Students Shouldn’t Have To Wait To Get Help

I’m not ashamed of telling people that I have anxiety. I realized at this point in my life it isn’t right for me, my friends, or my family to deal with my emotional bouts and fits of irrationality.

At the suggestion of a friend, I decided to see a counselor at Single Stop, a non-profit organization partnered with Miami Dade College to provide students with benefits such as financial counseling, legal referrals, tax preparation, and other services. There I was told that my name would be placed on a wait list because the counselor only comes on Fridays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at North Campus, and that it could take weeks to months to actually get help.

I left feeling even more helpless than before. Weeks to months? I was in no emotional state to need urgent attention, but neither was I in shape to wait that long to get help with my issues.

The counseling is free at Single Stop, but to be put on a waiting list for a counselor that only comes on Fridays between the hours of  10 am and 4 pm, and to wait until an available position opened up was not and should not be an option for anyone suffering from any mental illness.  

I’m not blaming Single Stop  because they are providing much needed services but there has to be other options.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), roughly one in five American adults will experience mental illness in a given year.

I sat with friends to find another way to get help. The issue is, not all students have the funds, transportation, or the time to get to counseling: Single Stop is many MDC students’ only option.

Seven percent of college students have seriously considered suicide during the past year, while suicide remains the third leading cause of death on college campuses, according to NAMI.

Single Stop should not be Miami Dade College student’s only option. Schools such as, University of Miami, offer Institute For Individual and Family Counseling, which allows graduate students in the field of Psychology to get hands on experience in diagnosing and treating people with mental disorders.

MDC should partner with Florida International University to place their graduate students in counseling programs here, to give their graduate students the same hands on experience, as well as help MDC students who feel overwhelmed with whatever issues going on in their lives.

Until then, I will be waiting to see a counselor, just like dozens of other overwhelmed students. Do  not be ashamed to get help, because you aren’t alone. The fact that we as MDC students have the option to use Single Stop to get help is great,  but t’s just not enough for everyone.

If you or someone you know needs help please call the National Suicide Prevention lifeline: 800-273-8255 (TALK) or 800-784-2433 (SUICIDE)