by Anonymous
Poor mental health is surging, especially among college students. Poor mental health seems to be a hallmark of the Penn experience as we’ve been ranked as one of the worst colleges in terms of mental health. Penn breeds a culture of toxic ambition and perfection, as a commonly held belief among Penn students is an expectation to succeed, manifesting from an endless list of LinkedIn brag posts to students’ failure to be candid about inevitable struggles with their academic, social, or personal lives. This pressure to appear perfect and the “fear of being honest and showing vulnerability” is widely labeled among the Penn community as “Penn Face.” While the term and phenomenon are acknowledged, students continue to feel isolated, indicating that the issue still stands. While we at the Disorientation Guide are not mental health professionals, we’d like to share some of our experiences to help you navigate taking care of your mental health at Penn.
Our administrators have also acknowledged this “pressure of perfection,” but have done seemingly little to fix the issue. Penn’s mental health services — Student Health and Counseling (CAPS) — has garnered a number of dissatisfied reviews from students (see: Students Experiences with Confidential Resources).
There are a wide variety of student experiences regarding CAPS. While some may be able to schedule an appointment within a few days, others have had to wait weeks for their intake appointment. Additionally, students might not be matched with the best therapist for their needs, as their counselor might specialize in something completely different from what a student may be experiencing.
One student reported that their therapist made them feel unwanted by focusing more on planning a final session and transitioning to long-term therapy, whereas others felt satisfied with the therapist they were matched with. While not getting to choose your own therapist can help those who are just starting to take therapy feel less overwhelmed, random therapist assignments can cause students to be matched with a therapist who isn’t suited for their needs.
With long waitlists that sometimes make students wait a month to receive mental health care, Penn’s mental health services suffer from underfunding and poor morale. Given the general stigma that CAPS is not helpful, many students have shied away from reaching out to the free service. Many wait until they are in a crisis situation or until close friends intervene instead of going when they first need it, elongating the time when a student does not receive proper care. Because of this, the combined storm of Penn Face and isolation, as well as CAPS’ unreliability, has severely stunted the mental health of many Penn students across the board.
At a predominantly white institution (PWI), students of color have born the brunt end of the stick. Across several interviews, students of color have stated that they have often felt uncared for by Penn administration. For instance, Penn’s administration has located the Asian, Black, and Hispanic cultural centers in a small basement in the ARCH Building, instead of granting them their own spaces on Locust Walk. Granted, cultural houses do receive some funding from Penn, but in order to feel fully supported, a more developed space would allow for cultural centers to host more frequent and larger community-based events and reduce students’ feelings of isolation.
The combination of the pressure to be perfect, an unreliable mental health service, and Penn’s overall failure to support students have led to the current poor mental health of Penn’s student body. Exemplified by a series of campus suicides and a number of student testimonials, it is clear that Penn’s supposed commitment to mental health improvement lacks subsequent concrete action.
This is not to say that all of Penn’s support systems are horrible and to discourage students from seeking help. While many students have dealt with poor mental health related to Penn, it can dramatically improve, even while still in school. A major solution that many have found is joining a community of like-minded and supportive individuals. Granted, this is often more difficult for students of color at a PWI, but it’s not impossible.
While CAPS has its flaws, they are still professionals who can help you. CAPS offers late-night call services as well as in-person and virtual appointments. Although they are not a long-term solution, they can provide immediate crisis support, short-term therapy, and guidance for seeking external mental health help. They can serve as a starting line for the often daunting task of finding a therapist. Students should still utilize CAPS if they need help, but be mindful of the fact that with the funding and resources CAPS has, they may be limited in the amount of help they receive. As an alternative, CAPS offers referral services for folks who want long-term therapy or simply do not want a CAPS therapist.
Aside from that, there are students who truly care. There’s an entire community of like-minded individuals hoping to tear down this culture of perfection and provide a space for students who need mental, emotional, and social support.
Penn Benjamins offers peer counseling where other Penn students will sit with you, hold space for you, and hear your thoughts. PennReflect hosts roundtables and forums for students to speak and reflect honestly about life at Penn. Penn Reach-a-Peer (RAPLINE) offers call and text services at (215) 515-7332, where students can talk to other students in a near instant when they are feeling down, or just need someone to talk to.
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