The Daily Gamecock

Student involvement in mental health on the rise

The “Mental Health Matters” campaign serves as a means of working with students to reduce the stigma behind mental health. This event was important not only to students, but to the mental health staff, as it included surveys on the program’s effectiveness at this time. 

Currently, the process is streamlined into different levels of necessity, from average stress, to suicidal students. Upon scheduling an appointment, students are then directed to the appropriate source. 

 “If you are dealing with normal amounts of stress, it’s definitely important to get connected with mental health resources so we can prevent it into escalating into something bigger,” Dr. Toby Lovell, a mental health faculty member who has been with the program for almost 11 years said. 

The new student health building will open soon and both physical and mental health will now be under the same roof. This will make it easier to find the right source to go to and schedule appointments. It will also increase the streamlining of the process and the speed with which students will be able to see someone for their mental health needs. 

“We are very well resourced in the counseling center, but as we project forward they’ve done a good job with strategic planning in the building in that we know we will grow and add human resources down the road,” Lovell said. 

Students also have an opportunity to get involved with mental health on campus.

“The First thing that I always tell students that want to potentially get involved is to be an accountable bystander,” Lovell said. 

This is very important amongst the USC community, because without the help of students helping other students, they will never be able to break the stigma behind mental health.

“Be aware of mental health problems in your friends colleagues and roommates. Know the warning signs,” Lovell said. 

Any students that want to help even further can attend one of the counseling offices suicide prevention courses. These are free courses that are held periodically throughout the year to help students learn the red flags of someone who is about to commit suicide. 


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