“I am already stressed about what my unpaid thesis work will take from my jobs and my classes. Without having to worry about work and money, I could put so much more of myself into my senior project. It would mean a lot to me to finish off my Yale career in the way I would choose if I truly had all the options.”

“I have been working at Yale since before classes started my first year. I spent Camp Yale scheduling job interviews, as my number one priority was to get an on-campus job. Going to this school would not have been possible unless I could make money. I felt lucky that I Read more…

“Given the fact that Yale is a predominately white institution, I think a lot of students of color would feel more comfortable talking to therapists of color.”

During my sophomore year, I remember asking my therapist for weekly instead of biweekly meetings, and because her schedule was so full with other patients she couldn’t meet with me every week. I think if Yale Mental Health had more therapists of color, specifically women of color, like the one Read more…

“Just like one wouldn’t make an appointment for an X-ray prior to breaking a bone, reaching out to MHC is not something one does in advance when one think’s they might need it in six months. It’s something one does when they are in need of immediate support from a professional.”

Lower therapy wait times are imperative because mental health affects every aspect of a person’s life. Bad mental health could negatively affect one’s mood and self-confidence, one’s friendships and relationships, one’s academic performance, one’s eating and exercising habits, and even one’s ability to get out of bed in the morning. Read more…

“Some people with money on campus will even go to private therapists because they don’t want to or can’t wait that long to see a therapist at Yale Mental Health; however, low-income students who cannot afford that are forced to wait, and it’s an unfair standard.”

I’ve had a lot of experience with mental illness; I have depression and anxiety, and I have been in an intensive outpatient program. I think it’s very important to have timely access to mental health professionals because in my experience, I didn’t want to get help until I was already Read more…

“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.”

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 Read more…

“Because I’m in a stable financial situation, I didn’t have the struggles that some of my friends did. It’s essential that Yale provides accessible mental health care to everyone so that everyone can get the support and care that they need.”

In many ways, COVID affected me a lot less than many other people. I was able to stay home after spring break and was also able to take in two friends of mine who didn’t have anywhere else to go and were turned away by Yale from staying on campus. Read more…

“Unless Black students have the means to grapple with the emotional and mental health tolls of the pandemic and the state sanctioned murders of people in our communities, campus will not be a safe place for us.”

I think it’s pretty clear that a return to campus will magnify the race and class divides that existed before the pandemic began. These divides will be structural and academic but they will also be interpersonal. Unless Black students have the means to grapple with the emotional and mental health Read more…

“First year pushed me to my mental and physical limits even as someone who didn’t have to work a job. The college transition is tough enough just taking classes, but with extra pressure created by the coronavirus and ongoing police violence, I know it must be even worse.”

“First year pushed me to my mental and physical limits even as someone who didn’t have to work a job. The college transition is tough enough just taking classes, but with extra pressure created by the coronavirus and ongoing police violence, I know it must be even worse. I believe Read more…

“Personally, after going to the intake appointment and having one follow-up appointment, the psychologist cancelled for multiple different reasons (sickness, lack of staff) seven different times, sometimes going five weeks without reaching out.”

Yale MH&C has proven to me time and time again that change is necessary in order for it to fulfill its mission of serving its community. Personally, after going to the intake appointment and having one follow-up appointment, the psychologist cancelled for multiple different reasons (sickness, lack of staff) seven Read more…