Kyla Pigoni
Counseling Center offers online screenings.
A new poster campaign around campus portraying yellow animated smiley faces
represents the Counseling Centers effort to market the Center’s online health screenings.
The online screening is a free and confidential way for a student to see if they may have
one of several disorders. It is made up of various multiple choice and demographics
questions. The screening is targeted towards depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse,
eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
This is not the first year that this service has been offered. The screening has been
available for over seven years, and the popularity of it has increased since it began. Over
the past four years, an average of 408 students take the survey each year. So far in the
2009-2010 school year, 118 students have completed the screening.
To access the assessment, students can find the link on the Ithaca College Counseling
Center’s website.
After completing the 10-minute screening, feedback is given. “The screening does not
provide a diagnosis. It is meant to raise a red flag to help you determine if maybe you
should make an appointment to speak with the counselors,” LeBron Rankins, a counselor
at the college’s Counseling Center, said.
Rankins, who has been at the college for seven years, is pleased with the screening. “We
used to have a day where students could take the screening in person at the campus
center, but we received few participants so we knew it was time for a new strategy,” he
said. “By offering it online the Counseling Center has noticed that more students are
willing to complete it.”
The ultimate goal for offering this service is to prevent suicide on campus. Suicide, which
is the third leading cause of death for college students, can sometimes be prevented if
caught in time. Rankins said it is his hope that the screening will explain feelings that
students might have and therein convince them to seek help if it is required.
The screening is completely confidential. The counseling center has no way of knowing
who has taken it or not, they just know how many students have accessed the page.
Active Minds, an organization on campus, is working to raise awareness on campus as
well. The club is a part of a national organization that utilizes the student voice to raise
awareness about mental health on campus. They work in unison with the Counseling
Center, and Rankins is the adviser for it.
“At IC we work to raise awareness through events on campus such as our ‘DeSressfest’
in December and ‘Stomp out the Stigma’ in February,” Patti Kroog said.
Kroog, a member of the Active Minds club on campus, is a supporter of what the
counseling center is trying to accomplish. “The online survey is good for people who, for
whatever reason, do not feel comfortable making an appointment with the counseling
center,” she said.
The screening is in no way a diagnosis. It is simply meant to give students a portal in
which they can find out if they should be concerned. Rather than set up an hour-long
appointment with a counselor, students can see if they actually need one. It should be
noted that diagnosis can only come after a few meetings with a licensed psychologists.
The test is simply good for people who are worried that they may have a problem and
they can find out if they should seek help.
The idea of an online assessment of mental health has sparked opinions on campus.
Erin Dunphy says she thinks it is a great idea. “It makes it easier for students to decide if
they need serious help or not,” she said. “My only work is that people would turn to the
online and not get help if it is needed, or they might not be totally truthful when
answering the questions.”
Kroog and Rankins stressed the fact that any student can set up an appointment with the
Counseling Center.
“I suggest that if a student is going through rough times, they seek help from the Center.
IT is not something that a person should feel embarrassed or nervous about, they are there
to help anyone who is going through a rough time,” Kroog said.
Rankins echoed this view, saying that anyone who needs a safe place to talk can confide
in the counselors at the Center.
“It’s free and all you have to do is set up and appointment.”