Thirty percent of college students said they had felt depressed to the point it was hard to function, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the American College Health Association in 2011. At the University of Idaho these numbers are a little higher.
According to a survey conducted by the Counseling and Testing Center in 2011, 47 percent of students felt helpless, more than 89 percent felt overwhelmed, 60 percent felt very sad and 32 percent felt it was difficult to function.
In order to address this issue at UI, the Vandal Health Coalition is working to make mental health first aid certification more accessible for students and faculty, who are the first line of defense for students experiencing mental health problems, ASUI Health and Wellness Director Liz Brandon said.
“I think this is really important for our campus, because a lot of times mental health problems arise in college,” Brandon said.
Brandon said they decided to open the class up to students and faculty after UI psychologist Sharon Fritz mentioned she was certified to teach the course at a Vandal Health Coalition meeting.
Fritz said she has taught faculty and students in the past, but it has been mostly confined to resident advisers. The course is 12 hours, usually taught in six hour blocks on two consecutive days. Fritz said the course teaches students how to recognize the signs of someone experiencing a mental health crisis and how to direct students toward help.
The classes are currently offered at UI to peer health educators, but the Vandal Health Coalition is working to open it up to all students. Brandon said Student Health Services Coordinator Shannon Haselhuhn is working to find funding to allow students to take the course at no cost to themselves.
“It is $20 to buy the book and we are working on getting the funding, but we are really trying to fund each class at a time,” Brandon said. “Each class has 25 students and costs about $500.”
Brandon said Fritz is trying to cut some of the material to make classes shorter and get more students interested.
“If it’s shorter we’ll get more people interested, I think,” Brandon said. “Right now there is a class being offered for our peer health educators and it’s four weeks for three hours a week. We might offer it in two six hour blocks, or even try to cut it down to eight hours and get it done in one day.”
Brandon said they have a lot of interest in the class and now are just trying to get funding squared away before advertising to students for next semester. She said there will be a class offered this summer for faculty and any students in town, but the first class offered to all students would probably be in September.
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected]