The Battalion Mental Health Special Edition

MONDAY, MARCH 21 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2022 STUDENT MEDIA

EXTRA

MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health

Let’s talk about it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 || LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 04 || MONEY + MENTAL HEALTH 06 || IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP 07 || STRESS 08 || SUICIDE PREVENTION 10 || EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS 12 || UNDERSTANDING OCD 13 || BUILDING COMMUNITY 14 || FEAR OF FAILURE 15 || PROCESSING GRIEF 16 || SELF MEDICATING 19 || INS & OUTS OF ADHD

JOUR 303 STAFF Aubrey Vogel, Editor-in-Chief Brady Stone, Editor-at-Large Emma Lawson, Copy Editor Hayden Carroll, Photo Chief Reporters & Contributors: Regan Bennett, Hope Dobson, Jessica King, Ronnie Mata, Brandon Miller, Bailey Moore and Shreya Rao Cover photo by Garrett Page, Table of Contents photo via caps.tamu.

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LOCAL & NATIONAL TEXT & HELP LINES TAMU HelpLine Available from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. weekdays and 24 hours a day on weekends when classes are in session.

Call 979-845-2700 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the U.S. Call 800-273-8255 OR 800-784-2433 Via caps.tamu.edu

Every year Texas A&M Counseling and Pychological Services hosts a walk in honor of Suicide Awareness Month in September.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Howdy Aggies,

T

he facts speak for themselves: Aggies need to prioritize mental health, and a big part of that has to be reaching out to those who are struggling.

A systematic analysis of 89 separate studies reported that college students experience depression (34%), anxiety (32%), and sleep disturbances (33%) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a meta-analysis published by the National Institutes of Health in July 2021.

It has affected our daily lives in a multitude of ways.

Reckoning with injustice.

Navigating waves of COVID-19.

Americans are bearing a heavier sense of insecurity in our everyday lives. For college students, these stressors are magnified.

Juggling class requirements. Caring for sick loved ones. Suffering loss. Financial worries. Balancing a social life. Finding a job after graduation.

Who doesn’t remember where they were when they heard campus was shutting down after Spring Break 2020?

Whether you are a freshman still learning to navigate campus and make Aggieland your home or a senior job searching while maintaining grades and other commitments – or somewhere in between – mental health has to be a priority.

The stories in this package are written by your peers, about your peers. As you take in the words of those willing to share their experiences, we hope you will check in on your mental wellbeing. The goal is to offer information that points you in the right direction and helpful resources at your fingertips apps, text lines, online portals that connect you to caring professionals.

These are hard topics. Please keep an open mind as you read on, and be aware some articles may be triggering to some.

Starting a mental health conver-

sation in a college-aged environment may not be easy, but it can change the life of someone who feels like they are walking through trying times alone.

From undiagnosed ADHD to how to help friends cope with OCD and how to deal with loss, these articles point to various on-campus resources. No Aggie is alone. There’s even an explainer on emotional support animals in college and a look at how financial stress affects mental health.

If it feels hard to open this package, just know you are not alone. Every page has resources and ideas to make college life better, healthier…and happier. Reach out when you need support. Listen when friends tell you they are struggling.

Remember to check on your classmates.

Let’s finish out the semester mentally healthy and strong, Aggies.

Aubrey Vogel is a journalism senior.

Crisis Text Line Connect with a Crisis Counselor Text HOME to 741.741 Trevor Lifeline Supporting Transgender & Nonbinary Youth Call 1-866-488-7386 Trevor Text We’re here for you. If you’re thinking about harming yourself – get immediate help 24/7, 365 days a year, from anywhere in the U.S., 100% confidential and 100% free.

202-304-1200 OR Text START to 678678 Trans Lifeline Trans peer support run by and for trans people.

Call 877-565-8860 The Steve Fund Are you a young person of color? Feeling down, stressed or overwhelmed? Text STEVE to 741741 and a live, trained Crisis Counselor will respond.

Campus Connect Student Gatekeeper Training An interactive training offered through CAPS, Campus Connect is specifically for college students to learn awareness and skills concerning college student suicide. Training focuses on increasing gatekeepers’ knowledge about students in a suicidal crisis, developing empathic listening and communication skills, and how to compassionately and directly ask students about their suicidal thoughts. - Source: Counseling & Psychological Services

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Making cents of it all

Hayden Carroll

Texas A&M met 67% of its students’ financial aid need, according to U.S. News Best Colleges ranking. The average total college debt of a 2020 graduate is estimated to be $24,621.

Students navigate financial problems, mental strain from balancing costs

By Ronnie Mata and Brandon Miller The trials and tribulations of college are plentiful. Of all the stressors that negatively affect mental health, it really is all about the money.

As students complete their degrees, financial responsibilities change. Financial obligations continue to evolve with each stage of life, contributing more stress to interpersonal relationships. Being able to cope with them is paramount.

Like most things, how finances make people feel can be traced to their upbringing.

How someone approaches finances is heavily influenced by the spending behaviors that have defined their life.

Money is heavily tied to a person’s emotional and mental state, said Dr. Mary Covey, Ph.D. and director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Texas A&M. “People will say that it’s a necessity to have a phone, it’s a necessity to have cable TV,”

Covey said. “And then, you’ll have other people for whom it will really vary based on their values and what they’ve been exposed to and how much they’ve been really given.”

Covey has been the director of CAPS since 2018. She sees first-hand the learning curve of early adulthood as a common cause of financial stress. She notes there is a stark difference between the financial responsibilities of college students and high school students.

“People are so excited in high school to work for minimum wage,” Covey said. “And then you realize in college ‘Wow. This is not going to support me; this isn’t what I need.’ So there [is] a huge reality check about money.”

Sociology senior and Bonfire chief Jett Reinhardt said he has had to carefully consider his finances when choosing where his next meal would come from.

“I’d often weigh the enjoyment of a meal from somewhere like Panda [Express] versus my ability not to starve the rest of the week and live off my ramen,” Reinhardt said. “It was rough, and I had to turn down a lot of invitations to hang and go out because I just couldn’t afford it.”

Carlton Orange, a finance graduate from

A&M, agreed that college often pulls students apart in various directions and said he believes that money can often be the worst offender.

“Students now kind of have two separate lives,” Orange said. “Their work life, which includes school, sports, etc., and their social life, which includes hanging out with friends, and relationships with others. The problem starts when students let the stress of their daily responsibilities from their work-life spill over into their social life.”

When Reinhardt was a Bonfire chief in 2020, he noticed a rift with his peers caused by his financial shortcomings. After long days and nights at the stack, breakfast or dinner would cost too much to eat out.

“I was criticized by past leadership for wanting to go home and not stay with the crew,” Reinhardt said. “In actuality, I just didn’t want to sit at the table surrounded by friends eating when I myself couldn’t afford a meal.”

Apart from social spending, most students also worry about paying for their education.

Three of the five most common stressors among college students are finance-related – repaying loans, the cost of tuition, and bor-

rowing money for college – according to inceptia.org. The nonprofit works with schools and loan holders to understand financial information.

“

The problem starts when students let the stress of their daily responsibilities from their work-life spill over into their social life.”

Carlton Orange, A&M finance graduate

Junior microbiology major Aldair Monsivais grew up in Humble, and said he recalls growing up with a warm sense of community and understanding from his neighbors and peers in a place where financial hardships were not a rarity. Though Monsivais’ grades made

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LOVE & MONEY

By Brandon Miller

Hayden Carroll

The Aggie Assurance program covers tuition only for students with family income equal to or less than $60,000. Fees are not covered.

Tuition support grant amounts will vary based on income and financial need. If enrolling for the Fall, file a FAFSA or TASFA by April 15.

In addition to these deadlines, students must meet the other eligibility requirements published at financialaid.tamu.edu.

him a prime candidate for Houston magnet schools, his family’s bank account said otherwise.

“With a lot of the issues we were fac-

Via Twitter

Microbiology junior Aldair Monsivais is a DACA recipient and serves as the vice president for the Council for Minority Student Affairs.

ing financially as well during that time, it was convenient to find somewhere that was cheaper for us, and that ended up being Humble,” Monsivais said.

Today, Monsivais is a successful student who serves as vice president of the Coun-

cil for Minority Student Affairs. He is also a DACA recipient. #UndocuMED trails across his bio like a Twitter badge of honor.

He said it allows him to be open and visible about his immigration status, goals, and how only he can define himself. Even if Monsivais’ goals are concrete, he said he still relies on DACA to stay in the country while it stands on a legislative tightrope. The struggles carry over to the financial aid process.

“There’s a lot of additional steps that you have to take as an undocumented immigrant,” Monsivais said. “Not only do you have to do TASFA, you also have to do an affidavit of residency so you can be considered for in-state tuition and also have to make sure that information gets sent.”

Monsivais has provided comfort and assistance to people going through the same struggles he did through his role at CMSA. Just recently, Monsivais said he was able to help an undocumented student transfer to A&M by guiding them through the hoops of college admissions and financial aid. By doing so, Monsivais said he felt as though he was making up for going through that ordeal on his own.

“To be able to help someone who was going through the same situation I went through – it’s comforting to know that at least they’re able to have that help,” Monsivais said.

Finances are also a struggle for couples,

especially among married ones.

“The first year here, my parents and myself were really, really struggling to even pay tuition, let alone rent and food,” Reinhardt said. “It was a burden that kind of loomed over myself to the point it influenced most decisions I made in day-to-day life.”

Monsivais said the tension was noticeable in his family as well.

“I think my parents do a good job hiding it. I can tell that they get stressed about it,” Monsivais said. “The money they have saved up for other emergencies has to go towards our rents because that is the emergency.”

Reinhardt said he resolved his money hassles when he learned how to balance spending and save his money.

“On an equally as important note for the stress mentally, I also found it was good to spend money when you could to just treat yourself,” Reinhardt said. “Money comes and goes, and there’s a balance to what you spend and what you save.

“Don’t blow it all away on take out or stash every single penny and live off the cheapest food possible because both of them hurt you mentally in the end,” Reinhardt said. “Finding the balance between financial stability and mental peace is the most important part.”

Nearly 73% of married or co-inhabiting individuals said decisions related to finance are sources of tension within their relationships, according to businesswire. com, a Berkshire Hathaway company.

According to “ Love and Money “ on Texas A&M’s money education resource page, financial topics to discuss before marriage include saver vs. spender outlooks, current debts, credit scores and financial goals. Couples should agree on tracking spending and set a monthly meeting to discuss spending and investments.

Most of all, couples need a spending plan.

“Finances are a huge part of stress whether you’re in college, or even in the real world,” said Tonya Hendricks, a crisis specialist at Counseling and Psychological Services at A&M. A study conducted at Texas Tech University showed that couples with extreme financial hardship tend to have lower satisfaction within their relationships.

“If one partner is financially responsible, and the other is financially irresponsible, then you are going to have a lot of discord, tension, and anger,” Hendricks said, “to the point where it could feel like the responsible partner feels like they are parenting the irresponsible person, and in that case, resentment can set in.”

In those situations, feelings gravitate towards hostility and irritability, which can lead to not communicating with a partner, according to budgeting.thenest.com. This website helps people budget their money and provides personal finance tips.

The first step for any student to solve problems is to be self-aware, said Kanesha L. Moore, Ph.D., a nationally certified counselor at CAPS. “We also have to set boundaries for ourselves as well,” Moore said. “Whether that be financially, or whether we are in a relationship because when we set boundaries, we are able to protect ourselves in a way from being manipulated or used. And we should also seek help from professionals, as well.”

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To sleep or not to sleep Sleep patterns directly affect healthy brain function, physical health

By Hope Dobson Uploaded assignment to CANVAS? Check.

Backpack and refillable water bottle ready to go? Check.

Enough sleep to focus in class? Mmm … can you repeat that question? I don’t think I understand.

When 33% of college students report that sleep problems have affected academic performance – lower grades on exams or important projects, an incomplete in a class or a decision

to drop a course – Gotta a little story for ya, Ags! Actually, the experts have an important story for ya.

A systematic analysis of 89 separate studies report college students experience depression (34%), anxiety (32%) and sleep disturbances (33%) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a meta-analysis published by the National Institute of Health in July 2021.

Healthy sleep is vital to more than academic success – it’s the foundation of overall mental and physical health, safety and quality of life.

Breaking it Down – Zs and Sneezes Healthy brain function and physical health directly relate to sleep patterns. A good night’s sleep means the brain is resting and getting ready to take in and learn new tasks, pay attention and be creative. All of these are all affected by the amount and quality of rest the brain is getting.

Since everyone’s metabolism is always running, even when asleep, students can forget that sleep is as important as eating well and exercising, according to Taylor Newhouse, a registered dietitian who was quoted in a recent Texas A&M Today article.

Mentally, sleep deprivation can alter parts of the brain linked to depression, suicide and risky decision making. Emotionally, lack of sleep leads to frustration, crankiness, worry or inability to interact socially situations. All of these affect student life and workload.

