Anxiety highest reported symptom 1 year into tele-mental health service

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY The Breeze

It’s dark. A student lies in their bed, their face lit only by the glow of their phone.

“This is what this feels like,” Tim Miller, JMU vice president for student affairs, said. “This is when it hits me.”

He says this is what his student designers told him they wanted to convey when designing one of JMU’s more recent advertisements for TimelyCare: that moment when you feel alone, when you need someone to talk to.

As part of a collective initiative last year to address a growing demand for student mental health support, JMU partnered with TimelyCare, a tele-mental health company. The threeyear contract — which cost JMU $435,600 this year alone — provides each student with 12 scheduled counseling sessions per year, psychiatry, health coaching, self-help resources and a 24/7 on-demand crisis support service called TalkNow. Nearing one full academic year with the service, JMU is now reevaluating which parts of TimelyCare to keep, increase and cut down. The Breeze analyzed reports on TimelyCare’s usage and spoke with Miller and students to see what’s been beneficial and challenging about the service. JMU’s universiy spokesperson and executive director of communications, Mary-Hope Vass, didn’t respond to The Breeze’s requests to speak to clinicians from the JMU Counseling Center for this story.

The stats: Who’s using TimelyCare and why

Just over 14% (3,110) of JMU students have registered for TimelyCare as of April 24, according to usage reports Miller sent to The Breeze. This simply means that a student has downloaded the TimelyCare app and signed in with their JMU eID. Registrations peaked in August 2022 when students first got to campus for the school year, with nearly 1,200 students registering that month. Registrations have since decreased drastically, with approximately 600 since January. JMU’s gender imbalance, already roughly 60/40 female, was stretched even further in TimelyCare registrations: 73% of students registering self-identified as female, while 26% identified as male. This divide was even more pronounced in TalkNow visits, typically meant for after hours or crisis support, with 31% of visits being from men. harrisonburgmill.com

The gender gap can be partly attributed to the stigma around men’s mental health, Miller said, and he’s noticed women tend to pay more attention and be more comfortable talking about mental health than men. The stigma’s a problem that extends far beyond JMU, he said, but one the university hasn’t done anything to combat.

“It’s just a reality that we have to live with and try to address,” Miller said.

Forty percent of TimelyCare visits are after regular hours, meaning they’re not between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., but that percentage would be even higher in just the Counseling Center’s hours, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.