Mental Health Stigma

Addressing Student Needs on Campus

Webinar | March 27th, 2019

In this webinar, Sarah Ketchen Lipson, Assistant Professor of Health Law Policy and Management, takes a deep dive into mental health stigma, examining different forms of stigma (self, personal, perceived, public), relationships between stigma and mental health service utilization, and trends in stigma over time. Sarah draws on data from her ongoing national Healthy Minds Study, the largest survey of college student mental health. She describes the social contagion of stigma among college peers, variations in stigma across students’ identities, what colleges are doing to address stigma, and the need for tailored approaches to reach students with the highest levels of stigma. The webinar underscores why we should care about mental health stigma from a public health perspective.

Resources:

Suggested readings from the Healthy Minds Study:

  • Lipson et al. (2018). Increased rates of mental health service utilization by U.S. college students: 10-year population-level trends (2007-2017). Psychiatric Services.
  • Currier et al. (2018). Do student service members/veterans experience worse mental health stigma than their peers? Journal of American College Health.
  • Lipson et al. (2018). Mental health and help-seeking among college students of color: results from a national survey study. Journal of Adolescent Health.
  • Eisenberg et al. (2018). “College student mental health: the national landscape” in Promoting Behavioral Health and Reducing Risk among College Students.
  • Eisenberg et al. (2012). Attitudes and beliefs about treatment among college students with untreated mental health problems. Psychiatric Services.
  • Eisenberg et al. (2009). Stigma and help seeking for mental health among college students. Medical Care Research and Review.

Meet the Instructor

Sarah Ketchen Lipson, PhD, EdM

is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Law Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding and addressing disparities in mental health and mental health service utilization among adolescents and young adults. Sarah is co-Principal Investigator of the annual Healthy Minds Study, the largest national survey of college student mental health. In her current research, Sarah is examining how policies shape mental health disparities, the mental health needs of LGBTQ students, and relationships between mental health and sexual assault on campus.