Health Center: Consultation Services

Some things to consider when you are trying to determine if someone may be having mental health difficulties :

• Look for a change from previous level of functioning.  
  
• Duration of the behavior change (i.e. more than just a bad day or a few “blue days” or worry associated with final exams).  
  
• Number of problems or concerns - Usually more than one or two problematic behaviors are present (i.e. when an individual is experiencing a depression, he/she may have a depressed mood in addition to disrupted sleep and lack of appetite).  
  
• Negative Consequences - The behavior change has led to impaired functioning in many life areas (friends, family, academics, extra-curricular activities).  
  
• If you are ever concerned about you or someone else, you can call the Health Center to schedule a consultation appointment with one of the counselors to talk about your concerns.
  
• Individual differences - Remain mindful of individual differences.  Because each individual is unique in how he/she experiences the world, two people dealing with the same condition (i.e. depression) can look very different in terms of their behavior.  Not only can they have different combinations of symptoms, they can experience their symptoms at varying levels of intensity and frequency.   
  
• Human diversity – Remain mindful of differences associated with diversity factors, but avoid generalizing about people who belong to the same group. Some diversity dimensions include ethnicity, economic status, disability status, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and developmental characteristics (i.e. adolescence vs. young adulthood).