To the Editor:
In response to Len Gutkin’s Review newsletter, “Therapeutic infantilization, election edition” (November 11), I couldn’t agree more that colleges are misleading students by providing a plethora of therapeutically infantilizing activities. I agree that the evidence is shaky that it is helpful to students to simply cancel class, offer coursework modifications, and otherwise protect students every time there is a real world disaster. I may even agree that these types of actions might lead to more vulnerability and fragility.
However, Gutkin and I disagree as to why those activities aren’t helpful. Simply saying something was “shit” (to quote Gutkin’s classics professor) and getting right back to work is not the solution, and here’s why:
Our students are struggling and the data on mental health diagnoses bears that out. Three out of four college students experience moderate to severe psychological distress. Actual diagnoses of mental illness are lower but still high: one in three college students have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, over one in four have a diagnosis of depression, and a smaller portion of students are diagnosed with conditions like trauma- and stressor-related disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, or eating disorders.
I believe that colleges need to meet their students where they are to help them attain the mental health and wellness skills they are currently lacking. Previous generations learned how to form friendships, balance a schedule, and care for their physical health, etc. in the “before times”: before getting into college became a gladiator sport, before there was a loneliness epidemic which the existence of cell phones exacerbated, and before it became impossible to pay for college by working two summer jobs.
Focusing on and acquiring mental health and wellness skills can help students cope with both the everyday challenges and the real existential threats our world is serving up. For example, our youth are intensely impacted by the rise in suicide rates and death by drug overdose in their peer group, some of the many non-political issues that cause real distress.
Why aren’t we teaching them all the skills they need so that they can increase their capacity to be responsible citizens and the high achieving leaders of tomorrow? We do a disservice if we stick to coloring books.
Mia Nosanow
Author, The College Student’s Guide to Mental Health
