CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

CU-Boulder students taking advantage of free psychiatric visits under new mental health fee

Daily Camera (Boulder, CO) - 5/28/2016

May 28--A new mental health fee at the University of Colorado has opened up free psychiatric visits to all students, who are increasingly grappling with anxiety and depression.

The fee, which was approved last summer and went into effect last fall, costs students $21.14 per semester. It gets them six free counseling or psychiatric care visits, or some combination of both.

In the past, students only had access to six free counseling visits -- depending on their insurance, some needed to pay for psychiatric care, which can include prescription medications.

The new service, funded with student fees, is part of campus's broader push to improve its retention and graduation rates.

During the 2015-16 academic year, Wardenburg recorded 4,133 free student visits to psychiatrists and 9,699 free student visits to therapists and counselors.

The health center did not have readily available historical data for comparison.

"National trends show an increase in students attending college with significant mental health needs and an increase in demand for mental health services, which means it's imperative that we continue to assess our resources and be creative about how we reach students," said Melissa Lowe, interim director for Wardenburg Health Services. "Ultimately our hope is that by providing these services, especially the initial six free visits, we can have a positive impact on student safety, retention and overall well-being for our community."

Indeed, diagnoses for anxiety are on the rise at colleges and universities nationally.

Between 2011 and 2015, the number of students nationally who reported being diagnosed or treated by a professional for anxiety within the last year rose from 12 percent to 17.3 percent, according to the National College Health Assessment.

The number of students who reported being diagnosed or treated for depression rose from 11.1 percent in 2011 to 14.5 percent in 2015, according to national data.

On the Boulder campus, 21.3 percent of students in 2015 reported feeling overwhelming anxiety in the last 12 months, compared to 19.8 percent in 2011, according to CU's National College Health Assessment results.

The number of CU students who reported seriously considering suicide in the last year rose from 5.5 percent in 2011 to 7.4 percent in 2015, according to the assessment.

Experts point to social media, overly protective parents, global terrorism, the Great Recession and other factors as potential causes for the increase in anxiety among young people.

The mental health fee was approved amid a merger of mental health offices on the Boulder campus. The newly formed Counseling and Psychiatric Services combines the medical treatment of mental health issues with therapy, outreach and education services.

The merger was a difficult idea for some staffers to get behind. However, the combined office has made finding help for mental health issues easier for students, officials said.

"We're now one unified center so there's no wrong door for students, which has alleviated some confusion," said Matt Tomatz, outreach coordinator for Counseling and Psychiatric Services. "It's a more robust and blended model that allows for short-term care, long-term care, including psychiatric services for all students."

Staffers connected with more than 9,000 students during outreach efforts last year, Tomatz said. Wardenburg is continuing its practice of asking all students who visit the health center, for any reason, about their mental health.

Through outreach efforts, the new free psychiatric visits and an overall destigmatization of seeking help for mental health issues, CU health officials said they believe they are helping students to be as successful as possible while on campus.

"We're here and we can support students in a number of ways," Tomatz said. "The stigma around being supported really is being lifted and how important it is to understand that therapy and therapy services can be used to build peoples' strengths and to help them learn how to function at their best."

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta

___

(c)2016 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)

Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.