Center offers help for stress Stressed students start year

While some college students welcome the start of the new school year, others experience an overwhelming amount of stress.

The New York Times recently reported that “80 percent of campuses have noted significant increases in serious psychological problems, including severe stress, depression, anxiety and panic attacks.” The information comes from an annual survey of counseling centers by Dr. Robert Gallagher of the University of Pittsburgh.

The problems may result from family problems, lack of friends, relationship woes, rejection from fraternity or sorority life, the anticipation of the upcoming school year or the fear of never being able to pay back college loans.

At the MU Counseling Center, psychologist Amy Bowers Eberz said she deals with a wide range of problems among undergraduate and graduate students. Students see her at the beginning of the school year for different reasons, she said.

“We absolutely see students with a variety of mental concerns that are academically related, or transitions of coming back to the university or those that transfer students face,” Bowers Eberz said.

The Counseling Center provides free services for students, including outreach sessions at campus welcome events and group meetings, according to its Web site. Crisis intervention, biofeedback, stress management and individual, couples and group counseling are also available. The Counseling Center ensures that all information is kept confidential, Bowers said. The phone number for the MU Counseling Center is 882-6601.