One way to be mindful is to organize school with a sleep schedule which and allows time for breaks and rest. This is recommended by Dr. Mary Ann Covey, director of Counseling & Psychological Services at Texas A&M University in an article on Texas A&M Today.

Safety is a large concern for the amount of sleep you get. Those who are sleep deprived can’t perform functions, such as driving a car, the same way one would with good rest. Lack of sleep could lead to microsleeps which are involuntary mini sleeps that you can’t control.

It is important to get good rest so this does not happen when performing tasks that endanger your safety.

Something that helps with getting restful sleep is practicing daily mindfulness and meditation. This is highly recommended by Bradley Bogdan, LCSW-S, clinical social work supervisor at the Department of Psychiatry in the Texas A&M College of Medicine in a Texas A&M Today article. Both sleep and meditation can improve your concentration and regulate your mood, which will make you better able to cope with stress.

Until you get restful sleep your body will feel tired and the need to catch up on the rest you have lost. Try to pay back your sleep debt, which is necessary to maintain a healthy mind and physical lifestyle, according to Carl Boethel, MD, a sleep expert and clinical assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Medicine quoted in an article on Texas A&M Today.

END THE STIGMA TEXAS A&M ATHLETICS' COMMITMENT TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT OUR COUNSELING AND SPORT PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES TEAM. THANK YOU DR. PITTSINGER, DR. CRAIG AND DR. AKPAN FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES! HELPLINE: 979-845-2700

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College students feel the pressure More than grades, stress affects immune system, sleep cycle

By Emma Lawson Maintaining grades, managing friendships and relationships, living by yourself for the first time and preparing for future endeavors can make a student feel stressed simply reading about it. But on A&M’s campus, relief is only a walk away.

As college students begin to leave home for the first time, they endure new challenges and responsibilities, everything from doing laundry to managing their own schedule. All of these challenges can intensify stress, which can affect a student’s success in the classroom, as well as suppress immune systems, according to a study by New York University. The A&M campus features many resources for stress management, but some may not be well known to students.

Many of these resources are student-led and allow a personal approach to handling stress.

Eighty percent of college students have reported feeling stressed often or sometimes, according to The American Institute of Stress, which has been called an epidemic among students. Individuals away at college are highly likely to experience intense stress due to being homesick, maintaining or creating friendships and lack of sleep because of schoolwork and other commitments.

Economics freshman Julissa Zamora is a first-generation student who is currently enrolled in the Liberal Arts Regents Scholar First Semester Experience, or LBAR, which serves as a required guidance course.

LBAR has a general section on mental health which has helped her realize what she could do to lessen stress, but she believes the course could have expanded on this section, Zamora said.

“It helped me recognize what I needed help with and what areas of my overall well-being and mental health needed,” Zamora said. “But in terms of providing me the steps that I needed to get where I needed to be, it wasn’t effective in that area.”

As a personal stress relief strategy, Zamora said she sets aside one day a week for personal relaxation. She also does small things throughout the week to combat stress, including trips to Target.

“For me personally, I do my best to work

on my homework before so I have one day to chill and not worry about anything,” Zamora said. “That, and small things I do throughout the day, like going to Target.

Just walking around helps me destress and helps me feel better.”

Students should dedicate time to reducing stress because it can affect all parts of their wellness, said Sarah Heiar, health program coordinator at A&M Health Promotion.

“If a student is suffering from any kind of mental health distress, that can carry over into their academics, relationships, friendships, jobs and responsibilities,” Heiar said.

“At Health Promotion, we talk about the dimensions of wellness and how they all interrelate with each other. If there is distress in one area, it’s likely to have crossover into other areas.”

Heiar is also the co-lead of the Wellness Coaching Program, a free service which connects students to coaches who can assist them in achieving a variety of goals by encouraging the student and providing accountability.

“We have students who want to set physical wellness goals, and we help with that, but we also have people who want to focus on their mental health or spirituality,” Heiar said. “Our job as wellness coaches is to help with smart goal setting to make sure students are set up for success at the very beginning.”

Ph.D. candidate Rohit Mishra, current president of the Bhakti yoga club at A&M, said the club is a great resource for students looking to manage their own stress.

“You can have psychologists and psychoanalysis, but at the end of the day, it is you who is fighting,” Mishra said. “If the issue is personal, then the application should also be personal. After our session, we are more relaxed and ready for the week, and even the weekend for that matter.”

The Bhakti yoga club features a vegetarian and vegan meal, guided Hatha yoga sessions and meditation sessions once a week on Friday afternoons, Mishra said.

“My personal opinion is that connection with others is really important for relieving stress,” Heiar said. “It can be really hard to go through something stressful alone. Just going to someone else for support, I think, is really important and having someone that you can relate to.”

PROVIDED

Texas A&M’s Bhakti yoga club gives students an outlet to relieve and manage their stress. The club meets once a week on Friday afternoons for guided exercises.

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‘Not another Aggie’ — breaking the silence on suicide

Via caps.tamu.edu

Aggies Reaching Aggies is a peer gatekeeper training focused on creating meaningful connections and conversations among students. Email afranzetti@caps.tamu.edu for more information.

CAPS provides resources including suicide prevention trainings, HelpLine

By Aubrey Vogel Information in this article may be triggering to some individuals. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1.800.273.8255 for professional support. If you or someone you know are in immediate danger, call 9-1-1 immediately.

There is help. There is hope. Sometimes, a simple conversation can help save a life.

Suicide is not an easy topic to discuss. It is the second leading cause of death among all college-aged students, according to the American College Health Organization. As Texas A&M works to expand the number and types

of training, counseling and intervention services, one suicide prevention graduate said it’s time to break the stigma and end the silence around suicide.

AJ Franzetti is a graduate student who leads training through A&M’s Counseling & Psychological Services, or CAPS, program.

As the need for more and different kinds of outreach and suicide prevention services has grown, Franzetti said both A&M and CAPS have expanded campus mental health programs and the number of resources offered on campus.

“There was a [national] study done with college universities, and we saw that those that died by suicide – 86% of those students, unfortunately – did not see campus counseling prior to their death,” Franzetti said.

Whether it is due to stigma, cultural or religious beliefs, or lack of awareness about resources, too many students don’t seek help,

Franzetti said.

“Students aren’t seeking help, and that’s so unfortunate,” he said. It’s vital to change that now since the number of students seeking resources is slowing, he added.

Whether through the Aggies Reaching Aggies peer counseling program or connecting a friend to the Crisis Text Line, there are on-campus programs at Texas A&M for anyone who needs help. Aggies who want to help others by offering understanding, reassurance, and support can learn how to help a loved one or friend seek the help they need through training, according to caps.tamu.edu.

