University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa students and faculty may face new challenges to their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeanelle Sugimoto-Matsuda, an associate professor with the Office of Public Health Studies of the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work and an expert on mental health and suicide prevention, is providing resources to help keep the UH Mānoa campus community safe.
Students who are worried about a fellow classmate, or those in distress themselves, need to know what support is available on campus and in the community. Faculty members also need to care for themselves, and because of their close relationships with students, they may need to provide guidance for students who disclose personal challenges and need support.
“I think about mental health and suicide prevention from a public health perspective,” said Sugimoto-Matsuda, a co-chair of the Prevent Suicide Hawaiʻi Task Force. “Public health is all about prevention, and I want to prevent mental health problems from developing, or catch them as early as possible.”
Helping faculty support students
Sugimoto-Matsuda worked with Professor Deborah Goebert, of the John A. Burns School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, to create a guide for faculty to support students as well as themselves (PDF). The guide was distributed campus-wide, and the two are now working on promoting mental well-being among faculty members and other campus employees.
“Some students have been very impacted by the pandemic,” Sugimoto-Matsuda said. “For example, they may have had to take on roles as caregivers, or may be living alone and isolated from the social connections that typically help them to stay healthy. Faculty members need training on what to do if they encounter someone in distress, how to acknowledge all of the stressors that everyone is under right now, and how to create accommodations for impacted students.”
The guide for faculty includes a list of tips on validating student reactions, providing honest reassurance and becoming trauma-informed teachers. The guide also includes links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for managing stress and anxiety, resources from Mental Health America of Hawaiʻi, information from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and more.
Invest now
Sugimoto-Matsuda emphasizes the importance of having more resources dedicated to the UH Mānoa Counseling and Student Development Center, and a smoother process when the center refers students to mental health providers in the community, especially in anticipation that the need will continue to grow during the upcoming academic year. Of particular concern are people who did not need mental health services prior to COVID-19, but are now coping with job loss, being isolated from others or suddenly taking on new roles such as being a full-time caregiver.
“Mental health and suicide prevention need to remain top priorities on our campus and across the state,” Sugimoto-Matsuda said. “We need to remind people that mental health is part of the COVID-19response—it’s part of health. The more invisible impacts of the pandemic—the depression, the anxiety, the feelings of hopelessness that some are experiencing—we need to make those visible.”
“The mental health impacts of this crisis will last a long time, and the price down the line will be high if we don’t invest now. We can’t sweep mental health to the side,” added Sugimoto-Matsuda.
Examples of warning signs for suicide include withdrawing from usual social groups or activities, dramatic mood changes (e.g., feeling hopeless or uncontrollable anger), or talking or writing about death, dying or suicide.
Resources for those struggling with mental health:
UH Mānoa Counseling and Student Development Center (808) 956-7927
Crisis Line of Hawaiʻi (808) 832-3100 (Oʻahu), 1-800-753-6879 (Neighbor Islands)
Crisis Text Line text ALOHA to 741741 (Hawaiʻi), text TALK to 741741 (National)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
Gay men in China ages 25–29 are eight times more likely to feel criticized and rejected compared with men in that country ages 20 or younger, new University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa research shows.
The reason may be that 25- to 29-year-olds tend to be out of college and in the workforce, where they may face overwhelming social discrimination, according to a study co-authored by Assistant Professor Thomas Lee in the Office of Public Health Studies at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work.
“There is great pressure from society and family that may be imposed on Chinese gay men,” said Lee. “We found that these men feel criticized and rejected, and that these feelings are linked with loneliness.”
The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, is part of a recent effort among public health researchers to develop a better understanding of the mental health of the LGBTQ community.
Study methodology
Lee and colleagues administered questionnaires to 367 gay men in China. Some of the surveys were conducted face-to-face, but the majority were administered online. More specifically, the link to the survey was shared with live-chat applications specifically designed for gay men in China.
The men answered questions that allowed the researchers to measure feelings of loneliness and whether the study subjects were experiencing depression, anxiety or other psychological problems.
Several of the questions were aimed at measuring the men’s degree of “interpersonal sensitivity,” defined as a person’s propensity to perceive and elicit criticism and rejection from others. People who are high in interpersonal sensitivity may have difficulty in communicating with others and are susceptible to depression and anxiety.
Study results
The findings showed that gay men who had no siblings or college degree and who earned less money than average were more likely have a high degree of interpersonal sensitivity and loneliness. Also, those who had experienced more sexual partners during their lifetimes showed lower measures of interpersonal sensitivity and loneliness.
There was no link between disclosing one’s sexual identity to others and men’s degree of interpersonal sensitivity, however, men who had disclosed their sexual identity to others felt less lonely.
“Traditional Chinese culture puts a strong emphasis on family inheritance and reproduction,” said Lee. “Our results suggest that we need to be more aware of Chinese gay men’s mental health and that everyone, especially family members, should offer more support to Chinese gay men and work to create a social environment that is more open and inclusive.”
