WaPo: Suicidal students are pressured to withdraw from Yale

[Anonymous]

I knew someone this happened to (not at Yale) and it made her incredibly hesitant to seek help again.

I can imagine policies like this straight up killing kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so sad. when you think about how many resources Yale has and this is how it treats its students.

Hello,
What’s really sad is parents who believe Yale cares anything about its students. Places like that care only about themselves, certainly not about your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so sad. when you think about how many resources Yale has and this is how it treats its students.

Hello,
What’s really sad is parents who believe Yale cares anything about its students. Places like that care only about themselves, certainly not about your child.

They're not in the business of caring about anyone's mentally ill child, or making sure they're safe from suicide. That's not their purpose. They offer an extremely rigorous academic experience meant for the brightest and most competitive students out there. I don't think it's unethical to say, we can't make sure your kid is safe from harming themselves. And if the student is that ill, they can't participate in the rigorous academic program, so there is literally no reason for them to be there. Because again, that's the whole point of being at Yale. I don't understand the outrage.

[Anonymous]

Forcing kids to sign papers in the hospital? Escorting them to dorms for a limited time of mere hours to move out? You can’t imagine another way to handle a student who has problems and needs to leave campus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing: mental health and the difficulty surrounding medical leave decisions are challenging issues at every school but we expect better at *Yale*. Yale has resources and did not need to be this cruel. They seem to want to get the problems off campus and off their watch so as not to tarnish their reputation. We should expect better at all schools. Every student has a bright future and their life is precious.

But not every student has what it takes to make it at Yale. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure being in a super competitive environment will break some kids. So they shouldn't be there. But it's not like their life is over because they couldn't make it at Yale. They just end up somewhere else after they heal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing: mental health and the difficulty surrounding medical leave decisions are challenging issues at every school but we expect better at *Yale*. Yale has resources and did not need to be this cruel. They seem to want to get the problems off campus and off their watch so as not to tarnish their reputation. We should expect better at all schools. Every student has a bright future and their life is precious.

But not every student has what it takes to make it at Yale. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure being in a super competitive environment will break some kids. So they shouldn't be there. But it's not like their life is over because they couldn't make it at Yale. They just end up somewhere else after they heal.

They’d heal a lot better if they weren’t pushed into signing papers in their hospital beds or given a few short hours to vacate their homes.

It is unbelievable people are defending Yale here, but then again, on reflection it does not surprise me. The full-throated defense is in keeping with the character of the university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I genuinely do not know why any parent would let their kid go to that school. It has been exceptionally toxic for years.

The kind of kid who gets into Yale has the kind of parent who churns out suicidal kids.

Why in the world would you say a thing like that? How dare you. Your statement is appalling.

I’m the PP who originally said Yale has a toxic environment, and I agree with this. That statement is appalling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so sad. when you think about how many resources Yale has and this is how it treats its students.

Hello,
What’s really sad is parents who believe Yale cares anything about its students. Places like that care only about themselves, certainly not about your child.

They're not in the business of caring about anyone's mentally ill child, or making sure they're safe from suicide. That's not their purpose. They offer an extremely rigorous academic experience meant for the brightest and most competitive students out there. I don't think it's unethical to say, we can't make sure your kid is safe from harming themselves. And if the student is that ill, they can't participate in the rigorous academic program, so there is literally no reason for them to be there. Because again, that's the whole point of being at Yale. I don't understand the outrage.

Again, Yale cares only about itself, not about its students. I said nothing specific pertaining to the mental health/illness of any student. Yale is in it to generate cash for itself. Bad publicity about a suicide will interfere with that.

[Anonymous]

Why does a hospital have to share medical information with a students college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does a hospital have to share medical information with a students college?

I was thinking the same thing. Isn’t that a privacy violation?

[Anonymous]

Hopefully they will be shamed into being more humane and making the re-entry process more of a good faith effort to get students back on campus when they are ready (rather than the deterrent it currently is.) having said that, I think that the article’s tone was a bit credulous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does a hospital have to share medical information with a students college?

I was thinking the same thing. Isn’t that a privacy violation?

I understood the hospital to be a Yale medical facility. But still. How is it in the patient’s best interest to shove papers at them and put them on FaceTime with admin or legal university staff? Despicable.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid at Yale (2nd year) and this has been a huge topic of discussion and advocacy in the last few years, especially since the heartbreaking student suicide in 2021. Their policies around this are unacceptable, and I’m glad this article was published in the WaPo as I think and hope it will increase pressure on the university to change. I didn’t go there, but my dd’s experience so far actually been that in so many other regards the campus environment is actually very supportive, both in the supports set up within the residential college system, access to professors, collaborative environment among students etc. I would say without hesitation that this environment is way more supportive and less toxic than my own university experience.
There’s a lot of Yale hate in this post, I’m not sure why. The kids I’ve met there are interesting, motivated, often a bit quirky, lots of passion etc. And generally they are really really happy with their experience there. But everyone who is paying attention agrees that the changes in the last few years did not go far enough in supporting students in crisis.
How universities handle the dramatic increase in the need for mental health services is a tricky topic. I don’t fault universities for buckling under the dramatic increase in demand for services, and we are seeing that play out in non-university settings as well. Therapists waitlists are long. I also don’t expect a university to “care about” my kid, that’s not what institutions do, that’s what people do. But neither to I expect institutional policies to exacerbate crisis, and clearly the remnants of Yale’s reinstatement policies in place there do that. I presume this to be strictly a liability thing, but as other universities have changed their policies on this one, Yale can clearly do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does a hospital have to share medical information with a students college?

I was thinking the same thing. Isn’t that a privacy violation?

I understood the hospital to be a Yale medical facility. But still. How is it in the patient’s best interest to shove papers at them and put them on FaceTime with admin or legal university staff? Despicable.

Even so, they wouldn’t be able to share information without patient consent. They may have misled the patient into signing the release forms.

[Anonymous]

I went through a bout of severe depression during college. I was pretty terrible to live with. I would not want my college age student to have to live with someone suicidal, nor would I expect the university to want the liability.

A place like Yale is filled with "golden children". Then you have your percentage of families who don't really believe in mental illness. There is a lot of pressure on these kids and parents to keep those kids in place rather than bring them home (imagine what you are going to have to tell friends and relatives when Larlo shows back up at home mid semester). I don't fault Yale for forcing students out so quickly. If they don't get them out immediately some may not leave.