It’s also why people need to be checking in with friends and loved ones, explained Franzetti. It might be someone who is acting differently. Or it might be someone showing warning signs of possible suicidal behavior – withdrawing from social engagements or unexplained aggression or irritability – and Fran-

zetti wants Aggies to know there is training to learn when, and how, to help that person access campus counseling services.

“One of the main roles as a [graduate student] here is to provide Gatekeeper Trainings where I help faculty, staff and other students recognize warning signs [of suicidal behavior in] other people, their colleagues or peers that may be contemplating suicide,” Franzetti said.

“We have to rely on those that are on campus interacting with the students on a day-today basis to help be aware and notice,” Franzetti said, “and then bring them to counseling services. Because they just, unfortunately, aren’t always willing to seek.”

CAPS offers three levels of training for students, faculty and staff to educate themselves about how to support students who are emotionally distressed or in crisis. The Question Persuade Refer, or QPR, Gatekeeper training brings awareness to verbal, situational and

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CRISIS INTERVENTION Students in need of immediate emotional support may visit CAPS for crisis intervention anytime 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, when the university is open.

CAPS is located in the Student Services Building, 4th Floor, (Bldg 1546) 471 Houston St., College Station, TX 77843-1257. The closest parking options to the Student Services Building (SSB) are Gene Stallings Blvd. Garage (SBG) and University Center Garage (UCG). There are also various TAMU Bus Routes that stop near the SSB and the Memorial Student Center.

Via caps.tamu.edu

Making connections on campus looks different for everyone. The My SSP @ TAMU app provides FREE, immediate 24/7 real time chat and phone support, along with virtual single session and short-term counseling, digital content library, podcasts and videos addressing a variety of wellbeing topics, as well as access to free virtual fitness sessions.

behavioral signs of distress, Franzetti said.

Some signs may be not as easy to spot, he added, while others may be more clear.

“One great thing about universities, [is] students wanting to help other students,” Franzetti said. “The biggest thing – what I love about HelpLine and what I love about our other student org Aggies Reaching Aggies – is it’s not just a bunch of therapists and psychologists at CAPS that are here for you. It’s other students.”

Help is only a call away with the number located on the back of student ID cards, said Susan Vavra, HelpLine director. Since January 1995, HelpLine has supported students and also helps alleviate stress of anyone who may be concerned about a struggling student, Vavra said.

“One of our biggest goals when we started HelpLine all those years ago, was to really try to decrease the number of suicides on campus by giving the students a place where they could call and talk about however they’re feeling,” Vavra said. “Even if they’re feeling like they no longer want to be alive.”

The HelpLine is open from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends while classes are in session, Vavra said. Through the line, student and former student volunteers provide mental health services to students who call in for

help over the phone help.

“There’s something really special about the peer-to-peer relationship,” Vavra said. “It takes some of the scariness out of it.

“CAPS has this beautiful staff – that is probably one of the best counseling staffs in the nation – but you also totally understand how intimidating it is for somebody who’s maybe never received therapy, to go into [a counselor’s office] and tell them their story for the first time,” Vavra said.

“HelpLine can be a really great first step for somebody if they’re nervous about talking.”

Someones major, or where they are in their academic career or where they are from, doesn’t matter, Franzetti said. What is essential is recognizing when students need help to reach out and talk about their mental health.

“There are people here that care about you,” Franzetti said. “It’s not just mental health professionals, but it’s fellow students, fellow peers, that are going through a lot of the similar things you are, and know what it can be like.

“Our hope is to show that, and be a good advocate for them to get the help that they need, and help them through whatever situation they happen to be going through in those moments,” Franzetti said. “Because I know it looks a little different for everyone.”

Some reasons to seek crisis intervention may include: • Suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm that do not include immediate risk to safety (if concerned about current safety, call 911) • Having recently experienced a physical or sexual assault • Hearing voices or seeing things • Having recently experienced or witnessed a threat to life or safety • Having recently experienced the death of a loved one or a significant loss • Being unable to provide for your own food, clothing, and/or shelter • Having experienced or witnessed violence, hatebased incidents, or natural disasters that impact you and/or people you care about.

• Having strong emotional reactions to marginalized identity-related discrimination.

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Aubrey Vogel

Mr. Whiskers has been a registered emotional support animal for three years for Millie Mayo since the junior moved to College Station from Colorado to attend Texas A&M.

The ins and outs of emotional support animals As number of registered support pets increases, get to know the rules

By Brady Stone Big, glossy green eyes gaze up at animal science junior Millie Mayo as she works to complete her homework for the week. Resting one hand on her cat’s coarse coat of hair, Mayo uses the other to type on her laptop.

“You get used to all the hair floating

around,” Mayo said.

For 13 years, Mr. Whiskers has been in the Mayo family — for the last three he has lived with Millie Mayo as an emotional support animal.

After moving away from her family in Colorado, Mayo had Whiskers declared an emotional support animal in 2019 when she enrolled at Texas A&M. Like Mayo, other college students register pets as emotional support animals. The often-furry friends help combat loneliness and other fears commonly associated with big life transitions, according

to Inside Higher Ed. Pets provide a sense of comfort for students without their typical support system, said Mary Covey, the director of Counseling and Psychological Services at A&M. “For many people, it is just the comfort of unconditional love,” Covey said. “And you feel that every time you’re around whatever that animal is to you.”

Kristie Orr, A&M’s director of Disability Resources, said emotional support animals aren’t super common on campus, but she has seen an increase in the number of registered

animals since COVID-19 emerged in College Station in 2020.

“I think there was a time during the pandemic where people were at home alone with their animals and found comfort,” Orr said.

“Now, we’re seeing a lot of people who are experiencing more levels of stress and mental illness, so having an animal with them can be a comfort, and we are seeing an increase in requests.”

It’s essential students discern the difference between emotional support and service animals, Orr said. Trained service animals

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Photos by Aubrey Vogel

On-campus emotional support animals must be registered through A&M’s Disability Services with the required certification, but service animals do not. Service animals are trained to perform specific tasks that aid people with disabilities.

perform tasks that help people with disabilities and are permitted entrance anywhere the public is allowed. However, emotional support animals aren’t required to have any specific training and aren’t allowed the same accommodations. “[Service animals] are active participants who are reacting to something either in their environment or related to their handler,” Orr said. “An emotional support animal is passive, so they just provide comfort to someone. They don’t react to the person by performing a specific task.”

On-campus emotional support animals must be registered through A&M’s Disability Services with the required certification, but service animals do not, Orr said.

Additionally, disabled people are not required to show documentation for their service animals to a landlord or other housing entity, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, people with emotional support animals are required to show proof of certification for their animal for traveling and housing purposes.

“When I came to college, being away from home, there was a lot of new stress, and I wanted to be able to have my cat with me,” Mayo said. “Because I had stress and anxiety and some PTSD stuff, it was easy to get Whiskers certified since he was a comforting animal to me, and it made it so I could fly with him for free and have him live with me.”

Emotional support animals are one tool that people with mental health issues can use to cope, Orr noted, but they shouldn’t be seen as an end-all be-all for helping with mental illness..

“It’s just one piece to the puzzle,” Orr said. “[At Disability Services], we provide accommodations for all kinds of things, and accommodations are one tool, but there are other things that you can do, too. We definitely want students to use all of the tools they have and not just pick one and think that is all they need.”

For self-care, Mayo said Mr. Whiskers acts as a companion for her and helps during bouts of loneliness.

“It’s like having a constant friend to come home to every day,” Mayo said. “It sounds silly, but I get to take care of him, and he’s always there for me and taking care of me too.”

“I grew up with other pets, and Mr. Whiskers actually went through trauma when he was a baby, and he almost died,” Mayo said.

“He got attacked by a fox, and I nursed him back to health after he got really, really hurt.

I took care of him then, and now he’s taking good care of me.”

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Jessica King

Lochan Mourty Dugan said it was only after she found a community of people going through similar experiences that she learned about Obsessive-compulsive disorder. She said she has found support, compassion and coping skills since receiving a formal diagnosis through CAPS.

Understanding OCD and how to help Student shares mental health journey to educate others about OCD

By Jessica King @Jessica_D_King At age 18, Lochan Mourty Dugan made the move to Aggieland. Along with bags of college essentials, Dugan also carried the weight of her obsessive anxiety. Amplified by the transition from high school to college, Dugan said her ability to function became impaired.

Obsessive thoughts can come in all forms, whether it is rereading the line of a book or the need to check multiple times if a door is locked. Regardless of what the thoughts are, they are unwelcome and can cause gut-wrenching anxiety for many people.

An industrial and system engineering sophomore, Dugan said overcoming her obsessions would take hours of sitting and processing everything going through her mind. The

thoughts were coupled with a compulsive behavior – endlessly reading books – as a form of escapism.

“I found a community of people that were going through experiences similar to me, and they called it OCD,” Dugan said.

Dugan said she first began worrying obsessively and consistently during middle school.

Since her family wasn’t fully educated about mental health; Dugan said she spent her time searching every solution she could put a name to for her unique anxiety.

“Your OCD is not logical,” Dugan said.

“The whole point of it is that it’ll pop this intrusive thought into your head that makes sense. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or not. It could be things that most likely won’t happen, but it’s technically a possibility, and it’ll freak you out.”

Dugan said she responded to her increased anxiety by seeking out a psychologist through Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, at Texas A&M. Dugan received an

official diagnosis from CAPS confirming what she had speculated about for six years — she has OCD. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is characterized by repeated, intrusive, unwanted thoughts and irrational, excessive urges to perform specific actions. One in 40 adults in the U.S. has OCD. With the many changes, college brings unique stress to students’ lives.

According to beyond OCD.org, many young people experience their first symptoms while away at school. These students who experience symptoms of OCD can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy or medications administered by a professional, said Kristie De La Garza, M.S., and Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor for CAPS at A&M. “I really can’t emphasize enough that a good friend would try to help a student get connected with resources that know about OCD,” De La Garza said. “I don’t think our community hears that enough.”

Dugan said it is essential to bring awareness to OCD and help people understand it. Being educated about mental illness can change or save someone’s life. People are generally open-minded and want to help her cope, but Dugan said not everyone knows effective ways to help because of a lack of understanding.

According to the National Alliances on Mental Illness, one of the best methods of helping a loved one feel like they are more than their diagnosis is to show patience.

“The one thing I love about this generation is that a lot of awareness is being brought up about these topics, so a lot of my friends and everyone, even if they don’t have the disorder, have been very open-minded and supportive of it,” Dugan said. “The amount of compassion and understanding that I’ve gotten from the friends that I’ve made here has been huge.”

According to the National Alliances on Mental Illness, learning about a loved one’s symptoms and experience with OCD and communicating openly – when they are ready – are additional ways to help support their mental health.

Speaking up and asking for help, Dugan said, was difficult. Most of her freshman year was spent out of focus, with her OCD prohibiting her from going to class, studying for tests and going out with her friends.

“That was like the last time I was asking for help – I was like ‘I’m serious; I’m not okay,’” Dugan recalled.

She said her family recognized the severity of her anxiety and helped get her to therapy.

Dugan sought counseling from CAPS where she received free on-campus treatment from experts she could trust. Dugan’s said her stress was also relieved when she received access to disability resources in addition to therapy.

“It was definitely hard to ask for help, but I’m glad I did. I’m glad I pushed through it,” Dugan said.

Rationalizing and researching are the two main ways that help Dugan most when coping with her OCD, she said. Being informed on unknown concepts that fill her mind has made it easier to push through, she said. Research makes her thoughts a tangible thing she can understand. She also calms herself by telling herself the facts and using logic to combat intrusive thoughts quickly. In the future, Dugan said she is interested in cognitive behavioral therapy to learn further how to handle her triggers.

Individuals with OCD do not want to have these thoughts, and, in most cases, people with OCD realize their ideas don’t make any sense, according to the International OCD Foundation. Dugan said she recalls she has had these types of thoughts, and research shows that many other people with OCD have intrusive thoughts of hurting someone they love, but the common misconception is that they want to act on those thoughts, which is not true.

“It took me a lot of research to figure out like, no, this is not something that I want to do. It’s the intrusive thoughts that are put there to cause the anxiety, and that’s what causes me to panic,” Dugan said. “[That’s] something I wish someone would’ve told me when I was younger.”

Aggie Mental Health Ambassadors have given Dugan an outlet to bring awareness to OCD and general mental health while making a difference at A&M, she said. It is a valuable experience because mental health is something that people need to talk about and understand. It’s normal for someone with OCD to be concerned or afraid about their symptoms, according to beyondOCD.org, but also to remember that “you’re not crazy,” and “you’re not alone,” or any other way the disorder is labeled.

It’s essential for friends or relatives of someone with OCD or other mental health disorders to actively listen to their loved one with compassion and respect, said Leonardo Garza, president of Aggie Mental Health Ambassadors.

