When J. Daniel Delgado '93 returned to Harvard after a semester away, he went to the Bureau of Study Counsel for academic advising even though he had "no real crisis."

"I knew that I'd be dealing with many of the same academic issues I faced before I took time off, and I wanted to get a handle on them," Delgado says.

The counseling he received there, Delgado says, helped him to find that handle. "It allowed me to focus on what interested me at school, to invest better emotionally in my work and to apply my energy in specific channels," he says.

Though few talk about it as openly as Delgado, many undergraduates seek counseling at one or more of Harvard's mental health care facilities during their years at the College.

"When students come to college, they're exposed to issues they hadn't dealt with before: separation issues, having to deal with a new environment, and individuation, forming your own priorities," says Dr. Randolph Catlin, chief of the University Health Services (UHS) mental health division.

These types of concerns are universal, says Charles P. Ducey, director of the Bureau of Study Counsel.

"I think all students, all of us, have natural emotional concerns about our lives in general, so I don't think of there being a segregated group of people with mental health disturbances," Ducey says.

"New experiences and demands... are generally challenging and exciting opportunities, but they can be difficult to bear sometimes," Ducey notes.

But being at a place like Harvard can have significant impact on how students deal with their concerns, says Catlin of UHS.

"I think there's a higher incidence of stress here. People here tend to see themselves as very competent, and it's hard for many to deal with the fact that they don't stand out any more," says Catlin.

"At Harvard, if you want something, you to go after it. This can cause people to feel very stressed," the psychiatrist adds.

Students at Harvard who seek counseling for their problems have several options. For professional counseling, they can go to Mental Health Services at University Health Services or the Bureau of Study Counsel.

For peer counseling, they can turn to groups like Room 13, Peer Contraceptive Counselors, Response, Eating Concerns Hotline and Outreach (ECHO) and Contact, depending on their particular concern.

Last year, close to 16,000 mental health visits were made to UHS, according to the division's annual report. Undergraduates made up 19 percent of the total, or about 3,000 visits.

At the Bureau of Study Counsel last year, nearly 700 students sought individual counseling.