When I arrived at Yale as a first-year in the fall of 2019, I had just had the traumatic experience of my sister being diagnosed with a serious illness. At Yale, I dealt with the anxiety and depression this reality had caused me by not talking about it and focusing on my transition to Yale. However, the mental and physical strain that finals week took on me, combined with my already existing need for mental health counseling led to an eruption of my stress and anxiety. I finally reached out to Yale Mental Health and Counseling for help at the end of the Fall Semester of 2019. I was told to reach back out to the office once we returned to campus in the Spring, which I did. After a few weeks of waiting, I was not able to make any of the times that the ‘therapist’ proposed for the meeting, and when I followed up proposing an alternate time, I never received a response. The lack of response made me feel that my situation was not important enough to warrant help; thus, I have continued to struggle silently. My initial hesitance coupled with the slow and then nonexistent responses of the office led me to never reach out again. I hope that Yale will actively encourage an environment that moves students to reach out before their situations reach a boil, and that when students do reach out, their needs are met in a timely and adequate manner.
Anonymous
