ULifeline: Online Mental Health Resources For College Students
August 14, 2008 by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
In a couple of weeks, colleges and universities across the nation will be opening their doors for for students to begin attending fall semester classes.
If you’re like many traditional college students, you’ve probably started that budget balancing act to make sure books, clothes, and dorm room necessities are covered, figuring out which roommate’s going to bring which can’t-live-without appliance, and bookmarking Ramen noodle recipes.
And, if you’re like many nontraditional college students, you’ve probably started looking for reputable daycare and babysitters, juggling your work schedule around, and negotiating household chores with your spouse.
However, whether you’re a traditional and nontraditional student, you need to pay attention to your mental health. College is a stressful and often sleep-deprived time for everyone.
The combination of my demanding class schedule and hectic off campus life once reduced me to tears on the other side of my Head of Literature and Language Department’s desk.
Seriously.
The good news is that there are mental health resources available for college students. Aside from checking with your college or university student support office, you can make use of online mental health resources for college students like the one I stumbled upon the other day:
ULifeline provides an impressive number of mental health resources for students, including a self-evaluator tool, fact sheets about various mental health concerns, and suicide prevention information.
Check it out, spread the word, and if you know of any other good online mental health resources for college and university students, share ‘em in the comments!
Hi! I’m from The Jed Foundation, the organization that owns ULifeline.
Thanks for mentioning our resources! ULifeline also points students to their counseling center and other resources that are right in their neighborhood – over 1250 schools are listed with us.
I’d also like to share with you another online resource that we have with MTVU. Halfofus.com helps destigmatize mental health help seeking by sharing videos of well-known music artists and college students telling their story of struggling with emotional distress. You can watch Mary J. Blige, Pete Wentz of Fallout Boy, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and more talk about how they’ve coped with challenges to their mental well being.
And do feel free to contact me with comments or suggestions!
@ Anita – No problem! I love sharing mental health resources (especially those that are online, as they’re sometimes the only options consumers have or feel comfortable with), and as the fall semester is just around the corner, what better time?
Thanks for sharing the additional resource, I’ll check it out soon.