College counseling

The Missourian ran this piece on Monday. It's about an increase in the number of students seeking treatment for things like anxiety, stress and depression. I'm not surprised. I've had a lot of people tell me that they go to or used to go to counseling. I know most of the cases were related to depression, although there were also things attached to that depression that have been helped by the counseling. It surprises me a little when I hear them discuss things that they've talked about with their counselor, but I don't really know why. I think, in that way, I reflect the general population. It seems that, although counseling is probably more common than ever, people don't talk about it. It's taboo, and from my experience, it's more so than even depression. Actually, that may not be true. It's just mental health in general that's not discussed. The thing is, though, that mental issues are so common. All of those people that told me they've seen counselors told me that they were depressed, and that they knew other people who were depressed. I found these things out only after telling personal information. You never hear people talk about things like depression in a setting that does not ensure confidentiality. I suppose there are reasons for that, like it's too hard to discuss because...why? What about mental health is so hard to bring up? Is it just that it brings out things about ourselves we'd like to forget? Or is there more to it than that? We need to get over it, though. It's important to talk about these things, so that those suffering can be shown or reminded that they're not the only ones feeling "crazy." Thanks to Cindy and others for breaking the silence by sharing some of their thoughts.