Freshman year was turning out much differently than Christine, 18 at the time, had anticipated.
Away from her family and overwhelmed by courses that were far harder than she'd expected, the University of California student had begun sleeping in, missing classes and skipping meals. Then she received news from home: Her parents' business had gone bankrupt.
She told no one of the sadness engulfing her. But soon her dorm roommate noticed bloody cuts on Christine's arms. The two young women weren't particularly close, and the roommate said nothing to Christine. But she alerted their resident advisor, who confronted Christine about the cuts and her depression. In keeping with federal privacy laws -- and Christine's wishes -- her family was never notified.
"My resident advisor said I had to get help. I said OK, but I didn't want anyone in my family to find out," says Christine. "If I had ever thought my parents would know, I'm positive I wouldn't have gone to counseling."
Now, with the overall number of mentally ill college students rising, college administrators, mental-health professionals and students across the country are weighing that right to privacy against the need to assist those students who are deeply distressed or mentally ill.
Several recent high-profile cases have pitted parents against colleges that refused to divulge details of students' mental-health status. A federal lawmaker has introduced legislation that could pave the way for colleges and universities to more easily share information with family members. And the April 16 massacre at Virginia Tech has provided a real-life worst-case scenario for what can happen when students don't get appropriate help and information is not shared among college officials and the student's family.
In the months since student Seung-hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty and injured 17 others before fatally shooting himself, investigators have turned up many disturbing facts about the case -- facts that some mental-health experts, lawmakers and college administrators say warrant an urgent review of how mentally ill students are handled on college campuses.
Mental-health organizations and college administrators are now reviewing an investigative report ordered by the state of Virginia and released by the governor's office Thursday that describes how Cho -- who had been the subject of numerous complaints from students and faculty for his disturbing behavior -- failed to receive mental-health services that might have thwarted his rampage.
