In which Silvergirl settles into obscurity
They published my open letter to the Dean of Admissions (about the Newsweek article) in the student newspaper, but the webpage is all buggy and you can't see that issue. Reprinted here for your viewing pleasure, in the form in which it was published.
Dear Ms. Jones,
I read your statement in Newsweek in an article relating to mental health issues on university campuses. You don’t seem to understand mental illness very well, and I would like to take this opportunity to tell you some things I hope you will take into account when considering potential students.
First of all, the main kind of mental illness you deal with as a university is depression. Depression has reached epidemic rates and is now one of the top causes of death among 19-24 year olds. To me, this indicates that the problem lies not with the individual students, but in the society that surrounds them. Realizing this, perhaps the answer lies not in excluding these students from the applicant pool, but in reworking the mental health services at MIT and the general atmosphere that students live in.
Depression is an episodic disease. People suffering from depression are not constantly depressed any more than people with heart disease are constantly in cardiac arrest. During the remission times, these people can function just as highly as anyone else. I am sure that you would never keep a deserving student out of MIT because of a condition that will only flare up occasionally. After all, students who have other medical problems face the same issues, and I know that MIT does not discriminate against them. I see the many walkways and elevators around the MIT campus and so I assume that MIT is diligent about being in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on medical conditions.
Depression is also not simply a reaction to stress. People suffering from depression will not simply "crumble the first time they do poorly on a test,” as you are quoted as saying in Newsweek. If given the proper care, they will respond to stress quite healthily. Therapists can remind students of all the options they have and put the bad grade in perspective for them. Students in therapy are also already more accustomed to reaching out for help when they are in trouble, and so they likely are more able to take advantage of the many academic support structures in place at MIT.
Being on medication is also not an indication of an inability to deal with the world. The medication is helping these students do just that. While I absolutely agree that all students should be warned of the high stress environment of MIT, I believe it is up to the student to make a decision as to whether or not this school is the right one for him. Your statement also creates the image that MIT discriminates against students who do take medication, a dangerous image to propagate.
Many people with mental problems still do outstanding research. One such case is John Nash, the Nobel Prize winner featured in the movie “A Beautiful Mind”, who battled schizophrenia. I would hate to think that people like this, with such potential to offer the world, would be passed over by MIT because of a disability.
Given the large numbers of people suffering from depression and other mental illnesses and the terrible reality of suicide if the disease is left untreated, I think that MIT and institutions across the country and the world would be better served by looking at what they can do to help alleviate the situation rather than how to screen out people who might have these problems. With sensitive therapists and knowledgeable psychiatrists, places like MIT have the opportunity to help their students immensely. But this can not be achieved if mental illness continues to carry a stigma. Students cannot take advantage of the support around them if they are afraid to admit to having a problem.
It used to be that people were judged by the external problems they had. Blind, deaf, and other physically handicapped people were discriminated against because it was easier to keep them out than it was to accommodate them. Thankfully we have changed that view. The same consideration should be extended when dealing with mental illness, and in fact legally must be. I hope that having read this, you can apply your knowledge both to assessing applicants and to making MIT a better place for everyone to work and live.
Sincerely,
me
Dear Ms. Jones,
I read your statement in Newsweek in an article relating to mental health issues on university campuses. You don’t seem to understand mental illness very well, and I would like to take this opportunity to tell you some things I hope you will take into account when considering potential students.
First of all, the main kind of mental illness you deal with as a university is depression. Depression has reached epidemic rates and is now one of the top causes of death among 19-24 year olds. To me, this indicates that the problem lies not with the individual students, but in the society that surrounds them. Realizing this, perhaps the answer lies not in excluding these students from the applicant pool, but in reworking the mental health services at MIT and the general atmosphere that students live in.
Depression is an episodic disease. People suffering from depression are not constantly depressed any more than people with heart disease are constantly in cardiac arrest. During the remission times, these people can function just as highly as anyone else. I am sure that you would never keep a deserving student out of MIT because of a condition that will only flare up occasionally. After all, students who have other medical problems face the same issues, and I know that MIT does not discriminate against them. I see the many walkways and elevators around the MIT campus and so I assume that MIT is diligent about being in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on medical conditions.
Depression is also not simply a reaction to stress. People suffering from depression will not simply "crumble the first time they do poorly on a test,” as you are quoted as saying in Newsweek. If given the proper care, they will respond to stress quite healthily. Therapists can remind students of all the options they have and put the bad grade in perspective for them. Students in therapy are also already more accustomed to reaching out for help when they are in trouble, and so they likely are more able to take advantage of the many academic support structures in place at MIT.
Being on medication is also not an indication of an inability to deal with the world. The medication is helping these students do just that. While I absolutely agree that all students should be warned of the high stress environment of MIT, I believe it is up to the student to make a decision as to whether or not this school is the right one for him. Your statement also creates the image that MIT discriminates against students who do take medication, a dangerous image to propagate.
Many people with mental problems still do outstanding research. One such case is John Nash, the Nobel Prize winner featured in the movie “A Beautiful Mind”, who battled schizophrenia. I would hate to think that people like this, with such potential to offer the world, would be passed over by MIT because of a disability.
Given the large numbers of people suffering from depression and other mental illnesses and the terrible reality of suicide if the disease is left untreated, I think that MIT and institutions across the country and the world would be better served by looking at what they can do to help alleviate the situation rather than how to screen out people who might have these problems. With sensitive therapists and knowledgeable psychiatrists, places like MIT have the opportunity to help their students immensely. But this can not be achieved if mental illness continues to carry a stigma. Students cannot take advantage of the support around them if they are afraid to admit to having a problem.
It used to be that people were judged by the external problems they had. Blind, deaf, and other physically handicapped people were discriminated against because it was easier to keep them out than it was to accommodate them. Thankfully we have changed that view. The same consideration should be extended when dealing with mental illness, and in fact legally must be. I hope that having read this, you can apply your knowledge both to assessing applicants and to making MIT a better place for everyone to work and live.
Sincerely,
me