Depression screening offered
A free depression screening was held at the Walnut Room in the Taggart Student Center Thursday, in support of National Screening Day.
Utah State University’s Counseling Center sponsors the screening which is held annually.
Cami Connelly, a senior majoring in family human development and a Reach Peer member, helped organize the screening. She said the objective for the screening was to help those who need help and find support.
Connelly greeted those who wanted to go through the screening process.
“I handed out the forms to complete and explained the process,” she said.
Pepperidge Farm donated about 200 cookies to give participants.
Connelly said when a student had questions about the form, they were able to ask the advisers who would look over the form with them.
The Counseling Center had tables set up and volunteers to guide students through the screening process. The Walnut Room also had a television playing a video about depression.
David Bush, a licensed psychologist and adjunct professor, said the screening wasn’t just to seek depressed people. It is also to help educate the community about depression, he said.
“Mood orders are so prevalent today,” he said. “It makes sense to educate students about depression and the common symptoms.”
He said even if a person feels they are not depressed, it would be worth their time to take the screening. The education could help a member of a person’s family, a close friend or even a roommate.
“Instead of learning about themselves they can be more compassionate towards others,” Bush said.
The form used was the Beck Analysis. Questions about suicide, stress, weight loss and others were featured in the form. A person filling out the analysis had four choices between zero and three.
“The [Beck Analysis is] a theory of thought and it measures a person’s thought pattern,” Bush said.
Once a person finished the form, it was handed it to an adviser sitting behind a table. The adviser would then review the form and inform a participant what to do next.
Reach Peer member David Allred, a senior majoring in family consumer and human environment, helped by reviewing and adding the numbers of the answers.
He said he would mainly look at the more serious answers like suicide and weight loss.
Allred said depending on a person’s score, he would know what procedure to follow.
“Once a person’s score reaches 15, we encourage them to talk to a counselor on the spot,” Allred said.
He said if the person looks hesitant he would explain in more detail how a counselor could help them and why they should talk to one.
The Walnut Room also had cubicles in the corner where a person could sit down and talk to a counselor, one-on-one, about their answers or what they have experienced to make their scores above 15.
Counselors from the Counseling Center and Marriage and Family Counseling Center, were helping through that process.
Bush said the counselors would distinguish between a situational depression and a depression that may be genetic. It is hard to pin point why a person is feeling down, he said.
Someone who is stressed or has lost something important to them could suffer from situational depression, he said. It can be caused by several things and is more common. When the sadness stays, that’s when they need help, Bush said.
“Everybody experiences, from time to time, a little discouragement and feels down,” he said. “It’s when it lasts for an extended period of time. When it’s more severe and disrupts the quality of life [that’s the] time to take action and do something about it.”
After talking to the counselor the participant would decide if they need regular counseling or they receive information for future reference, Bush said.
Connelly said they gave packets to professors informing them about the screening.
“Some professors even offered extra credit to students if they take the screening,” she said.
Bush said instructors and professors have helped the participant screening level.
“Before they encouraged students to participate we had about 50 [participants],” he said. “Now we have around 300.”
Allred said it is important for students to know the Counseling Center is free to students. He said he helps and assists with stress reduction and test anxiety.
Bush said those who do visit the center are “bright, articulate and motivated.”
“We see great results,” he said. “They learn important things and the outcomes are very favorable.”
Bush said even though the annual screening is over, students can still take the Beck Analysis in the Counseling Center for free; it’s a service they provide for all students.
-srkrebs@cc.usu.edu