College of Humanities and Social Sciences Center for Psychological Services

Mason offers options for mental health assistance, suicide prevention

Colleen Rich — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 16:29:45 +0000

Mason offers options for mental health assistance, suicide prevention Colleen Rich Fri, 09/02/2022 - 12:29

Information presented in this article may be triggering to some people. If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

As part of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, ��AV mental health leaders want to educate the campus community about the issues surrounding suicide and mental health, enabling Patriots to take part in suicide prevention, help others in crisis, and change the conversation around suicide.

College brings the excitement of increased freedom as well as the potential for anxiety-related to adjusting to living away from home, studying, and defining one’s identity. These stressors can serve as triggers for anxiety and depression, as well as emotional distress. These feelings could lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, creating tremendous and possibly dangerous implications if help is not sought out.

While COVID has begun to normalize conversations about mental health, a public stigma around suicide can prevent people from getting the help they need. One dangerous myth is that asking someone about suicidal thoughts will lead that person toward the behavior, said Jennifer Kahler, director of Mason’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

“But that’s not the case,” Kahler said. When suicide is spoken about with a focus on overcoming ideation and utilizing positive, hopeful and inspiring language, these conversations are highly beneficial and can prevent suicide.

“Asking about suicide actually opens the conversation so that those thinking about suicide don’t feel so alone,” said Mason psychology professor Christianne Esposito-Smythers, director of the Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health at Mason. “Oftentimes people will hide their thoughts from others and may feel as if no one will understand what they are going through. Asking others with warning signs about suicidal thoughts decreases the chance of suicidal actions.”

Mason provides student mental health resources and suicide prevention tools through a number of resources, including the MasonCARES Suicide Prevention Program, a two-hour gatekeeping program designed to train faculty, staff, and students in how to respond to individuals who may be experiencing distress and suicidal thoughts and guide them in seeking appropriate assistance through CAPS.

If someone is showing displays of behaviors such as anxiety, articulating a lack of purpose, stating feelings of being trapped or hopeless, not attending class or withdrawing from activities, experiencing mood swings, etc., these may be suicide warning signs.

“Training is one of the key parts of suicide prevention at Mason,” Kahler said. “MasonCARES educates faculty, students and staff on how to support students in distress by teaching them the right questions to ask, what to say and when to get them help. If individuals have training and recognize worrisome signs, say something to the student, and reach out to CAPS, that could make all the difference in getting that student help that they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten.”

CAPS offers students immediate free assistance; there is no billing office and no insurance is required. Initial appointments are virtual, and providers work with students to find out their preferred method of treatment moving forward.

Any assistance students receive from CAPS is confidential and is kept separate from academic records, Kahler added.

Another option for students is Mason’s Center for Psychological Services, where evidence-based, accessible, affordable and culturally sensitive therapy and testing services are provided by Mason graduate students under clinical supervision. Other services include an emotional support line and short-term intervention sessions.

One of the center’s goals is to train clinicians in evidence-based treatment, which incorporates suicide screening. This type of treatment is critical because it helps individuals to “become their own therapist, with lifelong skills such as the ability to effectively problem-solve, evaluate thoughts, manage strong emotions and communicate in a way that others will listen,” Esposito-Smythers said.

If you are concerned about your ability to keep yourself or others safe, contact CAPS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday between 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. or Wednesdays between noon and 4:30 p.m. at 703-993-2380.

For mental health crises after hours, call 703-993-2380 and select option 1 to connect with a crisis counselor.

Other suicide prevention or mental health resources can be found on the After-Hours Crisis Support page.

Facts about Suicide

According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among adolescents 15–19 years of age. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows 1 in 4 adults ages 18–24 contemplated suicide in June 2020. A study of the rates of mental illness on U.S. campuses during the summer of 2020 indicated that as many as 1 in 3 college students was suffering from depression during the first year of the pandemic, which was twice as many as in 2019, with students also reporting higher rates of anxiety disorders.

