Mental Health Resources and Their Importance
Places to go when your brain’s not feeling its best
By Lauren Trowbridge and Mandy Hay
With midterms right around the corner and Mother Nature unable to make up her mind about the weather, this time of year can be a real struggle. Whether you’re dealing with burnout, an increase in stress, seasonal affective disorder, (see writer Morgan’s article on SAD in this edition for more information) or something different, there are lots of resources available, both on and off-campus, to help you feel more like yourself.
Just inside Derham, the Counseling Center is here to help. Image Credit: Counseling Center Homepage
Did you know that students have access to free mental health services through the counseling center at St. Kate’s? At no cost to students, the qualified staff provides services such as short-term counseling for students, as well as consultations and crisis counseling, among many others.
The counseling center offers two different types of counseling services: general counseling and crisis counseling. Current students may meet with a counselor to talk about well-being and stress management for a 40-45 minute session. In an initial session, students and counselors will figure out a schedule for the semester, which may include virtual or in-person sessions. To schedule an appointment, students should fill out the Appointment Request Form, or email the counseling center for more information.
In the case of a crisis, community members should call 911 or contact St. Kate’s Public Safety at (651) 690-8888.
For urgent mental health support, students, faculty, and staff should contact a mental health emergency resource, including:
St. Kate's 24/7/365 Crisis Counseling line (in partnership with ProtoCall): dial 651-690-6805 and press 1 at the prompt.
Ramsey County Urgent Care for Adult Mental Health: (651-266-7900)
If you’re not sure about what you need from the counseling center staff, the Let’s Talk program is a good starting point. These 15-20 minute informal sessions allow students to talk one-on-one with a counselor in Library Room 127D from 1-2 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
There are also Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) curated Let’s Talk hours that are available in Library Room 127D from 1-2 pm on Wednesdays, or in the Multicultural and International Programs and Services (MIPS) office on Thursdays between 10-11 am.
These resources are invaluable to students at St Kate’s. Readily accessible information and mental health hotlines have been shown to go as far as saving lives across the world.
In 2017, rapper Logic released a song titled, “1-800-273-8255.” For those of you who don’t know, the song is about a boy in his teens who’s struggling with his identity and wants to end his life. However, he calls the US National Suicide Hotline instead and finds hope. The hotline is the title of the song and received a lot of media attention.
Logic performing his song “(1-800) 273-8255” at the 2017 MTV Music Awards
According to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the release of the song and its performances directly contributed to the lowering rates of suicide and higher rates of calls to the hotline. BMJ monitored the number of calls to the Lifeline, as the suicide hotline is nicknamed, from January 2010 through December 2018 along with the rates of suicide from adolescents ages 10-19. These findings were published on Mon., Dec. 13, 2021.
The most significant evidence comes from the 34-day period after the three events publicizing the song with the highest attention: the song’s release, the MTV VMAs in 2017, and the Grammys in 2018. According to the BMJ, Lifeline received 9915 more calls than were expected, an increase of 6.9%, and suicide rates went down by 5.5% or 245 suicides. This means that there were 245 people who opted for life rather than death because of the media’s attention to the Lifeline.
With the right information, suicide is tangibly preventable. When teen suicide is addressed in a healthy and informative way rather than the media skirting around it, it’s taking away stigma and opening up discussion about a painful topic that is all too prevalent in middle and high schools around the world.
There are people to help you if you’re not feeling like yourself. From the wonderful counseling staff here at St Kate’s to the responders of the Lifeline, reaching out can bring awareness to an underrepresented issue and go on to save lives.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, there are people to help.
US National 24/7 Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 - Call or text
Minneapolis/St Paul 24/7 Hotline: 1-612-379-6363 - Call
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
