Mental Health Crisis Info

A Note To Families With A Mental Health Crisis:

Ask yourself this question: if my child broke their leg or couldn't breathe, would I hesitate to call for medical help? There are only 2 reasons we treat a mental health emergency any differently:

Reason 1: We're not sure if this situation is a "real emergency"

Reason 2: Stigma (this means the bad reputation and misunderstanding people have about mental health)

Not sure if there is an emergency? Please contact your campus social worker or counselor if you aren't sure what to do. We can help you assess the situation.

Our whole society promotes an ideology of mental health stigma. Need proof? Read this quote and then watch the speech it's from.

"It's the stigma inside of others, it's the shame, it's the embarrassment, it's the disapproving look on a friend's face, it's the whispers in the hallway that you're weak, it's the comments that you're crazy. That's what keeps you from getting help. That's what makes you hold it in and hide it. It's the stigma. So you hold it in and you hide it, and you hold it in and you hide it, and even though it's keeping you in bed every day and it's making your life feel empty no matter how much you try and fill it, you hide it, because the stigma in our society around depression is very real. It's very real, and if you think that it isn't, ask yourself this: Would you rather make your next Facebook status say you're having a tough time getting out of bed because you hurt your back or you're having a tough time getting out of bed every morning because you're depressed? That's the stigma, because unfortunately, we live in a world where if you break your arm, everyone runs over to sign your cast, but if you tell people you're depressed, everyone runs the other way. That's the stigma. We are so, so, so accepting of any body part breaking down other than our brains. And that's ignorance. That's pure ignorance, and that ignorance has created a world that doesn't understand depression, that doesn't understand mental health. And that's ironic to me, because depression is one of the best documented problems we have in the world, yet it's one of the least discussed. We just push it aside and put it in a corner and pretend it's not there and hope it'll fix itself." - Kevin Breel

Watch the whole TED Talk

School Point of Contact:

Your son or daughter's school counselor or social worker can help by being a confidential point of contact between the school, your home, and the hospital. We can contact your child's teacher(s) in a manner which respects your family's wishes and also helps the teachers collect any missed work for your child. We can be in contact with your child's inpatient hospital to coordinate care with their team of professionals.

Transition Plan:

We can help create a plan to help your child transition smoothly back into the school environment. This will include a plan to ensure your child's safety while at school. It will also include a discussion about how the child wishes to handle talking to friends and staff about why they were away from school.

Aftercare Plan:

We will work with your family and the inpatient hospital to set up mental health services and support networks to prevent another mental health crisis in the future.