UCLA could capitalize on academic potential to provide mental health instruction

This post was updated April 16 at 10:18 p.m.

They say numbers tell the story. Here are a couple:

About 45% of Bruins screened since January 2017 fall on some spectrum of depression or anxiety. One hundred thousand people are being studied by the university to identify the genetic and biologic factors associated with depression.

Here’s another: UCLA has only one faculty-taught class on mental health.

UCLA has cutting-edge mental health research, hosts dozens of related programs and initiatives and seemingly sees a new mental health club every day. There is no debating that it has all the bells and whistles of a concerned, conscious community as it pertains to mental health.

But virtually no majors, with the exception of psychology, require students to take courses related to mental health. So while Bruin Walk may be teeming with mental health awareness flyers, and the university brimming with programs designed to help the student body, that all goes poof the minute most students enter a lecture hall.

In the end, services like Counseling and Psychological Services end up prioritizing high-risk cases, leaving many students either underserved, waiting on long waitlists or turned away.

There’s a clear separation at UCLA between wellness and academics. This sends a dangerous message to our students: The two are mutually exclusive.

This dichotomy is a toxic narrative promulgated by the way we talk about choosing between mental health and academics, rather than choosing both. The university needs to integrate the two by making mental health education a part of the academic experience of all students to help them better handle and process the often-overwhelming nature of college.

The reality is UCLA cannot, regardless of its services, adequately serve the critical mental health needs of its more than 40,000 students. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day or counselors at CAPS to properly address and manage the many struggles the student body faces. Funding, resources and time are limited, though they are seldom viewed as such.

This is where academics can come in – universities, after all, excel at teaching students. A uniform education can raise the bar of mental health literacy at UCLA.

The university currently offers one such course, called Sociology 88SB: “You, Me, and Our Mental Health,” which is taught through the Undergraduate Student Initiated Education program. This program allows a select number of upperclassmen to develop and teach a lower-division seminar-style course.

“UCLA is so academically oriented, and we put so much strength on our academics, that when you teach (about mental health) as a class, it validates the information,” said Zarina Wong, a third-year study of religion student and the teacher of the class.

Wong’s course aims to raise awareness of mental health, educate students on the topic and lower the related stigma. This sort of dialogue is crucial: At a prestigious university such as UCLA, mental health often falls by the wayside in place of academic or career-related performance.

Requiring students to take at least one course on the importance of mental health, as well as its signs, symptoms and prevalence, would demonstrate the validity of mental health issues and arm students with coping strategies, wellness tips and resilience trainings to face their college years.

“There’s a certain level of knowledge at which, if you possess it, the amount of stigma you’re likely to express is markedly reduced,” said Robert Bilder, chief of medical psychology – neuropsychology at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

And some small, but important, steps already are being taken.

“We’re working on building a minor specifically on mental health and well-being,” Bilder said. “We’d be eager to see that kind of curriculum put in place.”

This sort of minor would both make a statement and vastly influence our student body. Adding a full area of study related to mental health and wellness boldly shows this issue is worthy of in-depth study and attention. But a necessary further step would be to require each student to take a class from the minor.

Some may argue that the university simply should focus on improving the existing mental health services, such as CAPS. But the reality is that the prevalence of mental health issues in college years cannot be tackled by one office with a limited staff. A baseline education requirement could provide students with the tools they need to thrive, and ultimately lessen the inundation CAPS experiences.

Mental health is inextricable from the human experience and is especially relevant during college years, a time characterized by rapid change and novelty. In fact, according to the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge, depression frequently manifests in college years.

Our campus is an environment replete with opportunity. Here we have a susceptible audience in a formative time period – two characteristics that open the door for immense change.

It’s time the numbers start reflecting that too.

‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 recap – Episode 1: ‘Winterfell’

Winter is here: The final season of “Game of Thrones” is one of the most highly anticipated television events of the last decade. Follow our columnists as they explore students’ weekly reactions as an iconic era of pop culture comes to an end. Beware, spoilers lie ahead.

The “Game of Thrones” season premiere boasted all the elements of a classic fantasy epic – savage murder, soaring dragons, political unrest and a dash of incest.

After an almost two-year hiatus, the beloved HBO series returned Sunday night with “Winterfell,” the first episode of the eighth – and final – season. At the end of season seven, a giant army of ice zombies called the White Walkers broke through the wall that separated the dead and the living for thousands of years. The season eight premiere follows the many characters with clashing familial ties and political leanings as they try to put aside their differences and band together against the White Walkers.

The premiere highlighted intricate character relationships, making for a generally satisfying beginning of the end. Laura Green, a third-year cognitive science student, was expecting more action and violence, but said the premiere was a strong first installment that mirrored the show’s pilot episode.

“At first, I thought that nothing really happened because you’re used to dragons burning people alive. But … they brought it back to where it started,” Green said. “I feel like they wanted to show the children of the Stark family who have grown into adults.”

