“[You can] get counseling yourself,” said Lamberth. “It is tremendously difficult to support someone.”
Renna urged friends or roommates to recognize their own limits.
“Don’t try to be in control of things you can’t be in control of,” she said.
They also recommended ways for friends to approach someone they suspect may be suffering from mental health problems.
“Ask out of sympathy and curiosity,” said Renna, to avoid putting them on the defensive.
A possible approach, she said, would be to say, “I’m concerned about you, and I don’t know what to do.”
Lamberth suggested seeking support from others.
“Talk to someone in the community about what you’re worried about,” she said. “It’s important to not be alone with your worries.”
Both also suggested using resources such as the Bureau of Study Counsel and University Health Services.
Panelists and audience members alike recognized the prevalence of mental health issues at Harvard.
“The pressure of being here, of grades and performance, are intimately linked,” said Lamberth.
And the experience of failure, she said, is something “that continues to be a haunting fear and can lead to tremendous depression.”
However, Lamberth said discussions about mental health have become more common at Harvard.
Students attending the panel said they were glad to have the opportunity to talk about mental health issues openly.
“I thought it was good to hear things that people don’t normally discuss,” said A. Eleanor Luey ’03.
“These are things that a lot of people feel,” said Andrew L. Kalloch, ‘06. “The more people come together and talk about these things, the better the treatment will be.”
The event was sponsored by MHAAG in conjunction with Caring For the Harvard Community, a University-wide program promoting wellness.
MHAAG leaders said they hoped the event would help others at Harvard better understand their group’s purpose.
“We didn’t want to be a group only about people who have mental illness, but a group that helps people who do,” said Caitlin E. Stork, ’04, director of the group.