With a 48 percent increase in the number of students seeking counseling, Florida universities are asking for an additional $14.5 million in the coming budget year to hire more mental health professionals, including psychologists, counselors, psychiatric nurses and prevention specialists.
There has also been an increase in more severe cases, with campus counseling centers reporting 4,200 visits in the 2013-14 academic year that were classified as emergency or crisis visits, involving issues like severe depression, acute anxiety and suicidal thoughts. The counseling centers also reported 300 students had to be involuntarily hospitalized under the state’s Baker Act during that academic year.
Dr. Rebecca Kennedy, asst. vice president and director of the counseling center at the University of West Florida, was my guest yesterday on “Pensacola Speaks.” She talked about the how the UWF campus counseling tries to keep up with the increasing demand.