BYU NewsNet - Students have a Place to Turn

With all the stresses of a busy life, students sometimes have a hard time knowing exactly where to turn when they need help with mental health issues.

BYU provides services for any full-time student for free. These services vary from one-on-one counseling to support groups, to referrals to the BYU Health Center to get medication for a mental health issue.

Students deal with many issues like depression, anxiety, high stress levels, addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, interpersonal struggles and others. The pressures of life can sometimes be too much for students to handle by themselves. At the BYU Counseling Center, students can make an appointment with a counselor who will help them deal with what ever issues they have.

After the appointment is made, the process of getting started with counseling at the BYU Counseling Center is fairly easy. Steve Smith, associate director at the counseling center, said the first appointment is an intake interview to assess the problem and make a diagnosis if needed. The student will then come back for any number of counseling sessions, depending on the need of the student.

The counseling center stresses that they want students to feel comfortable coming in to talk to their staff. Tyler Pedersen, an associate clinical professor at the Counseling and Career Center, assures students that strict confidentiality is maintained. The Counseling Center does not report information given during counseling sessions to the Honor Code Office, church leaders or parents.

"When people come in, they go away feeling a lot better," Smith said. "They go away asking 'Why did I delay?'"

The center also offers a variety of support groups for people struggling with more specific issues. Some of these groups include the general therapy group, the painful life events group, the woman's wellness body image group, the sexual abuse group, the chronic pain/illness group, the couples group and the sexual concerns group.

One issue that is commonly dealt with at the Counseling Center is problems with pornography.

"We have a lot of men, and some women as well, that come in to get help with problems with pornography," Smith said. "We want to help students with this issue as much as we can."

The stress management lab is another resource that students have on campus. Students often find their abilities to function properly are hindered because of high stress levels. The stress management lab can help with managing the stress and finding ways to relieve it in a healthy way.

According to the stress management lab Web site, an alternate medical treatment technique called biofeedback is used in the lab. Biofeedback helps to train people to become more in-tune with their internal environment. The lab uses a few different kinds of instruments that monitor how stress levels are affecting the body in different ways. Once students become aware of how their bodies reacts to stress, it is easier to be managed.

There are also resources off-campus available for students. The National Alliance on Mental Illness has a chapter in Utah County, which offers a variety of different classes for people dealing with mental health issues, as well as their family members.

On the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, NAMI holds workshops for anyone who would like to attend. Each workshop goes for two hours and has speakers and support for those dealing with mental health issues.

"We take time to give people support," said Nedra Bell, president of the Utah County chapter of the group. "We give people resources and ideas about where and how they can get help."

There are also classes that those with mental health issues or family members of those with mental health issues can register for. The Family-to-Family is a course for family members of people with serious mental illnesses that teaches them how to handle mental illness. The Bridges program focuses on teaching people with mental illnesses more about these illnesses. Once people understand their illnesses, it is easier for them to deal with them and rebuild their lives. In Our Own Voice is a program in which two trained speakers who have an experience with mental illness share their stories and how they recovered.

"Sometimes it is hard for family members to help their loved ones if they do not understand the issue," Bell said. "Information is so empowering, and the more understanding that there are about mental health issues, the more they can deal with the issue and have hope for the future."

Immediate emergency help can also be acquired by calling one of the two local crisis lines. These crisis lines provide services in crisis intervention, confidential listening, emergency referrals, suicide prevention and rape intervention.

"People can call in to the crisis line and we can try to help people through their current crisis and provide them with a referral for further assistance," said Lisa Schumacher, Adult Services division director at Wasatch Mental Health.

Finding Help:

-The BYU Counseling Center is located in 1500 WSC or call 422-3035.

-The NAMI Web site is http://www.namiut.org/support.htm.

-Crisis Line of Utah County-(801) 226-4433

-Crisis Line at Wasatch Mental Health-(801) 373-7393.