While in college, more than 70 percent of students have not considered talking to a counselor to help them deal with stress or other emotional issues, according to the Associated Press’ “College Stress and Mental Health Poll,” Spring 2009.

Representatives from the university’s Counseling Center advised faculty members on how to aid students who suffer from distress at the Business School’s Brown Bag presentation Tuesday.

Sandra Cox, director of the Counseling Center, said there is a stigma to students admitting they may need help. That is the reason why the Counseling Center chose to use the word “distress” because there is less of a stigma for it.

“What we try to do is normalize it,” she said.

Most often, students will try to keep it together in front of their friends and professors. However, it is when the cracks begin to show and they no longer can keep composure that it is evident there is a high level of distress, Cox said.

“The reason we did this was to give a snapshot – different students with different levels of distress,” she said.

These signs of distress can be evident in behaviors like eating issues all the way to psychosis.

The unfortunate new side effect of elevated stress for the generation of college students today is school shootings. What started at Columbine High School in 1999 and Virginia Tech University in 2007 has made it on the home front with the Northern Illinois University shootings in 2008.

It is important for faculty members to look out for signs of distress so that tragedies like the NIU shooting can possibly be avoided.

“Different generations seem to have different issues,” Cox said. She added that mood disorders are the primary cause for distress among Eastern students.

Although suicide is a rare event, it is the second leading cause of death among college students, according to the Counseling Center. Cox said one of the biggest misconceptions about students who appear to be exhibiting suicidal behavior is that it is not always a cry for help.

Suicidal behavior comes in different forms.

“The behavior can be passive, which is scarier because they could really be contemplating it,” Cox said.

During the session, one concern of the faculty was whether there was any evident trends among the students for who may be affected most.

“Different trends resonate in different years,” Counselor Mike Tozer said. “It’s harder to quantify what group of students will be affected.”

Katherine McCarthy, assistant director of the Counseling Center, added, “I think determining who is affected most by distress is tricky. It’s hard to judge.”

Currently the Counseling Center is working on collecting data in order to someday predict these trends.

Kesha Coker and David Fleming, both new assistant business professors, attended the brown bag presentation. Fleming said it was important to him to attend the presentation because he was a new professor and wanted to see what services were available.

“Our role as teachers is to be facilitators to our students who may need these services,” Coker said.

One of the concerns raised by the faculty at the presentation was the fear of making the situation worse when a student approaches them.

However, professors should not worry about it, as the best thing they can do is listen, Cox said.

If the professor realizes the distress seems to be elevated, they should encourage the student to seek out resources at the Counseling Center.

To determine this, she said it’s important for faculty to use their best judgment based on their education and clinical skills.

If faculty and staff want to learn more about aiding distressed students, a guide is available through the Counseling Center.

How you can help:

-Talk to the person in private.

-Be supportive and express your concern for the situation.

-Refer the student to the Counseling Center (217-581-3413)

Avoid:

-Down playing the situation

-Expecting the person to stop feeling distressed without intervention.

-Assuming the family knows about the person’s distress.

Source: “Helping Students in Distress: A Faculty and Staff Guide for Assisting Students in Need” – EIU Counseling Center

Shelley Holmgren can be reached at 581-7942 or

[email protected].