American University Office of Campus Life Angers Students With Email Regarding Mental Health

by Julia Ford

On Sunday afternoon, American University’s Office of Campus Life sent out an email to the student body attempting to address concerns over the mental health services provided by the university. 

In the email, Vice President of Campus Life & Inclusive Excellence Fanta Aw, cites a high rate of missed appointments as the primary cause of what many students view as weak and ineffective mental healthcare. “We ask that students please be mindful of the realities of scheduling and the needs of others by keeping appointments and providing notification well in advance if an appointment can’t be kept,” Aw said. 

High rates of missed appointments are frequent in many mental health services, and research generally points to the lack of flexibility of appointments, forgetting appointments, and unresolved clinical stigmas as the most common causes of this.

The email continues, “Around 20% of all appointments made at the Counseling Center this Fall were not attended. That number grows to 26.5% for initial consultations -- which is particularly impactful because, when students express concern it’s most often for an initial consultation.”

This rate of missed appointments seems representative of the percentage experienced across the mental healthcare field. One study found that the rate of missed mental health appointments in the general population to be 20%. A second study found that over a three month period, 27% of appointments were missed by the general public.

The counseling center closes at 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and is closed on the weekends. ‘Urgent care drop-in hours’ are provided from 2-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, but common class periods run from 12:55-2:10 p.m. and 2:30-3:45 p.m., making it difficult for some students to attend. Appointments at the counseling center must be made either by phone call or set up in person, and there is no way for students to set up an appointment online, even through the student health portal. The Counseling Center offers students up to 8 sessions of free counseling, often with a doctoral student that must record the sessions for their degree. 

In response to the email, AU College Democrats released a statement which in part read, "When you place the burden on people struggling with mental health problems rather than advocating for a system that supports us, you put our lives in danger.”