College students today often experience considerable personal and school-related stress. In addition to the pressure to achieve and work out a path to professional success, students must cope with a variety of personal stressors and pressures. Many of these personal stresses are age-related developmental factors, some are situational and some are psychological.
In an attempt to juggle the demands of college and their personal lives, a student sometimes acts out aggressively or self-destructively. Strong feelings of anger, depression, and anxiety are common. Sometimes just one added situation or stressor can precipitate a crisis.
Students experiencing this level of distress may turn to you for help, due to your position, status, and visibility on campus. Consequently, you may find yourself confronted by a disturbed or disturbing student who needs assistance. Your response in these situations could affect significantly on the student’s ability to deal constructively with his/her problems.
Recognizing a Student in Distress
Everyone feels stressed, depressed or anxious from time to time. However, some behaviors occurring over a time can suggest that the problems with which the student is dealing are beyond his/her ability to cope. Warning signs can include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Seriously poor grades, a change from consistently good to poor performance or repeated requests for special consideration;
• New or consistent behavior which pushes the limits of decorum that interferes with effective class management;
• Despite satisfactory performance, a student who appears anxious constantly seeks you out, concerned about grades;
• Excessive absences, a markedly changed pattern of interaction or dramatic weight loss in a short period of time.
What You Can Do
If approached by a student in distress, remember that your ability to remain calm, openness to help and knowledge of campus and community resources is important. Below are some suggestions, which might be helpful when dealing with a troubled student:
• Demonstrate your respect for the student by talking to the student when both of you have sufficient time and are in a private place free from disturbance by others.
• Be matter-of-fact. Controlling your emotions may help the student to do the same.
• Give the student your undivided attention.
• Express concern for the student in clear, direct, behavioral, non-judgmental terms (e.g., “I’ve noticed you’ve been absent from class lately and I’m concerned,” rather than “Why haven’t you been in class?” or “Where have you been lately?”).
• Listen in a respectful, non-threatening way to the student’s description of the problems. Let the student talk.
• Convey support and understanding by summarizing what you hear the student saying by including both content and feelings (“It sounds as if the experience of moving away from home was a big change and now you’re feeling lonely and isolated.”)
If you have specific questions about a student or are unsure about whether or how to approach an individual to make a referral, call Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 472-7450, indicate that you are concerned about a student, and ask to speak to the counselor handling emergencies. The CAPS staff member can help you to:
• Assess the seriousness of the situation;
• Learn about resources, both on and off campus, so that you can provide the student with potential options for obtaining assistance;
• Decide how best to initiate the referral process;
• Clarify your own feelings regarding the student and consider how you can be most effective.
If a student is highly disruptive (hostile, aggressive, violent), unable to communicate clearly (garbled or slurred speech, disjointed thoughts), losing contact with reality and/or demonstrates overtly suicidal or homicidal threats, please contact or accompany the student to CAPS in person so that he/she may be seen immediately by the counselor who is available to handle emergencies.
How to Follow Up After a Referral
Once a referral is initiated, it may be reasonable and prudent to follow up with the student to determine if he/she actually attended counseling. Depending on the nature of your relationship with the student, you may also find yourself wondering, “How is it going?” If it is done in a non-intrusive way, such a question may be well received. The student’s rights to privacy, however, should always be respected.
If you wish to share information with CAPS about a student you referred, you may do so. Please remember that the counselor-client relationship is confidential, so therapists will not be able to release information about a specific student without permission from the student unless there is a determination that the student or someone else is in physical danger.
If the behavioral warning signs of student distress are detected early and a positive, appropriate referral is made, there is good chance that the problem can be addressed effectively. As faculty and professional staff members having daily contact with students, you can make a difference.
More details at: http://health.unl.edu/caps