The episode opens with a rather quiet return to Winterfell, the Stark’s ancestral home in the North, with lovers Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) side by side. But Jon’s homecoming is not entirely welcome, as he might as well have said, “I bent the knee to this pretty dragon queen without consulting anyone in the North, cool right?” Unsurprisingly, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) – as well as the majority of the Northerners – are largely unimpressed by her brother’s new flame. The palpable tension between Sansa, the current Lady of Winterfell, and Daenerys, the queen Jon relinquished his title to, establishes a power dynamic that will likely intensify throughout the season.

Seeing the two outcasts of the Stark family, Jon and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), finally reunite was one of the episode’s highlights. In this moment, it felt as if they returned to season one, before Jon was a king and Arya was a serial killer. There are a number of other reunions, the most riveting of which was surprisingly Sansa and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage). In the brief exchange, Sansa calls out Tyrion for foolishly believing his sister Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) would help them fight the White Walkers. As he is a character who was once the brains of the show, and someone who knows the depth of Cersei’s cruelty, it’s about time Tyrion’s recent ignorance is questioned.

In the Capitol, Cersei remains a villainous icon, employing Bronn (Jerome Flynn), an opportunistic mercenary, to kill her brothers and having sex with Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) just because she can. She is not the star of the episode, but Headey’s fierce-as-always performance reminds audiences that Cersei is certainly not to be forgotten.

Back in Winterfell, Jon and Daenerys hitch an unnecessarily long dragon ride to a waterfall makeout spot. It’s cute except for the fact that Jon is Daenerys’ nephew, although both are blissfully unaware of their relation. In a rather anticlimactic scene, Sam Tarly (John Bradley), and old friend of Jon’s, catches Jon up on what audiences have known for a while – Jon is not a bastard and is actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.

Jon is more upset by the knowledge that Ned Stark lied to him, however, and less concerned about his royal status or the fact that he’s in love with his aunt.

Julia Wenzel, a third-year nursing student, said the early reveal allows the remaining five episodes to focus on the characters assemble against the White Walkers.

“Something that I wasn’t really expecting was for everything to come to a head so soon. Jon Snow learns in the first episode that he’s the rightful heir to the throne,” Wenzel said. “I think (the fast pace) is necessary in order to get things going.”

Before Sam drops the lineage bomb, Daenerys informs Sam that she may have accidentally burned his father and brother alive as punishment for their refusal to bend the knee. So sorry!

Daenerys is definitely not winning any popularity contests in the North, and Sam implores Jon to question her lack of mercy. “You gave up your crown to save your people,” Sam says. “Would she do the same?” The answer seems clear to us, but perhaps not as clear to Jon.

Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) arrives in Winterfell, and all is well and good for approximately 30 sweet seconds. Then we remember Jaime pushed Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) out a window back in season one, which ultimately sparked the war between the Lannisters and Starks. Oops! Jaime, who also murdered Daenerys’ father, is not likely to be a fan favorite among the people of Winterfell either.

The episode concludes with a Jaime-Bran staredown that encapsulates the show’s entire eight-year history. The final image of Bran in his wheelchair, an almost undetectable smile on his face, is a provocative ending that leaves a lasting impact equal to that of any battle scene or character death.

But although the premiere spared the central characters, fans should know not to get too comfortable. As the show has spent seven seasons trying to prove, no one is safe.

Women’s golf makes bid to win third NCAA championship in a row

The Bruins have a chance to three-peat.

No. 13 UCLA women’s golf will compete in the Pac-12 Championships in Palos Verdes Estates, California, from April 15-17. The team is seeking its third straight Pac-12 title, a feat it last achieved from 2004 to 2006.

Last year, the Bruins won the team championship by 12 strokes. Sophomore Patty Tavatanakit defeated former UCLA teammate and current LPGA rookie, Lilia Vu, in a one-hole playoff to claim the individual title.

Tavatanakit most recently scored even par to tie for 26th at the ANA Inspiration, an LPGA major tournament.

Joining Tavatanakit in the lineup are senior Beth Wu, juniors Mariel Galdiano and Clare Legaspi and freshman Phoebe Yue. Coach Carrie Forsyth said she deliberated between Yue and sophomore Vera Markevich before ultimately choosing Yue.

“We went with (Yue) because she is a longer hitter, and we feel like that’s going to be pretty valuable in the postseason as the courses get longer,” Forsyth said. “I think she brings a lot of good energy to this team, and we’re just hoping that she will be able to withstand some of the pressure and do what she needs to do.”

Yue finished tied for third at the Bruin Wave Invitational back in February but finished last at the PING/ASU Invitational two weeks ago.

The Bruins previously played at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in February, where the team finished second. Galdiano said the course will not be played the same way because of several layout changes.

“They extended the course on some holes and shortened it on others,” Galdiano said. “When we played in February, it was really wet and soft. Today, (in practice), the ball rolled a lot faster, so we just need to make our adjustments.”

UCLA finished no higher than eighth in its past three tournaments. However, Forsyth said she anticipates better performances in the postseason because of roster stability.

“To be honest, we haven’t played with our top-five lineup since the Bruin Wave,” Forsyth said. “I feel that now we have everybody back together, I think we’re going to trend up in the postseason.”

The Bruins will tee off Monday, April 15, at the Palos Verdes Golf Club.