“You know, it really just takes a conversation – to really listen to them – because I feel like, yeah, they have all of these resources spread out for them, but it really takes that special someone in their life to give them that support and that little push [to get help],” Garza said.

Discomfort is where the growth is, said De La Garza, so you have to shine the light on that discomfort to grow. For a complete list of services provided by CAPS, visit CAPS.tamu.edu.

MENTALHEALTH

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Creating a community

Johnathan Alvarez

Hayden Carroll

(left) Student volunteers with the Breakaway Ministries work in a variety of fields. (right) TAMU United, a coed 8v8 outdoor soccer team, is playing in their seventh season together.

1,000+ students orgs offer service, social, recreational ways to connect

By Hayden Carroll New academic pressures.

Being separated from family.

Missing childhood friends.

It’s a shortlist to many college students’ first experience coping with stress and anxiety.

A solution?

Building supportive on-campus communities can make day-to-day college stressors more manageable.

Texas A&M student organizations offer diverse opportunities to get involved, whether through acts of service, social environments, or dorm life. According to Student Activities, more than 1,000 active student organizations are available to choose from, and A&M en-

courages students to find community outside the classroom.

First-year students are naturally inclined to join a community as soon as they step foot on campus by choosing to live on-campus. Dorm life can be an uncomfortable transition, but A&M resident halls work to provide a welcoming environment, according to the Division of Student Affairs and Residence Life.

“Most of our residents at the Commons are freshmen,” said senior mechanical engineering major Amira Bushagour, a resident advisor at Dunn Hall.

Dealing with homesickness is the issue Bushagour said is most common among residents.

“For a lot of people, the adjustment to living alone in college is kind of tough,” Bushagour said. “My priority as a resident advisor is to make sure residents know the resources available to them and to encourage students to use services like [Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS].” Bushagour said she has also used training and services available through CAPS. Informal socialization in dorms builds community, explained Bushagour.

“Food is a great way for us to all meet together,” Bushagour said. “We can socialize by designating a time and place for dinner.”

Resident advisors try to meet their residents in the middle with ideas of building up their community, Bushagour said.

“It can be nice for people to socialize with their hallmates because it’s definitely not too much pressure,” Bushagour said.

Rudder and Academic Plaza are both involvement hubs. Going from class to class, Aggies can see peers advertising organizations to the student body.

Bannering is a simple tradition that draws attention to on-campus involvement. Women’s organization Aggie Royals banner during their recruitment and annual philanthropy events. Engaging in conversations is a means to spread the word of their group and create an inclusive environment.

“It allows us to reach out to students who we normally wouldn’t interact with,” said senior Jenna Metzinger, public relations chair for Aggie Royals.

“I think campus organizations have a positive impact on student’s mental health,” Metzinger said. “They create positive peer

relationships and help give students a purpose besides academics.”

Architecture graduate student Abbey Grace McDougal said she instantly connected to fellow Breakaway volunteers. McDougal said she applied to be involved with the on-campus college ministry because of her faith and because of her passion for media and graphic design.

“Community is the reason my mental health is doing as well as it is,” McDougal said. “People were designed to be with other people, even the most introverted.”

McDougal said the tight-knit group of like-minded individuals has encouraged her personally and continued to push her to grow.

“I have been in seasons where I was not involved, and things were so much harder,” McDougal said.

According to the Division of Student Affairs, whether groups are focused on culture, leadership, academics, or sports, A&M is not lacking options. Visit the Student Activities website for a list of student organizations searchable by category, letter, or keyword.

MENTALHEALTH

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Hayden Carroll

Unlike other phobias, the fear of failure is situational. College students are at a heightened risk with an average of 62.3% of students reporting they felt overwhelming anxiety of some sort within the past 12 months.

Fear of failure: you are not alone Academic peer mentors help combat students academic, career fears

By Regan Bennett Fear of failure can be a paralyzing, all-encompassing experience. For college students, it may strike when taking an exam or trying to navigate a complicated degree plan. Whenever the fear of failure decends, students need to know they are never alone, being prepared to deal with anxieties in advance is the best defense, and there are personalized campus resources that can help.

Unlike other phobias, the fear of failure is situational. Though it can happen to anyone, college students are at a heightened risk with an average of 62.3% of students reporting they felt overwhelming anxiety of some sort within the past 12 months, according to a 2018 study from the American College Health Association.

Academic peer mentoring is just one initiative Texas A&M offers to help guide students through academic and future occupational fears.

Atychiphobia, or the fear of failure, is the constant and irrational fear of failing. It can produce emotional and behavioral symptoms

such as anxiety, avoidance, feeling a loss of control, helplessness and powerlessness, according to verywellmind.com.

The fear of academic failure has been estimated to be as high as 35% in college students, according to the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Health and Wellbeing.

Communication professor Joseph Lopez, who prefers “joey lopez phd,” recognizes students struggles with fear and its symptoms, and said he tries to alleviate those through a teaching style which allows students to apply instructional material to areas and topics students are passionate about.

“I am trying to bring sincerity into the classroom, from both a professor’s standpoint and also students’,” Lopez said. “Students literally fear failure, and it is not until after the first assignment that my students really realize that I will let them do what they want and not rip apart what they are doing, but [instead] give them constructive feedback and encouragement.”

As someone who has been through academic failure, Lopez said he has gained a deeper insight into the ways students learn and keeps this truth in mind when instructing his courses. Lopez said he believes his experiences of failure may be why he empathizes with a student’s fear of failure.

“The way I teach classes now is with the

fear of failure in the back of my head,” Lopez said. “I know I’m going to mess up. I know I am going to have problems, and the best advice I can give to those suffering from fear of failure is to always ask for help.”

The sharpest increase in anxiety occurs in the initial transition to college, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Carol D. Binzer, Ph.D., director of Administrative & Support Services for Residence Life, said with a large number of incoming freshmen living away from their families for the first time, the university works to provide helpful transition resources.

“We have about 12,000 students living on campus, and 70% of them are freshman,” Binzer said.

As new students move on campus, Residence Life is finding new ways to make students feel more comfortable and learn to care for themselves with less guidance from family. Most academic peer mentors, or APMs, live in residence halls and apartments alongside students to provide help so new campus members can succeed academically. APMs offer guidance through academic programs and events such as office hours, peer panels and on-campus living collaborative initiatives.

Although any student can ask for mentoring, the program focuses primarily on first-year students living in dormitories.

“I’m a sophomore, it is a lot less intimidating for a student to come to us for help first before going to other resources, because I am also a student just like them,” said Miriya Botz, senior academic peer mentor.

