Tommies see rise in mental health cases, too

On Tuesday, MPR's Tim Post wrote about the increase mental health cases at campuses such as the University of Minnesota.

TommieMedia reports that the University of St. Thomas is having a similar experience:

“We’ve seen a rise in the severity in terms of depression and an increase in students who require hospitalization, require medication in general, and have more serious mental health issues in general such as bipolar disorder,”  (St. Thomas psychologist Debra) Broderick said.

...

During the 2009-2010 school year, 499 students visited Counseling Services for a total of 3,029 sessions. In the 1999-2000 school year, 358 students sought counseling for a total of 2,103 sessions. This 40 percent increase reflects national increases.

She echoes Post's reporting on one reason for the upswing:

“There is a whole generation of young people [who] are going to college who in the past wouldn’t be able to manage something like college because of these medicines,” (Broderick) said.

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