Demand for mental health care growing at Canadian universities

Demand for mental health care at universities across Canada, including UBC, is growing according to arecent investigationbythe TorontoStar and RyersonSchool of Journalism.

But some students say the university's services aren't enough.

Despite that, the reportrevealed that many Canadian universitieshave significantly increased mental health funding, althoughsomeare struggling to meetgrowingthe demand.

Cheryl Washburn, director of counselling services at UBC, said in an email that from the 2014-2015schoolyear to the 2015-2016 schoolyear, funding for counsellingservices has gone up by over 30 per cent.

She says more students are being referred to counselling, in partdue to university campaigns aimed at decreasingthe stigma of seeking help for such an illness.

"We would hypothesize that over time the stigma is decreasing, and it is enablingpeople to reach out to seek help," Washburnsaid.

While there have been complaints from students of long wait times,she says the demand isdifferent throughout the year andstudents will be seen.

"Counselling wait timeswill vary depending upon demand," she said.

Washburn said one of the reasons for the funding increases at UBC is the university initially lacked adequate funding for these services.

"We were very under-resourcedfor the size of our university," said Washburn.

UBC presidentSantaOno has been open about his ownstruggleswith depression as a student and his current interest instudent mental health.

Students speak out

But despite UBC'sinvestments inmental health care, some students saiduniversity services are not enough.

After first going toUBC counselling in 2014, student JiYounKim saidshe had to wait two weeks to see someoneand the student counsellor she was given was not experienced enough to help her.

"It was very obvious, it was by the book. Itwasn'tvery useful," she said.

Laterthat school year, Kim attempted suicide three times.She survived, and when shecame back to school later that month, shewas able to see a counsellorthat same daybutrealized she needed more advanced care thanwhat UBC could offer.

"One session was not enough to talk me through suicidal ideation, " said Kim."My issues were a lot more complex for UBCcounselling."

She chose to getcounselling through the private system instead, where she could get more hands-on treatment.

But in April 2016, Kim decided to drop out of school completely. She poured her feelings into a blog post, talking about the stress of school and the shame of failing classes and was met with hundreds of students reaching out with similar stories.

"Inthe past year, I've has hundreds of messages of students sharingtheir stories with me. I've broken downcrying, reading these messages," said Kim.

Kimhas been back at UBC, not as a student but as an advocate for mental health. Her blog, TheTipping Point, has since grown into astudent movementfor preventativemental health care at UBC.

"UBC is one of themoreprogressiveschools [regarding mental health]but it's really on asurfacelevel of free tea and puppies. I wanted to talk abouttrauma,culturalidentity, panicattacks, what its like to fail out of classes," said Kim.

Kim says that one of the biggest challenges to student mental health is the academic system which puts too much pressure on studentsand is inflexible to student learning and needs.

"We could put all the money into counselling, but if we don't address the core, there's no point," she said.