By: Anna Shamory Summarization
The deliberation titled “Mental Health: The Invisible Illness” centered around three key approaches. The afternoon started off with an introduction of the team members and a welcome to the deliberation. Their introductory statement began with a powerful statistic: Thirty-three percent of students reported feeling so depressed within the previous twelve months it was difficult to function. This fact helps to relate mental illness as a significant problem in young adults, and rid the stigma that those with mental illnesses face. Then, they asked personal stake questions such as how many people knew someone with a mental illness and/or themselves had a mental illness. Nearly everyone, if not all, raised a hand. Next, the large group was divided into three smaller groups to rotate discussing their three approaches to the solution: enhancing education, accessibility to treatment, and affordability for treatment. For the first approach, enhancing education, the main points formulated were increasing mental health/illness education earlier (such as elementary/middle school) and one participant even suggested publishing children’s books to normalize mental illness; have more programs for bystander education so they know the signs to watch out for others who need help; educate correct language to use; and more awareness for mental illness, for example many PSU students do not know about CAPS, Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, on campus. The overarching idea was increasing educational awareness leads to decreasing the stigma around mental illnesses. The second approach, accessibility to treatment, led to discussion about CAPS on our campus. We learned that CAPS only provide 6 free counseling sessions, has long wait times, and does not provide for prolonged illness. Possible solutions discussed were messaging services for students to psychiatrists, extra staffing of CAPS, possibly free college students group counseling together, and bring more awareness to this issue through walks for mental health awareness, PSU stall stories, flyers, etc that lead to more accessibility for students. The third approach, affordability for treatment, focused on insurance inclusion and increased affordability of college services. It was discussed that yes insurance policies need to have coverage for mental illness treatments but to the extent of coverage is had to decide. And universities should make treatments more affordable, such as the currently proposed $10 addition to PSU activity fee to extend CAPS. Another main point was that stigma causes financial burden, that society sees physical injury as a higher need than mental illness. At the end the groups came together to go over what we all had discussed and thought about. An overarching theme was how stigma affects all of the interconnecting approaches, and what should ultimately be done to end that stigma. Need to know resources and guidance for further action/involvement were provided. Analysis/Reflection I learned important knowledge to become a better moderator from the execution of this deliberation. The structure of the event was effective: starting in a large group to discuss personal stakes and the issue in general, then small groups for the three approaches, and then gathering as a large group again for the conclusion. In specifics, the three small groups allowed for easier and more comfortable conversation. As a future moderator, I learned that the rotation of the moderators left a clear distinction between the three approaches, which helped center the discussions. I also learned that for the provoking questions, it’s good to have ideas to prompt initial discussion if the no one speaks up. Additionally, the three approaches left more of an impact as participant because they were related back to my own community here at Penn State. The issues become more real this way, so to become a better moderator I need to leave the impact that these issues are intrinsically important. The key issues discussed and raised flowed together very well. Each of the three were distinct enough that numerous different solutions could be discussed. But all three approaches still interconnected enough so the issue was seen as multifaceted and that there are many ways and solutions to the issue. Again, the approaches connected back to our own community that increased thinking of community involvement and aide.
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