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Campus News

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

Suicide Prevention

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Center for Psychological Services

Well-being leaders emphasize the importance of focusing on student mental health

Colleen Rich — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 16:54:21 +0000

Well-being leaders emphasize the importance of focusing on student mental health Colleen Rich Wed, 10/27/2021 - 12:54

A panel of some of Mason's top mental health and well-being experts gathered to discuss student success strategies in October. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

��AV student surveys conducted during the pandemic have shown increased levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness and isolation, mirroring national college student data, according to Rose Pascarell, vice president of University Life.

“I think Mason is at the forefront of responding to that proactively with our programs,” Pascarell added. “We’re trying to create a culture of well-being and equity.”

Pascarell was part of a six-person panel of Mason experts on mental health and well-being that discussed student success strategies as part of a week-long series of events marking President Gregory Washington’s Investiture.

“Student stress and anxiety are the greatest factors in determining student success,” President Gregory Washington said. “I wanted to have this panel to begin to evolve a collective consciousness among all of us around mental health issues.”

In addition to Pascarell, panelists included Rachel Wernicke, associate dean and chief mental health officer, University Life; Nance Lucas, executive director and chief well-being officer, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being; Leah Adams, assistant professor, Department of Psychology and Women and Gender Studies Program; Elisa Akins, psychology major, peer success coach; and Shekila Melchior, assistant professor, College of Education and Human Development.

Melchior noted the importance of well-being, diversity, and inclusion work at Mason. “Cultural competency goes beyond your stereotypical narrative to really getting to know our students and what matters to them, and honoring that,” she said.

The university is seeing a rise in the need for mental health services, Wernicke said, with Mason students seeking help for issues such as anxiety, stress, loneliness, and trauma. “We need to keep asking: What are the barriers to students seeking mental health services and how can we break them down?”

Adams said one issue is the way the huge need for mental health care often translates to a lag in obtaining services, both at Mason and in the greater community. Mason’s Center for Psychological Services is constantly working to increase accessibility to care, Adams noted. For instance, she said, the helpline that the center began for essential workers during the pandemic will eventually expand to help all community members.

Many of the students Akins serves as a peer success coach tell her they are feeling overwhelmed by stress due to time management issues and academic pressures, she said. “College is a stressful time. There’s so much information coming at you from all directions.”

Provost Mark Ginsberg noted that there is a level of compassion fatigue among faculty.

Wernicke said creating community and sharing stories is one way to relieve that.

“It’s really an ethical imperative for faculty and staff to engage in self-care, because otherwise we could cause harm,” Wernicke said.

The Mason Chooses Kindness initiative has brought our Mason community together around the pursuit of greater well-being, Lucas said. “If we can all commit to just being kind to each other, that’s going to really shift how we see each other and increase our well-being around our common humanity.”

As the pandemic continues and Mason leaders respond to changing mental health and well-being needs, “I think we’re a community in recovery, and we need to be continually learning,” Pascarell pointed out.

“The connections to well-being in education really matter,” Lucas said. The Center for the Advancement of Well-Being works to help all members of the Mason community thrive, she said. “Our center’s role as a catalyst for well-being is to have well-being be in the DNA of the whole university.”

Topics

Campus News

Investiture

Center for the Advancement of Well-Being

University Life

Students

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Center for Psychological Services

Podcast - EP26: COVID-19 mental health crisis is the second pandemic

Damian Cristodero — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 12:56:40 +0000

Podcast - EP26: COVID-19 mental health crisis is the second pandemic Damian Cristodero Tue, 06/08/2021 - 08:56

In This Story

Gregory Washington

COVID-19 presented individuals with many challenges. Some were obvious, such as how to continue one’s education through distance learning. But some were not as clear cut, such as dealing with anxiety, depression and grief. Robyn Mehlenbeck, director of Mason’s Center for Psychological Services, spoke with Mason President Gregory Washington about how college campuses can deal with those stresses, how her center is extending services to the broader community, and why the mental health crises associated with COVID-19 is the second pandemic.

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College of Humanities and Social Sciences Center for Psychological Services

Gregory Washington

Robyn Mehlenbeck

Well-Being

Access to Excellence podcast

podcast

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