Taking on Student Mental Health

As he began
his first semester
of college,

Mark Rapaport felt all the usual jitters of transitioning to a new phase of life. He was nervous and unsure of himself, struggling to find his footing in unfamiliar surroundings. His parents came to the rescue with a simple yet powerful gesture: hand-written notes of love and inspiration. These little missives helped him to push past his isolation and make connections on campus.

“I’ll never forget those letters from my father telling me he missed me,” remembers Rapaport. Now, as CEO of the U’s Huntsman Mental Health Institute, he understands how vital it is for students to feel loved and encouraged at such a vulnerable time. 

“First-year students may feel lost and awkward at times,” says Rapaport. “It’s important for parents to support their children at college, especially in the first semester when they’re getting used to their new life.” 

Knowing this, Rapaport, who is also professor and the William H. and Edna D. Stimson Presidential Endowed Chair of psychiatry, strives to make sure new students feel like the University of Utah community is their home.

“Going away to college was a real transition for me, just as it can be for many parents—especially if the child leaving home creates an ‘empty nest,’ ” Rapaport continues. “Parents want their children to succeed, but they’re still going to miss them and want to know the university is taking care of their needs.”

Today, those needs include more than fostering intellectual growth. Social development is just as important, behavioral researchers say—especially now, when many new university students may feel socially uncomfortable after years of distance learning or home schooling due to the pandemic. Returning to face-to-face interactions can make adolescents feel awkward in situations like attending a lecture class with a hundred other students or learning to live with a roommate. 

Thankfully, help is always just a smartphone or keypad tap away.

Should a student experience any mental health challenges, they—and their parents—can rest assured: HMHI (formerly University Neuropsychiatric Institute, or UNI), is located on campus and staffed with trained professionals who are ready 24/7 to help students in crisis. The facility offers several outreach services for students with mental and emotional needs, including overnight beds for those who need time to get away and “cool off.”

HMHI grew out of a $150 million donation from the Huntsman family in 2019. Upon announcing the gift, the Huntsman Foundation and university officials aimed to generate a statewide movement to help find more effective treatments for mental illness and end stigmas associated with mental health.

Rapaport says the Huntsman Foundation’s generous gift changes lives.

“They’ve taken on the challenge of providing equitable care for those in need,” he says. “They will also help grow the mental health workforce. The University of Utah is so grateful for their dedication and partnership.”

At the announcement of the gift, Huntsman Foundation CEO Peter R. Huntsman noted, “This is a unique opportunity to bring together an immensely talented university with superb leadership and a philanthropic, generational commitment that we hope will only expand over time. It is past time to change the stigma and misperceptions about mental health.”

Saving Lives

Mental Health First Responders (MH1), created through an affiliation with HMHI, is a groundbreaking program that helps students in crisis who live on campus. From 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week, MH1 runs an after-hours hotline for students with mental health concerns and operates an on-campus office with an open-door policy so students can drop in any time and talk with a licensed professional counselor.

“We get a majority of calls during fall semester, which is an intense time for many new students,” says MH1 supervisor Torrence Wimbish MS’06 PhD’09. “They’re just coming out of high school, and going away to college is a new experience. It can be tough adjusting to dorm life and learning to be responsible adults.”

In a recent American College Health Association survey, college students reported a range of issues:

• 13% reported symptoms of anxiety
• 25% admitted sleep difficulties
• 33% acknowledged stress-related problems
• 43% said they felt so depressed at some point in the academic year that it was difficult to function
• 10% seriously considered suicide
• 1.9% had attempted suicide

Incidences of depression and self-harm are even greater among LGBTQ+ college students, according to a Rutgers University study, which found queer and transgender college students experienced depression and contemplated suicide at four times the rate of their peers.

MH1 is most effective late at night, Wimbish says, when the pressures of college life may make some students feel like there’s no one to listen to their struggles with classwork and personal issues. What’s worse is when those self-doubting thoughts lead to ideas of self-harm.

For example, when Samantha (not her real name), a student who lived on campus, was showing signs of depression and talking about death as “a release,” her roommate reached out to MH1. Wimbish and the residential advisor visited the student together. Wimbish asked basic questions and led deep-breathing exercises. The student admitted feeling glad someone was listening to her and began talking about painting and playing guitar, her creative outlets. Wimbish encouraged those activities, with the goal of giving her things to look forward to. The student visited the MH1 office the next day with one of her artworks in hand and agreed to come to a support group. “We’re here to listen,” says Wimbish. “It’s why MH1 was created. We’re out here saving lives.”

‘Finding Your Weird’

Several counseling centers are open on campus for students to talk about everything from tutoring needs to career advice to mental health issues. There is even, for example, a special advisor for engineering students who need a friendly ear to listen to their specific difficulties.

In addition, students can access private and confidential resources by phone from anywhere on campus—including from the comfort of their dorm rooms.

Downloading the My Student Support Program (My SSP) app onto their phones allows students to instantly reach a call center that will connect them with a licensed counselor for immediate support. Students without a smartphone can call 1-833-369-1250. The service is available 24/7 from anywhere in the country.

If the pandemic has a silver lining, it was that services like My SSP were born.

“Before the pandemic, counseling was not done online,” says Lori McDonald BS’95 PhD’16, vice president for student affairs. “But the pandemic’s impact compelled them to innovate quickly.”

One of the biggest challenges she hears from students is loneliness. “Studying is important, but young people need to be people, too, and finding stress outlets is very important for our well-being,” she says. “When I talk with students dealing with loneliness, I tell them there are over 600 student clubs on campus, and more are always forming. There are clubs for students who like chess, cooking, politics, or cars—you name it. And if a student feels there is nothing like what they’re interested in, I encourage them to start a club of their own.”

Jessica Holzbauer, program manager at HMHI, encourages students who feel lonely to “find your weird.”

“Going away to college means not just developing intellectual skills, but learning life skills,” Holzbauer says. “A lot of kids need to find their brand of weird. Once they find their people, they’ll feel comfortable opening up and sharing more about themselves.”

SafeUT is another app students can use when they need to hear a friendly voice. It’s a crisis chat and tip line that provides real-time crisis intervention for students from kindergarten through college, as well as parents, guardians, and educators. The app, used statewide, was created in 2015 by state legislators who acted to stem the growing number of suicides among Utah youth. In 2022, the app, which is housed at the U, logged over a million messages and conversations—and not all calls were from students, says Dénia-Marie Ollerton, SafeUT manager at the U.