What’s All The Hubbub?: Self-Evaluations on The McGill Mental Health Hub
This is Marty (left):
The semester is really getting into full swing. Second midterms are approaching and Marty just cannot keep up. He starts to slip up in his classes and before he knows it, they are piling on him and crushing him. Marty has been feeling a lot of pressure this year to live up to his dad’s standards and to be accepted into medical school to follow in his father’s footsteps after he graduates from McGill. The pressure gets so heavy that he shuts down. He can barely get out of bed, he’s eating frozen chicken nuggets every other day and pasta on the other every other day, and his grades are slipping lower and lower until he finally acknowledges, “I cannot go on like this”.
Having never had any mental illness issues before, he decides to search around and see what to make of his symptoms. He’s heard horror stories about how long it takes to get help at the McGill Mental Health Centre, and he’s not even sure his problems are severe enough to warrant the professional help they provide. He comes across a website, The McGill Mental Health Hub. He clicks on “Find Help”. Help was what he needed, after all. There it was, at the top of the page: “TAKE THE SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR MENTAL HEALTH”. Nothing had ever seemed so clear and simple, Marty felt. This was exactly what he was looking for!
This specific questionnaire is a combination of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), which is an easy test used to measure depression and anxiety, and the CAGE-AID, which measures substance use disorders. These are disorders that are most common in University populations. The website specifically tells Marty that this is not used to diagnose, but to help him figure out what help is available to him. And best of all, it is free!
Upon finishing the questionnaire, Marty is told immediately that he has “signs of low mood and anxiety”. It then recommends that Marty go to the McGill Mental Health Centre, Peer Support Centre, or a few other recommended options. It then gives Marty the option to look at a “self care” page or a “learn more” page to help fight the stigma against mental health and to help get the accurate information needed about his mental health, all in one place.
A university online one-stop mental health centre with self-evaluation, helpful resources, and self care tips is revolutionary. Not only are people getting the help they need, but they are getting this help efficiently, for free, and without judgement. Now Marty knows exactly whet to expect when he goes to the McGill Mental Health Centre, and he knows that the wait will be well worth his time. The self-evaluation on the McGill Mental Health Hub has told Marty that he may be experiencing difficulties in his mental health, and that his feelings are worth helping. In giving invaluable resources to students like Marty, McGill University is fighting the stigma one IP address at a time.
