A hidden stigma marks fellow students, faculty and staff: The stigma of the depressed, the bipolar, the obsessive-compulsive.
Prozac, Ritalin and Zoloft are household terms, yet the disorders linked with these medications are still strangely misunderstood, sometimes even shameful. People often hide these disorders, because they are tired of pleading for their sanity.
According to 2006 statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health, about 1-in-4 adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. Yet, the massacre at Virginia Tech has threatened to make all sufferers of mental disorders into lepers.
On March 10, 2006, The Washington Post ran the story of Jordan Nott, a student at George Washington University. One morning, feeling particularly depressed and suicidal, he checked himself in to the university psychiatric unit. A day and a half later, he was expelled.
The university charged him with violating the "Endanger-ment Behavior Policy," specifically the part that states, "Behavior of any kind that imperils or jeopardizes the health or safety of any person or persons is prohibited. This includes any actions that are endangering to self or others." Nott sued, but eventually transferred to the University of Maryland, where he is cramming classes.
While Nott's story had a somewhat happy ending, more and more universities are adopting these policies, and this number will only rise in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting. What does this mean?
In a way, it means that more people than you think have thought about suicide. It means expelling suicidal students is unlikely to prevent suicide. And it also means that universities could be enacting the worst solution possible: one that makes the situation worse.
Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, can more than sympathize. He himself suffers from bipolar disorder and the stigma that comes with it. "We have a tendency to overreact to a single circumstance," he told me Monday. "It is important to make sure the solution will help the perceived problem."
The trend before Virginia Tech may gather momentum. According to a July 2006 Psychiatric Services article, some college administrators had already enacted "beefed-up policies requiring mandatory leaves of absence and forcing students with suicidal [thoughts] to sign agreements that they will talk with no one on campus about their problems."
Back then, universities were not interested in "helping" these students: They were interested in avoiding legal liability. Now, these universities will be interested in "safety," kicking out the "lepers." Colleges will only dissuade people from seeking help and accelerate breakdowns, and this could lead dire consequences.
Chris Brownson, director of the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center, told me recently that "in light of grave circumstances at Virginia Tech and the mental-health issues of the perpetrator, people may be discouraged from seeking help."
He added, "You would be surprised at the sizeable percentage of colleagues and peers that seek counseling for personal problems outside of a mental disorder. Coming to counseling does not indicate you are crazy."
A 2006 Research Consortium undertaken by CMHC surveyed 26,000 college students across the nation and revealed two astonishing facts: 42.5 percent of all college students had received counseling at some time in their lives, and 18 percent of all college students have had thoughts of suicide at some time.
UT currently has no policy forcing disciplinary action for mental disorders. Brownson stressed that CMHC has a confidentiality policy and does not reveal anything to the administration at UT unless there is imminent danger of harm to self or others.
I wrote this column in fear that the massacre at Virginia Tech would cause universities to file all mental disorders together as imminently dangerous. Little did I know it had already occurred.
There is a difference between being dangerous and being depressed. CMHC should hold steady to its confidentiality policy, and the UT administration should avoid the "overreacting" statutes that are sure to come.
The academic and artistic culture of universities would be greatly diminished if there is a broad "sweep-out" of those perceived to be mentally ill. We should make sure this doesn't happen.
Some of the greatest conflicted minds, such as Vincent Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway, contributed great works to the world. Let's not stamp out voices such as theirs.
Tso is a government and philosophy senior.
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