TIPS FOR RECOGNIZING AND DEALING WITH STUDENTS IN EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

Faculty as Helping Resources for Students

University students typically encounter a great deal of stress (i.e. academic, social, family, work, financial) during the course of their educational experience. While most students cope successfully with the demands of college life, for some the pressures can become overwhelming and unmanageable. Students in difficulty have a number of resources available to them. These include close friends, relative, clergy, and coaches. In fact, anyone who is seen as caring and trustworthy may be a potential resource in time of trouble.

We believe there is a powerful rationale for faculty members to intervene when they encounter distressed students: the inability to cope effectively with emotional stress poses a serious threat to students' learning ability. As a faculty member, your expression of interest and concern may be a critical factor in helping a struggling student reestablish the emotional equilibrium necessary for academic survival and success.

Your willingness to respond to students in distress will undoubtedly be influenced by your personal style and your particular philosophy about the limits of a professor's responsibility for helping students grow, emotionally as well as intellectually. Obviously, a student's openness to assistance and such situational factors as class size, length and depth of your relationship, and the location of the contact, may have a substantial effect on the type of interactions you can have with a student.

We hope this brochure will not only help you assess what can sometimes be difficult situations, but give you some specific ideas about what you can do when confronted with a student who is in distress.

Recognizing Troubled Students

At one time or another, everyone feels depressed or upset. But we can identify three general levels of student distress which, when present over a period of time, suggest that the problems the person is dealing with are more than the “normal“ ones.

Level 1 These behaviors, although not disruptive to others in your class, may indicate that something is wrong and that help may be needed:

• serious grade problems or a change from consistently good grades to unaccountably poor performance.
• excessive absences, especially if the student had previously demonstrated good, consistence class attendance.
• unusual or markedly changed patterns of interaction, i.e. totally avoiding participation, becoming excessively anxious when called upon, dominating discussions, etc.
• other characteristics that suggest the student is having trouble managing stress successfully include a depressed, lethargic mood, being excessively active or talkative (very rapid speech), swollen, red eyes, marked change in personal dress and hygiene, sweaty (when the room is not hot), and falling asleep in class.

Level 2 These behaviors may indicate significant emotional distress, but also a reluctance or inability to acknowledge a need for more personal help:

• repeated requests for special consideration, such as deadline extensions, especially if the student appears uncomfortable or highly emotional disclosing the circumstances prompting the request.
• new or regularly occurring behavior which pushes the limits of decorum and which interferes with the effective management of your class.
• unusual or exaggerated emotional response to situations.

Level 3 These behaviors are obviously inappropriate and indicate a need for emergency intervention:

• highly disruptive behavior (hostile, aggressive, violent, etc.)
• inability to communicate clearly (garbled, slurred speech, unconnected or disjointed thoughts).
• loss of contact with reality (seeing/hearing things which “aren't there,“ beliefs or actions greatly at odds with reality or probability).
• overtly suicidal thoughts (referring to suicide as a current option)
• homicidal thoughts

What Can You Do?

Level 3 problems are the easiest to identify. If you encounter a crisis situation, you may call Department of Public Safety at 911 or 752-1230 or bring the student to CAPS or Student Health Center. You may also call CAPS first at 752-0871 for consultation with the psychologist on duty.

In dealing with a student who shows Level 1 or Level 2 behavior, you have several choices. You can choose to not deal with it at all, deal directly with the request or disruptive behavior in a way that limits your interaction to the classroom issue, or you can deal with the situation on a more personal level.

If you choose to approach a student you're concerned about or if a student seeks you out for help with personal problems, here are some suggestions that might make the opportunity more comfortable for you and helpful for the student.

• Talk to the student in private when both of you have time and are not rushed or preoccupied.
• Give the student your undivided attention. It is possible that just a few minutes of effective listening on your part may be enough to help the student feel comfortable about what to do next.
• If you have initiated the contact, express your concern in behavioral, nonjudgmental terms (e.g. “I've noticed you've been absent from class lately and I'm concerned,“ rather than “Where have you been lately? Goofing off again?”)
• Listen to thoughts and feelings in a sensitive, non-threatening way. Communicate understanding by repeating back the gist of what the student has told you. Try to include both the content and feelings (“It sounds like you're not accustomed to such a big campus and you're feeling left out of things.”) Let the student talk. Avoid judging, evaluating, and criticizing unless the student specifically asks for your opinion. Such behavior is apt to close the student off from you and from getting the help needed. It is important to respect the student's value system, even if you don't agree with it.
• Work with the student to clarify the costs and benefits of each option for handling the problems from the student's point of view.

When Should You Make a Referral?

Even though a student asks for help with a problem and you are willing to help, there are circumstances that may indicate that you should suggest that the student use another resource. For example: the problem or request for information is one you know you can't handle...you believe that personality differences will interfere with your ability to help...you know the student personally (as a friend, neighbor, friend of a friend) and think you could not be objective enough to really help...the student acknowledges the problem but is reluctant to discuss it with you...after working with a student for some time you find that little progress has been made and you don't know how to proceed...you are feeling overwhelmed, pressed for time, or otherwise at a high level of stress yourself.

Make a Referral

Some people accept a referral for professional help more easily than others. It is usually best to be frank with a student about the limits of your ability to assist them--limits of time, energy, training, and objectivity. It is often reassuring to a student to hear that you respect their willingness to talk to you and that you want to support them in getting the assistance they need. Confused students may be comforted to know that they don't necessarily have to know what's wrong before they ask for help.

Assure them that seeking help doesn't necessarily mean that they have serious problems. It is possible that their concern is one of the common reasons that college students seek the help of another person. Let them know that counseling services are free and confidential.

If a brief assessment session from CAPS Staff is warranted, you can either bring the student to the Center or ask the student to come to the Center on their own or with a friend. They will have to complete some brief paperwork before seeing a staff psychologist. The student can either see the crisis counselor that day or obtain a scheduled appointment for a one-hour meeting. The staff psychologist will assess the student's needs and recommend Center services or referral to other appropriate agencies. A staff psychologist is available from 8:00 to 5:00 Monday-Friday to provide assessment and crisis counseling for students and to provide consultation with faculty. If you have concerns during non-business hours, you may contact the Department of Public Safety at (530) 752-1230 and if they decide that CAPS staff should be involved, they will contact Center personnel.