This is something that is typically not possible for therapists and other professionals, but due to the fact that State College drops by around 46,000 people from May to August it is possible. This would be a unique appeal to people who want to travel or spend time with their families. It also will be more helpful to students because the wait time will be able to decrease dramatically.

Following this would be privatizing some of the counselors that CAPS currently has on staff. A simple way to make this change would be to take the $300,000 in extra funding and the downtown satellite office that houses six counselors and turn it into a private practice. Through making the office private, it will ultimately cost Penn State less money in the future because it would allow students and their medical insurance to pay for the services. It also can help decrease some of the liability that the school has to take on when they are providing care for students. Privatization will also be advantageous to the students who use these services because there will be enough time for students to fully work through their issues beyond the average of 4.75 sessions which is typically not enough for someone to recover.

In addition to the reallocation of funding, I propose a restructuring of the current CAPS program to be focused on providing immediate short-term support, in the case of crisis management. By increasing the number of private practices the staff would be able to focus on the students who are having a crisis and need to be seen as the first priority. Although it is a smaller staff, their decreased demands would permit CAPS to act as a medium through which students can gauge the severity of their mental illness, with the more severe cases being immediately treated and then later transferred to more highly trained professionals. This plan would allow CAPS counselors the ability to see a greater number of students, especially in regards to crisis management situations, while not requiring much in terms of additional funding.

Although some people may believe that doing this will make the university appear incompetent in the more severe mental illness instances, encouraging students to see professionals with a higher level of training will maximize treatment potential. It is crucial that all universities have some type of mental health program in place where students are invited and encouraged to seek help for their problems, but we need to remember to treat mental instability like the illness that it is. Therefore the CAPS program must find a balance and not try to be like a tutoring center—providing services free of charge. With this change CAPS would become a resource to all students rather than a care provider to a select few.  While this is a dramatic move, it is the only way the school will be able to afford to help all 46,000 students, while simultaneously improving the quality of care for individuals with severe mental illness.

I hope I have been able to influence you and that you will begin to take action to change the way CAPS is run and turn it into a program that fits everyone.  This means bumping up the private sector and shifting the focus of the CAPS program to crisis management. Penn State needs to be a place where people do not fear happiness. We need to adjust the policy we have regarding that problem so that people who seek help receive the most beneficial care possible, whether provided by the CAPS program or private practices. As you can see, mental health for students is a major issue at our school, but there is a chance to make a change to begin to resolve this. So here I am, speaking on behalf of myself and many of my peers, asking you to help us make a change, and turn Happy Valley into a place where everyone has an opportunity to truly be happy.

Best regards,

Rosemary Nicholson

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Works Cited

Couillard, Lucie. “CAPS Receives $300,000 in Funding to Improve Program.” The Daily Collegian. N.p., 17 July 2014. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.

“Learn About The Issue.” NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Over, Clayton. “Death of Penn State Student at HUB Construction Site Ruled Suicide.” The Daily Collegian. N.p., 26 Aug. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Sieben Lauren. “College Freshmen Report Record-Low Emotional Health and Higher Levels of Stress.” Chronicle Of Higher Education,57(22), A21-A22.

“Students’ Voice on Mental Illness.” NAMI. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.

“The 50 Most Stressful Colleges.” The 50 Most Stressful Colleges. Carnegie Communications, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2015.

Tully, Jessica. “Suicidal Thoughts Not Uncommon at Penn State.” The Daily Collegian 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.