assignment 16 - Lia Jacobs - speech

Lia Jacobs

AP Language and Composition

Mr. Logsdon

December 2019

As I’m getting closer and closer to entering college, I can’t help but be excited. What's not to love about college - more freedom, new experiences. At the same time, I can’t help but be scared. We’re thrown into a new environment far from home, all the while placed under the stress of college courses. And the result for most students: mental illness.

85% of students report feeling overwhelmed with their previous academic year, and 35% of students have diagnosed mental illnesses. Victor Schwartz finds that “while suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death across the U.S. population, it’s second-most among college-aged students” (David 2)

The issue has worsened in recent years, and colleges can’t seem to catch up. Designed for education, these institutions are struggling to meet the needs of increasingly stressed and depressed college students. As a result, students aren’t getting the help that they need when they need it. Most counselors can’t even meet with a student until weeks after help has been requested.

While systematic changes should be enacted and colleges should prioritize the mental wellbeing of their attendees, the chance of such a massive overhaul is unlikely. What I’m proposing is simple, implementing animal-assisted therapy in the university setting, and there are three reasons why.

First and foremost, it's actually effective. I begin with this because when I first mention animal-assisted therapy, most people don’t believe in its legitimacy. In actuality, it's been proven to have both positive mental and physical effects on its recipients. A study conducted by Jolene Muckle finds that time spent with a certified therapy animal decreases anxiety and depression levels while increasing self-esteem. These sessions had long term impacts on students and were similarly effective with and without the presence of a therapist (Muckle 78). Other studies concur with these findings. The inclusion of certified therapy animals in the college counseling system is proven to produce tangible results. Universities with these programs have seen improved mental wellbeing in participants.

Second, students are more inclined to seek help when therapy animals are involved. Many students view the therapy process as intimidating, especially in the university setting. When students are afraid to seek out the resources they need, their problems only worsen. While we need to improve accessibility to these resources, we also need students to feel comfortable in seeking out help in the first place. Reducing the threatening nature of therapy is something easily done through the addition of an animal-assisted therapy program.  

Professor of counseling, Cynthia Chandler, explains that students are more receptive to therapy when a certified animal is involved, and they’re more comfortable with sharing information (Chandler). Programs in which therapists and therapy animals are combined yield greater results than therapists alone. Furthermore, students who don’t feel comfortable talking to a therapist still receive similar benefits when only a therapy animal is present. 

Though therapy animals are largely intended for those with less severe mental illnesses, Psychologist Carol O’Saben sees results in more severe cases at her university. Many students with trauma will share experiences with therapy animals that they are not willing to share with her. Though the therapy animals cannot provide the same feedback as a therapist, they help speed up the process of getting a student comfortable with talking about their experiences. O’Saben explains that even 15 minutes with a therapy animal makes the therapy process much easier (O’Saben). These animals can make the therapy process more comfortable and accessible while improving the results of college counseling centers.

Third, implementing animal-assisted therapy programs is feasible. As I’ve mentioned, systematic changes to reduce stress among college students are unlikely to occur, and the hiring of more therapists is equally unlikely. Animal-assisted therapy, on the other hand,  is easy to add to most colleges. In the Journal of Mental Health, Emily Wood writes that the addition of certified therapy animals to universities is an effective solution that comes at a low cost and is based on community volunteers (Wood 267). It doesn’t require hiring more staff, simply momentum to start a program. Once in effect, there is little maintenance that needs to be completed. Therapy animals can be used with and without a therapist, so implementing this program would improve the limited resources that are currently available to students at a low cost. 

Overall, creating programs for animal-assisted therapy in the university setting would improve the mental wellbeing of students. It’s a simple, effective way to increase accessibility to therapy for college students. However, I’m by no means saying that this is the ultimate solution to end all mental illness in universities. But, it's a step in the right direction. The changes we need won’t occur in one fell swoop, but better is good enough for now.

Works Cited

Chandler, Cynthia. “UNT.” Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy | College of Education, https://coe.unt.edu/consortium-animal-assisted-therapy.

David, Eden. “Rising Suicide Rates at College Campuses Prompt Concerns over Mental Health Care.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 9 Oct. 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/Health/rising-suicide-rates-college-campuses-prompt-concerns-mental/story?id=66126446.

Muckle, Jolene, and Nicola Lasikiewicz. “An Exploration of the Benefits of Animal-Assisted Activities in Undergraduate Students in Singapore.” Asian Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 20, no. 2, 2017, pp. 75–84., doi:10.1111/ajsp.12166.

O'Saben, Carol. “Discover the Benefits of Animal Therapy on College Campuses.” AffordableCollegesOnline.org, AffordableCollegesOnline.org, Mar. 2018, https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/animal-assisted-therapy-on-college-campuses/.

Wood, Emily, et al. “The Feasibility of Brief Dog-Assisted Therapy on University Students Stress Levels: the PAwS Study.” Journal of Mental Health, vol. 27, no. 3, June 2017, pp. 263–268., doi:10.1080/09638237.2017.1385737.