Cat’s Cup O’ Joe: USU may never see adequate mental health care
New legislation introduced to Utah State University Student Association declared a mental health crisis at Utah State University. The decision was made based on feedback from both the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and USU Student Health, who reported being understaffed by half the national recommendation. In addition, they have a 50 percent higher-than-average rate of suicidal ideation and one-in-five visitors to the Student Health Center are visiting for depression or anxiety. While this gives USUSA clear objectives, such as building a larger CAPS office and introducing new therapists, crisis mental health care may never really see such improvements.
In February when, in the grip of a panic attack, my roommate called the USU Police Department and I was taken to the Logan Regional Hospital emergency room. It was there that I saw, firsthand, some of the difficulties in the mental health facilities we have here in Logan.
First, the Logan Regional Hospital kept me in the ER for six hours. The reason for this was a lack of beds in the Behavioral Health Unit. They have six beds and if, at anytime, more people than that are in crisis their options are to ship them via ambulance to the University of Utah hospital or to hold them in the emergency room–removing bed-space there–until a bed opens up.
The second issue was communication. CAPS and the BHU cannot share files or case history, so most of my stay was taken up with going over things I’d already talked to CAPS about. This issue is one that the University of Utah doesn’t have. The therapy center and the hospital at the U are both available for students and are run by the same group, so this information can be shared between the two organizations, saving time in treatment.
Speaking of time, the final issue I saw was related to a lack of long-term care. At the U, they have long-term treatment facilities where they can treat and assist students for weeks or months rather than days, assuring people get the help they need before returning to school. This luxury we at USU cannot afford, as we would have to institute a new department and build a multi-million dollar hospital.
Why not? Because we don’t have a medical school and hospital associated with us and realistically we may never get one. We could introduce new student fees, build a new CAPS office, and begin new resource programs for students, but at the end of the day no student fee would raise enough to build a hospital, especially if we wanted a bigger fuller service hospital than the Logan Regional Hospital.
I don’t mean to rain doom and gloom over the university, nor do I want anyone to feel hopeless. I just think that it’s time we look at the causes of our increased mental health issues in Utah in general. Our rate of suicide is one of the highest in the nation, and realistically we just don’t have the money to support all of the people who need help, so at least to me it seems the only solution is to find the source of the problem and address it.
If we increase our resources we could handle the national average rates of depression and anxiety, but as it stands our increased rates are simply to high to ever be handled. It is that difference that must be addressed, that space between us and the rest of the nation. Between our lack of local resources and lack of our own hospital our ability to handle the crisis is limited and no amount of work will solve it unless we focus our efforts in the right area.
Catherine is a Sophomore in Journalism. She’s a Ravenclaw, co-host of the Aggie Morning Word Podcast.
@Cat_StClaire