A Growing Challenge

Jon was taking an EMT class at BU two summers ago, when “I could suddenly feel my own heartbeat. I could feel it,” he says. “It was really weird. For some reason I kept focusing on it, and it seemed to be just pounding out of my chest.”

Pain in his left arm followed. The SAR physiology student (he didn’t want his last name used) wondered if he was having a heart attack. But Jon was young and healthy, and the symptoms abated when he got home. When they returned a week later, his father took him to a local hospital. Nothing was wrong, he was told. Then it happened again.....

....At BU, the number of students coming to Behavioral Medicine in crisis has more than doubled in the last four years, from 647 in 2014–2015 to 906 last year, a 40 percent increase. Last year, 134 students were transported to hospitals for psychiatric evaluation after reporting suicidal thoughts, attempting suicide, or being in the grip of mania or psychosis. That number is up from the 120 medical transports in 2014-2015.

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Bethany`s Notes
Notes: This series was published last year in the fall. The numbers have been updated to show the seriousness of mental health concerns, especially for students at the college level. If something doesn`t feel right and you need help do not be afraid to ask for it.