Remember the time Ariana Grande
gave her fans $5 million in free therapy
? It felt like a fever dream. A Grammy-winning artist was offering free and accessible mental health support in front of my school and health care provider. \
Like many college students, I was burned out by back-to-back finals at the time and curious to see if the singer of
“Just Breathe”
it could actually help me breathe. Through weekly live video chats, my counselor and I were able to pin down and break down the sources of my daily stress and anxiety. Our conversations were flexible, non-judgmental and confidential. I could literally talk about anything that was on my mind and most importantly I felt heard.
I learned during my first trial of therapy that mental health care is not a transaction, but a partnership. I often experience a disconnect with counselors and health care providers from backgrounds different from my own. The intersection of my minority identities—Asian American, Hindu, and vegetarian—made it more difficult to communicate culturally specific stressors, such as experiences with racism, with my white therapist.
Addressing mental health issues for students of color
especially those from low-income and first-generation backgrounds, can be very challenging on college campuses.
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act,
chaired by Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy
, in law. Not only was this the first major gun safety legislation in decades, but it also reinvested in school-based mental health services. This includes a national expansion of behavioral health center models, integration of mental health services into Medicaid and CHIP, and improved training of providers in suicide, crisis, and trauma prevention.
The BSCA has also pledged
large funding packages
toward youth mental health such as $500 million to increase the number of qualified mental health providers, $500 million to diversify school counselors and psychologists, and $1 billion to improve student learning conditions. Expanding mental health care into the education sector is a promising goal, but funding alone cannot guarantee equitable care for marginalized student populations. Based on my personal experiences with mental health care as a student, I argue for a greater understanding of the social and cultural context among Connecticut policymakers before enabling appropriate behavioral and educational provisions.
With increased federal funding, the US Department of Education has recommended that states
learn from evidence-based research
, reduce absenteeism and improve continuity for children transitioning between primary and secondary education. This means there needs to be a greater effort on solutions to meet marginalized students where they are.
The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on pre-existing student mental health gaps, which are exacerbated by distance learning and increased social isolation. Connecticut students of color have encountered racial aggression throughout the pandemic, from
“Zoombomba” with racist insults
about hate speech on social media. A 2020 UConn Microaggression Survey reported this
50 percent of students felt isolated on campus because of their race, and 40 percent felt pressured to downplay elements of their racial identity
.
Racial hostility toward black students can have strong effects on their healthy eating, focus in class, and sense of safety. I recommend that within BSCA funding for Connecticut schools, a portion should fund qualitative research on the experiences of minority students. Data that capture the social and cultural underpinnings of mental health can inform the recruitment of a diverse workforce that adequately closes the gap.
Despite the bipartisan nature of the BSCA, calls to expand mental health care in schools have met with pushback from some Connecticut lawmakers regarding parental consent. Many Republicans have mentioned that parents often feel excluded from decisions about their child’s health. This has encouraged
changes that would automatically notify parents of their child’s mental health services
unless it would result in domestic violence.
Although parents may feel left out of their decision, these ideas can exacerbate the existing stigma around the child’s scary journey to seek help. Instead of introducing more legislative barriers, I believe we can expand BSCA’s impact by finding more allies at school for students of color. Implementing more evidence-based practices in school mental health counseling could help thousands of Connecticut students find a safe space and in the words of Ariana Grande, “just breathe.”
Mukund Desibhatla is a Master of Public Health candidate at the Yale School of Public Health.
