Dartmouth students are seeking professional help in record numbers, with students using Dick's House mental health services for what College officials say is a growing list of increasingly serious psychological ailments.
"The raw number of students we see in our office has gone up in the last six years, as has the number of students registered with psychiatric disabilities," Director of Counseling and Human Development at Dick's House Mark Reed said.
Out of the roughly 650 undergraduates who used Dick's House mental health facilities last year -- or about 15 percent of the student body -- 50 students took medical leaves for mental illness. Another 70 were admitted to the infirmary for psychological reasons, though that figure includes cases ranging from suicide attempts to escaping noisy roommates during exam week.
About 15 or 20 students end up in Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center each year because of suicide attempts or psychotic episodes, which are often stress -- or sleep deprivation -- related.
Suicide attempts themselves vary greatly from largely symbolic "cries for help" to what Reed calls "gestures" to serious attempts.
Although there is at least one serious attempt at suicide "every term," Reed said, there has not been an actual suicide death since Sara Devens '96, Philip Deloria '96 and Marcus Rice '94 killed themselves in 1995.
Students most commonly seek counseling for depression anxiety disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; eating disorders; substance abuse; sleep disorders; developmental or "phase of life issues," which include the difficulties dealing with living away from home and romantic relationships, as well as confusion about the future; and ADHD, according to Reed.
The diagnoses are not always cut and dry, Reed noted.
"People are generally complicated. Often students will have more than one thing going on," he said.
Sometimes, Reed said, a problem such as alcohol abuse or anorexia are symptoms of deeper problems such as clinical depression.
Not only have the last few years seen a rise in both the number of students using the mental health services, but the seriousness of students' problems has also increased.
The reasons behind this phenomenon are ambiguous.
On the one hand, the rise of student interest in mental health services could be a positive sign that outreach programs have successfully encouraged students to view counseling as socially acceptable.
The corollary to this, however, could be that an equivalent number of students have been struggling with mental health issues in the past, but were afraid to come forward with their problems.
An equally upsetting phenomenon, Reed said, is that there are suicide attempts every term. "The students I am most worried about are the ones that don't come forward," he said.
Another reason why more and more students access Dick's House is increased environmental stresses.
"I think these problems are common everywhere, but I think in general, life has become more stressful for people earlier," Reed said. "I think overall there's less time in peoples' lives for relaxing and having fun."
At a school as selective as Dartmouth, where such strong emphasis is placed on high achievement, and where stress and sleep deprivation are practically a way of life for many people, anxiety disorders, alcohol and body-image problems are especially common.
"The stereotype of Dartmouth students is that they're very happy, very involved, that they hold leadership positions in a number of different activities," Reed said.
"A lot of students feel pressure to live up to that ideal, and when it doesn't work out, they find it very difficult to deal with.
"For some families and some students, getting into a place like Dartmouth is almost an end in and of itself," Reed said, adding that many such students experience a sense of loss if their main source of direction in life has already been achieved.
Regardless of the particular issues a student is struggling with, Reed stressed the importance of acknowledging the problem, talking, and seeking help.
