The Depression Center will host the nation’s leading conference on college mental health issues March 18-19, bringing together psychologists, doctors, nurses, counselors, researchers, administrators and students.
In the wake of the April 2007 tragedy on the campus of Virginia Tech, the conference has taken on a heightened significance.
Now more than ever, colleges and universities are developing comprehensive education, outreach and treatment programs to address the mental health needs of diverse student populations in order to provide a safe, supportive community for all.
The conference, now in its sixth year, will help institutions and attendees share information, review the latest research results, and learn about the “best practices” and model programs that have worked on other campuses.
The opening keynote speaker will be Dr. Richard Keeling, chairman of Keeling & Associates, an independent higher education consulting practice. He is former director of University Health Services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and of the Department of Student Health at the University of Virginia. His speech is titled “Remembered, if outlived: Transforming the experience of depression in college.”
The conference will close with another keynote address, “Protective factors to prevent depression in college,” by Dr. Carl Bell, president and CEO of Community Mental Health Council Inc. and a clinical professor of psychiatry and public health at the University of Illinois.
The conference will be held in the Rackham Graduate School; a full schedule is available at www.depressioncenter.org/docc.
Registration for nonstudents is $125 before March 1, and $140 afterward. Students may attend for free but must complete a registration form. Groups of five or more nonstudents registering together will receive a discount of $10 per registration before March 1. Registration includes continental breakfast on both days of the conference, and an afternoon reception on March 18.
Continuing education credits are available for physicians, psychologists, clinical social workers and certified counselors. The conference also will feature the presentation of the annual Student Mental Health Advocate Award, which recognizes outstanding student leadership in the area of campus mental health.
Research shows that the peak period for the onset of a person’s first depression symptoms begin in the early teens and continues through the mid-20s. Of the 19 million Americans who experience depression each year, many develop their first symptoms just before or during college.
Dr. John Greden, executive director of the Depression Center, says to counteract long-term consequences of clinical depression, bipolar and related disorders, “We must diagnose and treat earlier, and this annual conference helps us learn how to do that better.”
Many students arrive at college already diagnosed with depression — as many as 10 percent, according to a 2000 study from the American College Health Association. Many others who have depression arrive at college without having been diagnosed.
For more about the Depression Center, to read about all forms of depression and its treatment, or to take a free anonymous online screening test for depression, visit www.depressioncenter.org.
