For many, B's are not good, and C's can be tragic. Rebecca Messing, a U-M senior engineering major from Haslett, lived with an anxiety disorder for years and said she was suicidal during her freshman year. Supply and demand University mental health centers have struggled to keep up with a growing demand for services and growing seriousness of the cases they treat. Sevig said since 1994 the annual number of students visiting the center has nearly doubled to as many as 100 each day, a figure he said is consistent with trends at most universities around the state and nation. Some students are seen on a repeat basis for individual sessions with a counselor, and some are referred to private doctors.
Some students say understaffing and overcrowding at mental health centers make visiting a hassle.
CAPS got rid of me after a few visits, I didn't feel like we were making that much progress. Sevig denied that CAPS pushes students away, noting that unlike many colleges, U-M does not limit the number of counseling sessions. But Wang said when her daughter visited CAPS by herself, she was told she'd have to wait a week for an appointment, even after indicating that she needed immediate help. The next time, when Wang flew from Durham to accompany her, she said Candy was seen immediately. She felt like it wasn't a place designed to help her.