For many college students, stress and anxiety are major concerns. It’s something schools are working to address, and now in Tallahassee, they have a new potential partner--a student housing provider is working to create a living space aimed specifically at ramping down the anxiety level.
Maybe as long as there have been colleges and universities, the students at those institutions have found themselves feeling a lot of anxiety. Rebecca Whitfield, associate director of counseling and psychological services at Florida State University, says that hasn't changed much over the years.
"Students are reporting anxiety as their top presenting concern and that's been consistent for the past 10-plus years."
The demands of the classroom alone, she says, can be enough to trigger high stress levels among students.
"We're now in an environment where the educational requirements are even more rigorous. So these academic challenges can often contribute a lot to that anxiety."
She says moving away from home, relationship troubles and isolation caused by social media obsession are also factors.
Here's where we meet Harris Schwartzberg. He's the CEO of Two Bridge, the company that recently bought the GrandMarc student residence building near the corner of West Tennessee and West Brevard streets. What's different about THIS student housing, says Schwartzberg, is that the entire atmosphere of the place is focused on mental wellness. Even the building's artwork and video monitors will reinforce positive, uplifting messages.
"We came up with a commonsense approach after speaking to dozens of parents and students as to what's the biggest issue. The issue is not 'we need another tanning bed' or a new hot tub. The issue is mental wellness. The kids realize it and the parents, it's important to them, and it doesn't have to mean giving everyone a therapist."
Although he says the GrandMarc staff will work with the school's Counseling and Psychological Services to bring in therapists when they're needed.
"All of the staff is trained in mental health first aid. We'll have our psychological training that will be rolled out in the fall, which is online and available to all our residents. And our next conversation about that will be with the university to ask why they don't offer this to all the students at the university? Because it's entertaining, it's interesting and all it's teaching is empathy."
So, what does FSU Counselor Rebecca Whitfield think about having a student housing option that's focused on mental wellbeing?
"Having an environment where there's resources, information to help provide and connect to some tools, trauma and mental health informed staff who can help to make sure they're providing empathetic and active listening to really hear what they're asking, sharing and communicating so we can meet them where they are is certainly going to be beneficial."
Harris Schwartzberg says the concept has worked great at his collegiate alma mater, the University of Michigan. He’s thinks it will be interesting to see how it works in Tallahassee.