Partnering with the Academic Success Center, APMs have been able to reach out and offer mentoring services to students coming into the university, particularly those who were flagged as struggling academically and at risk of being dropped from their majors.

“Just by the sheer volume of work that is now coming their way, different tactics are needed,” Binzer said. “Learning different methods and approaches to studying in college can be really valuable.”

Academic peer mentors meet with students one-on-one via personalized academic checkups on a requested basis for strategies to improve time management and goal setting.

“Students that seek help from us have this idea of where they want to be,” Botz said.

“And when they are not there it can be very stressful and frightening for them, and the fear of failure kicks in.”

For more information on academic peer mentors, their services and events, visit reslife. tamu.edu.

MENTALHEALTH

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such as managing anxiety, Oswald said. All Mending Hearts services are free for families, children and adults.

One of the best ways to process grief is to find someone, whether that be a group or specific person, who is able to talk about the loss

“

Let yourself process those feelings. You can learn not only how to work through those feelings, but you can also learn a bit about yourself along the way.”

Gale Dworaczyk, Biology sophomore

Emma Lawson

One of the best ways to process grief is to find someone – a group or specific person – and talk about the loss alongside them.

How to grieve: It’s okay to not be okay Local organization offers location, staff, support groups to process grief

By Emma Lawson It is never easy to say goodbye to loved ones, but many individuals face this heartbreak sooner than expected. Thankfully, no one has to grieve alone.

For college students who are experiencing the loss of a loved one, grief can be intensified with being away from family support groups and can in many cases cause prolonged grief disorder lasting longer than six months, according to the National Center of Biotechnology Information. Grieving can be difficult for students who also have different responsibilities they must upkeep while experiencing the grief process. Individuals looking to

find community in the bereavement process can reach out to local support groups, such as Mending Hearts in College Station, for assistance.

In the United States, one-third of college students have suffered the loss of at least one family member or friend in the past year, according to the National Center of Biotechnology Information. COVID-19 has increased this number and led to more cases of prolonged grief disorder. In students, this can cause poor grades, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation.

It is important for students to process grief for their own mental health, said Hillary Oswald, director of Mending Hearts Grief Center.

“If you don’t work through your grief, it’s just going to continue throughout your life and a lot of times, you’ll develop negative coping mechanisms,” Oswald said. “Unpro-

cessed grief can show up in different ways, like anger.”

Biology sophomore Gale Dworaczyk said their family pet died, which is something they still have not fully processed.

“We put Taz, our first dog, down three years ago,” Dworaczyk said. “I can’t even mention him in passing without crying.”

Dworaczyk is able to focus on school and work, but when something reminds them of Taz, the grief resurfaces. Currently, they said they are using self-reflection as a way to cope with the loss.

“Let yourself process those feelings,” Dworaczyk said. “You can learn not only how to work through those feelings, but you can also learn a bit about yourself along the way.”

Because everyone’s journey with grief is different, Mending Hearts Grief Center’s mission is to provide grief support, help create connections and work on specific activities,

alongside them, Oswald said.

Mending Hearts provides different support groups based on the situation the individual would like to process and their demographics, Oswald said. For example, there is a cancer support group for those taking care of cancer patients or struggling with cancer themselves, a Spanish grief support group for Spanish speakers called Healing With You and a divorce care group, Oswald said.

“We also have our young adult grief group, and that’s a relatively new group,” Oswald said. “We meet twice a month on Sunday evenings, the first and third Sunday, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and we provide a free meal. It’s tailored toward college students and young adults.”

During the grieving process, Dworaczyk said it is important to remind yourself about the future past the timeline of the death.

“I feel like, when somebody or something dies, lots of people who are grieving feel like they have died themselves,” Dworaczyk said.

“Although feeling that way is horrible, you have to remind yourself that you’re not the one who has gone to rest. You still have your whole life ahead of you and you can’t let it consume you.”

The group “Til we Meet Again” is for people who have lost a spouse, Oswald said.

“Without fail, they meet. They’d also go to lunch together and some are even planning a cruise to go on together because they always planned to travel, but then they lost their spouse.”

Students looking to sign up for Mending Heart’s services can email Hillary Oswald at hillaryoswald@christ-umc.org.

MENTALHEALTH

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THE AND Feelings of hopelessness can lead to self-medicating with drugs or excess alcohol to try to cope

By Bailey Moore and Shreya Rao College – where assignments pile up, study motivation slips away, and self-care is more likely to be a TikTok meme than reality – is where students turn to alcohol and drugs to cope with stress.

The pandemic has only increased problems with students choosing to self-medicate in unhealthy ways, said Carl Olivarez, a prevention education specialist at the Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

“I think what really happened here – whether they had these preexisting conditions such as anxiety, depression, maybe some suicidal ideation that goes along with depression – it increased because of the pandemic,” Olivarez said. “Because of the joblessness and homelessness, [the pandemic] caused much anxiety and hopelessness. That’s part [of what is] causing people to use substances illicitly because of the hopelessness. They give up or use it to self-medicate.”

Some students try to cope with stress by self-medicating, is the use of drugs not prescribed by a doctor to deal with depression or other mental illnesses. It can also mean drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, according to Houston Behavioral Healthcare Hospital.

Adderall abuse leads to approximately 1,500 emergency room visits a year; an average of 614,000 teenagers abuse the drug. In 2018, one million people were reported to be misusing prescription amphetamines and sedatives such as Adderall and Xanax, according to drugabusestatistics.org.

Texas A&M psychology professor Rachel Smith runs an addiction neuroscience laboratory that studies the neuroscience of drug addiction. Her research focuses on the effects of excessive use from a behavioral neuroscience perspective.

“In general, we are interested in the role of habits in drug addiction,” Smith said. “It’s so automatic; you don’t have control over these feelings and drug-seeking reactions. It’s been a theory for a while that hadn’t necessarily been extensively tested.”

Smith said the testing is designed to see if a behavior is automatic, more like a habit, and not necessarily connected to a goal.

“Then we are seeing whether that necessarily leads to behaviors that feature more like what we see with addiction,” Smith said.

The models used are similar to punishment resistance, such as introducing a mild foot shock to the test subject to stop self-administering the drug voluntarily.

“We use that as a model to try to get at one feature of addiction in humans,” Smith explained, “and that is even though you should be stopping, you keep going despite the negative consequences. And so we’re seeing what role habits have in that process.”

The A&M School of Public Health hosts an Opioid Task Force, which investigates the impacts of the opioid epidemic, said Marcia Ory, Ph.D., and chair of the task force.

