Anything bugging you recently? Perhaps it's too early to ask that question since we're just one week into the new semester. But even minor stressors may disrupt a well-kept daily schedule and cast a shadow over your bright mood in the long run. Meeting a professional counselor just seems like making a mountain out of a mole hill. Friends, on the other hand, are already too busy riding in the fast lane of college life. That is how SPILL, an e-mail-based peer listening group, came to fill the void. Although SPILL does not provide any forms of counseling services, it offers a novel approach to the mental health of college students.
Seeking help from SPILL is handy. Students can just send all of their complaints and frustrations in words to SPILL's e-mail address. Then, according to the organization, volunteer facilitators with similar experiences will respond within 24 hours. So far, SPILL has listened to most common issues that faced by college students: stress at school, alarming relationships, drug abuse, and of course, problems with binge drinking.
All these e-mail contacts are anonymous. Neither SPILL facilitators nor students would know who exactly they are talking to. This allows the issues sent to the facilitators to be the focus of the interaction. Mental health in colleges has become a wide concern in recent years. According to the American College Health Association in 2008, stress was the top health impediment to students' academic performance. Students may often find it uneasy to share their worries with people they already know, whereas anonymity creates more trust in the conversations between SPILL and UW students.
Moreover, e-mail-based communication is much more timely than other, more conventional confide-and-suggest dialogues you could have. Since SPILL usually sends your e-mail to three or four matching facilitators at the same time, you could hear feedback from multiple sources. The variety of opinions will definitely make it easier to come up with informed solutions.
Unlike most other listening-and-feedback practices, SPILL fosters invaluable empathy without encroaching upon privacy. Students frustrated with weight loss may offer great suggestions on issues like school performance. Looking at the big picture, the feedback e-mails you receive today might be incorporated into your peer advice for other UW students tomorrow. Beyond listening to daily gripes, SPILL is building more mutual care into our community.
Last fall, just two days into the semester, the organization already received 10 ""spillers."" Over 90 students are helping out as facilitators. The popularity of SPILL holds up a mirror to other mental health services available to college students. For example, the UHS provides free counseling services to UW students. But given the size of our student body, this area of the UHS is greatly understaffed. Two weeks' waiting time for an individual counseling appointment is common, and it only got worse when H1N1 hit the campus, clogging up their services. UHS already had the plan to expand its counseling team in late 2009, but no concrete steps have been taken so far. Even when they are lucky enough to talk with a counselor in time, many students do not find the ease they are struggling for. The official conversation contains much more serious diagnosis than compassion.
What about more moderate problems? Sometimes we just feel grumpy about our poor progress in class or earlier fights with best friends. Going to see a psychologist is just making a fuss. There are countless web sites telling people how to better manage their lives. Many of these are tailored for college students. But the sites mostly offer only general information about broad categories of issues. Students need compassionate and informative feedbacks to their specific cases. Who would bother to search through the gigantic lump of instructions on what to do about your mental health?
Granted, SPILL still faces the intricate question of how to bridge the gap between merely peer talk and professional counseling. But the refreshing experience it offers may inspire more outreach from mental health services to college students. All in all, we have got to smooth out the rumples in our life every now and then.
Qi Gu is a junior majoring in journalism. We welcome all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
