In last week’s issue, we published an editorial about the importance of being mentally fit and how to seek out help if you or someone you know is struggling with his or her mental health.
We would like to further that discussion this week with a follow-up editorial, to discuss some disturbing issues we came across when doing research about how to get mental help on this campus.
We encouraged students to make use of the counseling center’s website and use its page for help with a number of mental health issues, ranging from anorexia to suicide. What we found when we were browsing the counseling center’s page was not only very interesting, but a bit unsettling as well.
We looked along the left side of the website at the “Suicide Prevention” tab — underneath that tab is a “Forms” link.
Kyle Bailey / Photo Editor
Under that Forms tab we clicked on a link titled “Suicide referral information form.” We realized all visitors to this site were immediately brought to a page that says “404 Not Found.”
No matter how many times we tried to access this webpage we were brought back to the same blank screen — a blank screen that could prevent potentially suicidal people from getting the proper help they may have been finally courageous enough to seek.
This was a complete eye-opener for the executive board members at The Equinox. We struggled to understand why our school provides such an inadequate resource for something so important.
Many times, people who are feeling suicidal are lost and desperate.
The last thing they should have to deal with is a page error that prevents them from getting vital help. We began to question how much care and effort goes into the maintenance of this website.
This is when we noticed that many parts of it were long outdated. In fact, some features and links had not been updated since 2010 and 2011. We believe that with issues as serious as suicide, the college needs to be actively taking measures to ensure the student body is provided with top-notch outlets for help.
College can be an extremely difficult time for many. Stress is at an all-time high when people are underpaid and overworked. Many students are away from their homes and families, which also eventually takes a toll on their mental state.
Not to mention depression is higher in the winter months than during other times of the year.
The college needs to recognize this and needs to be actively seeking ways to improve the overall morale and mental health of its students.
We ask that the Counseling Center take better care of its website.
If it cannot provide the proper help for students who are battling suicidal thoughts, it should at the very least provide a hotline for suicide prevention loud and clear at the top of its website.
This is not simply about needy students demanding pointless changes — this is about life or death situations. This is about those people who have lost hope and are reaching out as a last resort.
We would like to think students can rest assured, knowing that they will be assisted with the best possible help the very moment they come forward and admit they are having suicidal thoughts.
The Equinox as a whole is not trying to blame or point fingers at the Counseling Center staff; we are sure they have been able to assist many students who have needed and sought help. However, we do believe they should be continuously seeking ways to make their online help, or any help, more accessible.
No student should feel as though their concerns cannot be heard because of technological difficulties. Attempts should be made to come up with a multitude of outlets for students who are battling any form of mental discomfort — to truly make sure they have help readily available for them.
Suicide is not to be taken lightly and we would like to fight for better resources on campus for struggling students.
The Equinox believes that all lives are valuable. Anyone who is struggling with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or any other mental discomfort here on campus should be able to feel confident in the school’s ability to help them get to a healthy place.
We hope to see a change in the website that could potentially save a Keene State College student’s life. Oftentimes students suffering from such mental discomfort are in a fight for their lives. We as The Equinox and we as Keene State College should seek to do everything in our power to allow the people around us to win that fight, and to live the happy and healthy lives they deserve to be living.