TW: Suicide, mentalism, depression (in the link provided).
I would like to dedicate this post to the ongoing conversation coming out of the suicide of Yale student. She committed suicide because her psychological disorders and adaption to her medication were putting her in the position where she would need to withdraw from Yale. However, this meant she may not have been able to go back to school due to bureaucratic, financial and discrimination issues. Please see this article for more on the story.
The article demonstrates and talks about the issue better than I can but I want to just point out a few key things in relation to how medical withdrawal/re-admittance policies in universities need to be re-evaluated.
- The language – is the language dehumanizing or marginalizing of the individual? Is there vitvim blaming? Is there erasure of agency?
- The financial procedure – are individuals able to be protected financially for withdrawing? Are scholarships lost upon temporary withdrawal? Are counseling services provided free? Does the student have to pay an application fee for re-entry?
- Whose needs are met – is the priority on the student’s health or the consequences for the university? Does the student get a choice of how and when to withdraw? Is the student given special resources and support to re-apply when able to?
Those are just some starting points to think about. But in the greater picture, these things help direct how much mental health is stigmatized, how comfortable students feel getting help when needed and how many students are able to finish college.
