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SPORTS More wrong than right occurred for KU football in another disappointing season
The University Daily Kansan
vol. 137 // iss. 28 Thurs., Nov 29, 2018
SEE FOOTBALL • PAGE 11
Theft, drugs and the Texas State flag make appearance in Thanksgiving police reports p. 2 Jane Lynch brought Christmas joy to Lied Center on Tuesday p. 3 Read more at kansan.com
The graduate student mental health crisis DEASIA PAIGE @deasia_paige
Margarita Nuñez Arroyo’s road to a doctoral degree is a lonely one. Nuñez Arroyo, from Compton, California, who just started her first semester of American Studies program at the University of Kansas, said the rigorous academic workload contributes to her isolation and amplifies her depression, anxiety and eating disorder. “When you get lonely, you think a lot,” she said. “I think that’s part of it — this loneliness that creeps on me, and I start to like uncover and move beyond my flesh and all these bad things and bruises I don’t want to think about just come to the surface.” Nuñez Arroyo certainly isn’t alone with the burdens of graduate school and managing her mental health. Graduate students are six times more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than the general public, according to a study from Nature Biotechnology from March. The study, based on a survey sent to graduate students via social media and email, revealed that 39 percent of the respondents scored in the moderate-to-severe depression range compared with just 6 percent of the general public who were previously surveyed. About 90 percent of those graduate respondents were doctoral students. Tyler Allen, who’s a master’s student at the University in the museum studies program as well as the African and African-American Studies program, said she’s not surprised that graduate students are significantly challenged with their mental health. Allen said she often struggles with anxiety and adds pressure on herself to be successful. “Along with going to school, a lot of graduate students, if not all of them,
DeAsia Paige/KANSAN Margarita Nuñez Arroyo, a Ph.D. candidate at the University, tries to maintain her mental health issues while becoming more adapted to the work load from graduate school. live on their own,” said Allen, a Denver native. “You have to have a job and be able to pay your bills. Just jumping into this adult life really quickly while trying to accomplish all your goals and dreams can be really overwhelming.” Allen said the mental health issue also could stem from the pressure to be perfect. “I think it’s from this preconceived notion of adult life and wanting to have it all together,” Allen said. “It’s almost like people are making it seem as if you’ll be OK as long as you have this and that, but that’s not the case. You can have a way to get around, a way to pay your bills or not have to worry about paying for your classes, and still suffer from depression just because grad school is a lot to tackle and manage.” For Nuñez Arroyo, her main struggles with being in graduate school stem from her not taking the traditional route to getting a doctorate, she said. She went straight into her doctoral program from getting her bachelor’s degree. She was never an American
Studies major. “It’s a little daunting going from an environment where there are lectures to going into a class that’s two or three hours, and you’re expected to do the readings and discuss with your peers and your professor,” Nuñez Arroyo said.
I’m coming from a bachelor’s, and I had my focus in journalism,” Nuñez Arroyo said. “But I think it’s also normal when we think about how the imposter syndrome hits all students, but it hits students of color the most,” she said. “So sometimes
“I think it’s from this preconceived notion of adult life and wanting to have it all together.” Tyler Allen Museum studies master’s student
Nuñez Arroyo said sometimes she experiences the imposter syndrome – trying to prove to herself and everyone else that she belongs in her graduate program. For instance, during the first week of classes, she bought five books on Marxism that weren’t assigned just to get ahead in classroom discussions. “I do sometimes feel overwhelmed because I feel like I’m not up to the standard because I wish I knew more about my program, considering that
I think about how I have to prove myself in those classes, but I have to stop myself from doing that. I have to be nice and kind to myself and understand that I’m not going to know everything, and that’s OK because I’m here to learn.” Graduate students struggling with their mental health also could be linked to the burden of applying for a program, said Nuñez Arroyo, who applied for 12 graduate programs before choosing the University. “The application pro-
DeAsia Paige/KANSAN For senior Jamie Treto, applying to law school has taken a toll on both her mental and physical health.
cess is hard, and you doubt yourself, and you criticize yourself, so there’s that aspect messing with your mind,” Nuñez Arroyo said. “Then there’s this notion that you could be a great applicant, but if your research isn’t focusing on research that the faculty is doing in that department, then you might not be accepted. So even before you get into graduate school, the whole process is really exhausting.” Jamie Treto, a senior who’s applying for law school, echoed Nuñez Arroyo’s sentiment about exhaustive graduate school applications. For Treto, achieving her goal of attending the University of California, Berkeley’s law program includes many nights of studying for the four-hour Law School Admission Test (LSAT), writing her personal statement, paying for applications fees and getting letters of recommendation. “There’s too much stress that’s kind of been all building up from normal classes and homework and having to prepare for the LSAT,” Treto said. “It’s just too much right now.” Treto, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, is a first-generation college student. She said she’s under a significant amount of pressure to make her parents proud by going to law school. “My parents didn’t even go to middle school,” Treto, who’s from Garden City, said. “They only went to sixth grade, so being first-generation, not wanting to disappoint my parents and trying to figure out how to pay for law school…is a lot for me right now.” For Treto and other students, the University offers resources to help balance stress. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides therapy appointments for $15 and psychiatric evaluations for $40.
Yet, even $15 can be too much. “When you’re in college, $15 is gas money or grocery money,” Treto said. Although Nuñez Arroyo is currently seeking help from CAPS, she had to pause her sessions to save money. But she’s finding other ways to cope with anxiety and loneliness. “When I feel those feelings coming, I know that I need to get out of my apartment,” she said.“I swim a lot now when I start getting those feelings. I’m getting better at doing that now. I think, before, I used to, like after something would happen, I wouldn’t eat or I would seclude myself. Now, when I feel it, I think about going to study at Watson [Library] or going somewhere where there are people.” CAPS social worker Sharee Mims said her office provides graduate student group therapy. CAPS also offered a dissertation distress group, but it’s not active this semester. Mims said the mental health issue for graduate students is very nuanced. “When you look at a traditional graduate student, they’re often times in a different phase of life,” Mims said. “There are different dynamics that are going on, and they may be under different forms of pressure, and they may have family systems that they are trying to care for. They may be responsible for their livelihood, from an economic standpoint, so working and attending graduate school poses a significant challenge.” Students interested in seeking mental health services on campus can either call CAPS at 785-8642277 or visit its office, which is located in room 2100 of Watkins Health Services at 1200 Schwegler Drive.