You might have seen the posters around campus.
A pretty young woman sprawls on the grass with her laptop, smiling alluringly up at the camera. The large bold caption reads “There is a 60 percent chance she’s totally faking it.” Pretty clever way to catch your attention, but they’re not talking about what you think they’re talking about. She isn’t faking the beloved female orgasm. She’s faking happiness. The posters are advertising Mental Health Screening Day at UNM next Tuesday. I thought it was worth an article.
Nobody is 100 percent happy all the time. Fluctuation of feelings is as normal as variation in the weather. When something bad happens, you feel sad, angry or disappointed. When something good happens, you feel joy. Sorrow, bliss, fear, jealousy, pleasure, love, angst — emotions give our lives texture. Without them, it would be dullsville, and we would be much poorer characters. If the sky was always sunny, the land would dry up. On the other hand, just as flash floods can destroy the Earth, extremes of emotion and thought can be devastating.
So how do you know if your particular inner weather pattern is normal or not? It is very hard to see ourselves objectively. Just like we have trouble smelling our own breath, when we try to evaluate our own mental landscape the view is often skewed. It helps to have a neutral third party involved, which is where simple screening comes in.
Why should you consider getting screened? In addition to lacking an objective view, most of you are not yet fully developed between the ears. No offense intended: It’s a scientific fact. The brain does not reach full maturity until you have marinated it in your skull for about 25 years. This may be one reason many mental illnesses show up during the college years. One out of every four college students or adults suffers from a diagnosable mental illness, according to Therese J. Borchard, author of “Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression & Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes.”
The event next week focuses on five specific mental health diagnoses that are quite common: anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ll visit them each briefly here.
Do you worry excessively about everyday things? Or do you have panic attacks, with overwhelming fear and physical discomfort? You could have an anxiety disorder. Everyone gets anxious at times; it is a normal response to life’s stressors. But I’m talking about extremes. Anxiety disorders are very treatable with behavioral or medical intervention, but sadly only about a third of people who suffer get help.
Have you been very sad, with no energy and no interest in anything? You might have depression. According to the nonprofit organization Screening For Mental Health (SMH), “One out of four young adults will experience a depressive episode by age 24, and nearly half of all college students report feeling so depressed at some point in time that they have trouble functioning. If left untreated, depression can lead to suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for those aged 15-24 and the second leading cause of death of college students.”
If you have periods of depression alternating with periods of unnatural high, where you have boundless energy or do reckless things, you could have bipolar disorder. This may sound like fun, but believe me, it is not — neither for those who have it, nor for those around them. Bipolar disorder often begins in the late teens or early twenties and is highly treatable with medication.
Do you obsess about your weight or about food? Do you binge eat, starve or make yourself vomit? You might have an eating disorder.
You and 24 million other Americans. The SMH reports that 95 percent of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25, and that 25 percent of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a weight-management technique. These high numbers don’t make this normal. If you think this is you, find out more.
Last but far from least, did something really shocking happen in your life that continues to haunt you with flashbacks, nightmares, trouble sleeping or feeling detached from reality? These are some of the symptoms of PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. It can occur after military combat, natural disasters, serious accidents, personal assault or other traumatic events, and can be extremely disruptive and disturbing.
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If you see yourself in any of these descriptions, or if you just want to learn more, come on out for Mental Health Screening Day on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the main westside entrance of Student Health and Counseling. You can complete an anonymous questionnaire and have a chance to speak with a mental health professional if you choose. If you’d rather do this in the privacy of your own home, go to:
mentalhealthscreening.org/screening/newmexico for free anonymous online screening.
At any time, if you want help, call SHAC counseling services at (505) 277-4537 or come in to SHAC. We’re across from the SUB to the east, toward the mountains.
Peggy Spencer is a student-health physician. She is also the co-author of the book “50 ways to leave your 40s.” Email your questions directly to her at pspencer@unm.edu. All questions will be considered anonymous, and all questioners will remain anonymous.
