Panel: For UHS, What’s in a Name?

Mental health providers at Harvard face a dilemma and walk a fine line between being welcoming and appearing to take students’ problems seriously, University Provost Steven E. Hyman told students yesterday night.

The student Mental Health Advocacy and Awareness Group (MHAAG) organized a panel in Hillel last night to discuss the latest manifestation of this dilemma.

In October, University Health Services (UHS) floated the idea of renaming what is now Mental Health Services (MHS) at UHS Behavioral Health Services (BHS), and prompted a furious response from some quarters of the student body.

“Is BHS BS?” the panel asked.

Richard D. Kadison, Chief of Mental Health Services—although his nameplate read “Chief of MHS/BHS”—told the twenty attendees that he suggested the change in order to attract students who need support or counselling but believe the facilities at MHS are reserved for patients with diagnosed mental disorders. He added that he thought the word “behavioral” would make the department less daunting for students who feel that their lifestyle rather than a medical illness is responsible for their problems.

Susan I. Putnins ’08, MHAAG’s treasurer, argued against the new name, claiming it sounded more alienating than Mental Health Services. She said the term Behavioral Health means one thing to her: “correctional facility.”

Putnins also drew attention to the section of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Undergraduate Handbook entitled, “Consultations and Interventions for Behavioral Disturbances Due to Alcohol or Drug Abuse and Psychological Disorders,” which she said prejudices the term “behavioral health” and links it to the threat of punishment by the administration.

Although all the panelists said they thought that Harvard’s mental health services compared favorably with those of other Ivy League universities, due in large part to the appointment of Hyman, who is also Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, they said that the services were generally under-utilized.

Kadison cited a recent study which found 45 percent of one class had felt “so depressed it was difficult to function” during their time at Harvard; he said his own statistics showed that only 15 percent of students attended appointments at MHS in any year.

All the members of the panel said that, aside from rechristening, MHS should focus on making its services more accessible.

“Rather than lowering the name to meet the students, we should make students aware that the services are available,” Putnins said.

At the end of the discussion, members of the MHAAG board requested that attendees write suggestions for a new name for the department on an easel before leaving.