“Opioid use is on every campus in America,” Ory said. “How prevalent it is here, we do know it’s more dangerous because there’s fentanyl now sort of washing through Texas.”

Some students may not be aware of the dangerous results of the use of opioids, Ory said. Through the Opioid Task Force Ambassador Program, students can learn about this issue and help fellow students stay safe.

“What we would like is for the ambassa-

dors to be trained about opioid overdose education, know themselves how to administer naloxone through a six-step sort of action plan, and be available for two things,” Orly explained. “One, to go out and train others, and two, to be sort of ambassadors on campus about good mental health.”

Helping to advocate through the ambassador program is beneficial because it comes with education and advocacy opportunities for mental health, including naloxone training, Ory said. Her office has reached out to A&M students, school nurses and law enforcement officers who have received training through the program.

“We estimate that we have saved 200 lives through opioid overdose reversals,” Ory said.

Naloxone is a medication that can be administered to reverse opioid overdose. People who have rescue kits that include naloxone can help those suspected of overdosing on opioids, Ory said.

“There are certain things that are bad with self-medication, though, also good things for self-medication,” Ory said. “Self-medication is taking into your responsibility actions that you think will lower your stress and improve your health.”

On-campus organizations such as Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, can provide alternative solutions for students who may be tempted to cope using unhealthy self-medicating methods, said Mary Covey, director of CAPS. “Having anxiety isn’t a bad thing,” Covey said. “I think COVID-19 has really impacted people’s ability to deal with difficult feelings.”

The ongoing pandemic has disrupted the normal day-to-day activities in people’s lives, which has led to excessive use of drugs and alcohol for coping mechanisms, Covey explained.

In addition to individual counseling, group sessions, workshops, career counseling, learning disability and ADHD screening, and alcohol and other drug services, CAPS offers programs like Safe Spring Break and Self-Management And Recovery Training or SMART Training. The SMART program works with students who use substances excessively, said Sarah Beth Heiar, CAPS health promotion coordinator.

“We also have recovery services, and those are for students who are looking to either reduce or eliminate their substance use,” Heiar said.

These activities and services are helpful to provide a community for students who need extra support, Heiar explained.

“We have weekly SMART [Recovery] meetings that those students can go to, and we celebrate national recovery month every September,” Heiar said.

For more information on SMART Recovery, meetings visit studentlife.tamu.edu/ hp/recovery. For other CAPS programs, visit caps.tamu.edu/services.

Hayden Carroll

Adderall and Xanax are the most commonly misused prescription drugs according to drugabusestatistics.org.

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MENTALHEALTH

19

WHAT IS ADHD? While Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children, ADHD also affects many adults. Symptoms of ADHD are not being able to keep focus, excess movement that is not fitting to the setting, and impulsivity or hasty acts that occur in the moment without thought.

ADHD IN WOMEN

Hayden Carroll

Depression is estimated to be 2.7 times more prevalent among adults with ADHD than among the general adult population. Women are significantly more likely to be undiagnosed than men.

‘It made me realize I’m not alone.’

Women often face misdiagnosis before finding treatment for ADHD

By Bailey Moore Marianela Cintrón remembers how the structure of middle and high school – being in school all day – worked well for her academically. Transitioning to a different environment from high school to college created challenges.

Now a mechanical engineering senior, Cintrón has continued to excel but said the journey has not been without struggle. Recently, she met with Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, at A&M about symptoms that coincide with those of ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.

Women often face a misdiagnosis before being diagnosed for ADHD, according to CHADD.org, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping those with ADHD. Stereotypes affect diagnosis with 69% of American men more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD compared to women, according to ADDitude Magazine.

After completing the CAPS screening process, Cintrón said she will seek a formal ADHD evaluation from a com-

munity therapist.

“Without a doubt, in high school it was a joke among my friends that I had ADHD because I was constantly bouncing my legs,” Cintrón recalls.

Use of fidget toys is a common association with ADHD. A study concluded that fidgety behavior displayed by children and adults with ADHD may be an effort to increase attention and alertness, according to the CHADD website.

“I also recently got a fidget ring. It’s got these beads on it that I can just play with constantly,” Cintrón said. “Before I got this ring I was playing with my other rings, but I was dropping my Aggie ring all the time as a result.”

Even the fidget stereotype can be a misconception about ADHD, along with an inability to pay attention, said Brian Anderson, Ph.D. and psychology professor at A&M who specializes in cognition and cognitive neuroscience research.

“For ADHD, and how it relates to attention and how it affects studying, it’s really predominately about sustained attention,” Anderson said. “The idea that people with ADHD are sort of more distractible per se is actually not true.”

College students face a variety of mental health challenges. Up to 44% of college students reported having symp-

toms of depression and anxiety, according to a recent Mayo Clinic Health System study.

Diagnosis and treatment for depression and anxiety can be complex, said Annmarie MacNamara, Ph.D. and psychology professor at A&M whose areas of specialty include clinical and affective science.

“For a diagnosis of depression basically there’s many different combinations of symptoms that a person can have and still meet that diagnosis,” MacNamara said. “You get patients who look very different from each other.”

While one person might be experiencing overeating and oversleeping, another person could suffer weight loss and lack of sleep, explained MacNamara. Depression can present as a kind of agitation as opposed to being lethargic, while someone else has anger issues and another person doesn’t.

Patients can look very different, and that leads to questions about treatment, said MacNamara. Based on national averages, there is a 20% chance of developing depression at some point, MacNamara said. An estimated 21.0 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode, according to the National Institutes of Health.

ADHD impacts both genders equally, but outdated stereotypes leave too many women undiagnosed and feeling of hopeless, depressed and “not smart.” ADHD often looks different in women. Not all clinicians recognize and accurately diagnose ADHD in girls and women leading to tremendous barrier to effective treatment. - Source: additudemag.com, Inside the ADHD mind.

CAPS Learning Disability & ADHD Screening Counseling and Psychological Services on campus does not provide formal evaluation for ADHD but does provide a screening service for students who think they may be struggling with a learning disability or ADHD. Screening includes an on site assessment appointment with a testing coordinator and a session with a counselor to review, gather additional history and provide recommendations. The CAPS screening process does not result in a diagnosis, medication or university accommodations.

A formal evaluation can be expensive, so the screening process is a decision-making tool for possible next steps. For a formal evaluation in the community for a diagnosis or accommodations, students can bypass CAPS and contact a community therapist directly. A list of Bryan College Station providers who provide formal evaluations can be found by scheduling an appointment with the CAPS Referral specialist directly through the portal at caps.tamu.edu.