Hailey Kim, who came from South Korea to study pharmacy at Rutgers University's campus in New Brunswick, found herself at the entrance of the school's mental health center, terrified of going in or walking away.
She was in her sophomore year, her mother back in Seoul was ill, her father had lost his job and she was depressed and having panic attacks so severe that she went to the emergency room for chest pains.
海莉．金來自南韓，在「羅格斯大學」的新布倫威克校園攻讀藥劑學，她發現自己站在學校的心理衛生中心門前，既怕走進去，也怕走開。
她目前讀大二，在首爾的母親病了，父親也失業在家，她心情沮喪，且幾度恐慌發作，嚴重到得去急診室，因胸痛就診。
"I was hesitating right in front of the door," said Kim, 20. But she went through because, "I was desperate for help."
It is not new that the number of college students who say they are facing mental- and emotional-health troubles has been steadily growing. What is new is that colleges and universities are increasingly focused on trying to understand, through rigorous research, what interventions work best and for the broadest swath of students.
20歲的金說：「我就在門前猶豫著。」不過，她最後還是走了進去，因為「我迫切需要協助」。
表示自己面臨心理和情緒健康問題的大學生人數持續增加，這不是新鮮事。新鮮的是，美國的學院和大學日益著力於設法瞭解，而且是透過嚴謹的研究，哪些干預措施對學生最為有效，且適合最廣泛、最多的學生。
"The fact that students are struggling with anxiety and depression is real," said Thomas C. Shandley, dean of students for Davidson College in North Carolina. "It took a while to reach college campuses, and now it's here."
According to the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute annual freshman survey, conducted since 1966, a record high of 11.9 percent of the students in the 2016 incoming class reported "frequently" feeling depressed in the past year, and 13.9 percent said "there was a very good chance they would seek personal counseling in college." And for the first time in the survey's history, less than half (47 percent) consider their mental health to be above average relative to their peers.
北卡羅來納州大衛森學院訓導長湯瑪斯．尚德利說：「學生在焦慮和憂鬱之間掙扎是真的。它花了一段時間才進入大學校園，現在它就在這裡。」
洛杉磯加大高等教育研究所從1966年開始進行年度新生調查，根據調查結果，2016年入學班學生中，有11.9%表示過去一年中他們「經常」感到沮喪，是歷來新高，另有13.9%的學生說，「他們很可能會在大學裡尋求個人諮詢」。同時這項調查也首次顯示，認為自己心理健康狀況高於同儕平均水準的學生不到一半（僅占47%）。
In addition, the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Penn State, which annually reports on college students receiving mental health services, found that the number who have purposely injured themselves (for instance, by cutting themselves) rose steadily to almost 26 percent in the 2015-16 school year, from 21.8 percent in 2010-11. The same upward trend was true of those who seriously considered attempting suicide — rising to 33.2 percent, up from 23.8 percent, over the same period.
A common narrative is that too many students, especially those at elite universities, are coddled products of helicopter parents who run to counselors at the first obstacle. Particularly in affluent areas, said Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of "How to Raise an Adult," too many parents have tried to ensure that their children never run up against failure or obstacles.
"We've enriched the hell out of them," she said. "They're hardworking, but their childhood has not helped them build coping skills."
此外，每年就大學生接受心理健康服務狀況提出報告的賓州州立大學發現，曾經自殘（如割傷自己）的學生人數逐學年上升，2015-16學年度達到將近26%，反觀2010-11學年度僅21.8%。同樣呈現上升趨勢的是認真動過自殺念頭的學生人數，同一時期從23.8%升至33.2%。
一個常見的說法是，有太多學生，尤其是精英大學的學生，是直升機父母溺愛下的產物，這些父母從遇到第一個障礙就會去找人諮商以解決問題。「如何培養成人」一書作者茱莉．李斯科特─海姆斯說，特別是富裕地區，有太多父母試圖確保他們的孩子從來不會遭遇失敗或障礙。
她說：「我們給他們太多了。他們很勤學，但是他們的童年並未能協助他們建立適應技能。」
說文解字看新聞
文/王麗娟
文章從一名大學生的憂鬱症（depression）談起，再提及直升機父母（helicopter parent）可能是導致這些大學生適應技能（coping skill）欠缺，較無法應付壓力的原因之一。
depression一般指心情沮喪，意氣消沉，在病理上，則稱為憂鬱症。憂鬱症與躁鬱症（bipolar disorder） 並不相同， 躁鬱症是重度憂鬱症之外，加上有躁症發作的疾病，兩者不能混為一談。
所謂的直升機父母（ helicopter parent），則是指過度關切子女每一個經驗和問題的父母，這些家長宛如直升機，盤旋在子女上方，隨時空降介入、照顧和保護子女，替子女解決問題。 文章稱這些父母會run to counselors，找顧問或輔導員尋求協助，run to someone 意為找上某人尋求協助，或是告訴某人某些事情。
We've enriched the hell out of them.指的是父母讓子女無所缺乏，十分充足。其中the hell out of意為「非常、很」，與You scared the hell out of me!（你嚇壞我了）用法相同。
沒有留言:
張貼留言