Alan Russell, professor of mathematics, recognized a shift in the college’s mental health. Russell has taught at Elon for 27 years. Although he saw its presence, he said mental health didn’t seem to be a bigger issue on campus until the 2000s.
Russell himself struggled with anxiety during his return to campus after virtual teaching, and he believes many students share that experience. He has encountered students in tears, stressed out by “college life,” he said.
Some professors at Elon University began to recognize an increase in mental health problems among students, including Russell. In general, these professors recommend university counseling services and outreach programs to students more often than before. There is concern about the demand for mental health resources compared to the capacity of student counseling services, he said.
“Now, you talk to college students, and they seem to be consistently functioning at this much higher level of anxiety and sometimes depression than we’ve ever seen,” Russell said.
Sociology professor Karen Wirth attributes the increase in need for mental health resources in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think a lot of things have changed with COVID, the way we think about mental health has changed,” Wirth said. “As professors, we think we’re looking at freshmen, but you can’t look at it like that, these are freshmen who have lost critical years in high school.”
Russell said he tries to present a welcoming environment where students feel comfortable coming to him. However, he recognizes when problems are outside his realm of expertise.
“You can do a lot of damage playing around with counseling when you don’t know what you’re doing,” Russell said.
Elon e-alerts are automated notifications sent to university students. These could be mass alerts for extreme weather conditions or an individual alert that a student has had a recurring number of absences from a course. Care and concern forms are reports made by students, staff, or faculty to express concern about a student academically, physically, or mentally. Care and concern forms and electronic alerts contact the student directly by email.
Wirth said a female student took an incomplete course and returned home due to mental health issues. She worked with the student over Zoom as they planned for a possible return to campus. In the end, it didn’t happen, but Wirth did his best to help the student.
Through this experience, she learned which resources produced better results for her and her students. She said she had better follow-up with care and concern forms compared to electronic alerts.
Matt Blomberg, assistant professor of journalism, has sent out concern forms to students in the past and found them easy to navigate.
Faculty have access to courses that help them learn about mental health resources on campus and how to use them to help students, Blomberg said.
It’s a “manpower” issue, and Russell said the student counseling office needs more people.
Blomberg also said that the number of students who need services appears to exceed the capacity of services.
However, Russell said professors are here to support students with the resources available to them.
“I’ve always put up a face that even if you’re wrestling somewhere else with somebody else, you can always come talk to me about it,” Russell said.
If you or someone you know is struggling, resources are available on the Student Counseling Services website at https://www.elon.edu/u/health-wellness/counseling-services/ or by phone at (336) 278-7280. 24/7 support is also available through the TimelyCare app.
