Every time John Kim goes to his group therapy sessions for depression at UF’s Counseling and Wellness Center, he sees people just like him.
The UF microbiology and cell science senior said the center continued to help him get in touch with a psychiatrist and find a therapist. The process also helped him realize he was not alone — others struggled as well.
“So many people think that mental health is a bad word, but mental health is just as important as physical health,” Kim, 21, said. “You go to the doctors for a physical checkup every so often, so why not seek a mental health checkup?”
From the 2013-2014 school year to 2016-2017, there was a 17.6 percent increase in students served at the CWC, said Ernesto Escoto, director of the CWC. More students seeking mental health help is partly due to a decreased stigma among the younger generation, he said.
“Increasing awareness among mental health and educating others about existing resources remains instrumental,” he said.
In an effort to continue halting the stigma, the CWC held its second-annual UFisAWARE, a mental health awareness week, which aims to bring attention to these issues and to direct students to campus resources.
Escoto said about 26 percent of UF students participated in some form of mental health treatment prior to attending college. Therefore, they are more familiar with mental health care and likely follow up in college.
There have also been advances in counseling and psychiatric care, he said.
Amanda Lawson-Ross, a clinical assistant professor and organizer of UFisAWARE week, said the stigma about seeking help is gradually lessening.
“I love seeing students speak openly about mental health and know that it can be healing to do so,” Lawson-Ross said.
For the awareness week this year, the CWC provided more information about mental health and resources, Lawson-Ross said. Some events included a mediation session and painting a mural.
UF President Kent Fuchs participated in an awareness event Monday in which green flags were planted on the Plaza of the Americas lawn to raise awareness for the week.
Fuchs said some people wrote about their own experiences with mental health on the flags. One of the flags told about how someone lost their uncle to suicide and another was about counseling sessions.
Fuchs said for a number of years, both nationally at universities and at UF, there has been a steady increase of students who reach out to counseling and wellness centers to take advantage of the offered services.
“I’m really pleased that we reach out to the whole university community,” he said, “and just make mental health a topic that, first off, people are aware of, and also just remove the barriers that many of us have as it being a taboo subject.”
