4 ms·

Assuming that his contact was only with a mental health professional, his dismissal strikes me as illegal and unethical. It is absolutely illegal in the United

Assuming that his contact was only with a mental health professional, his dismissal strikes me as illegal and unethical. It is absolutely illegal in the United States for a physician to release medical records to anyone without the patient's consent, and mental health records are generally treated as especially sacred. If that is indeed what happened, the college would be exposing themselves to a lot of risk. I would highly encourage anyone feeling depressed to seek counseling, and for the most part school mental health services are a safe and welcoming place to find help. With that being said, DO NOT share information about your mental health status with non-medical staff at school, as they are not bound by the same rules as physicians and can act on that information. My (unsubstantiated and hopeful) guess is that this is likely what actually led to this student's dismissal.

selimthegrim 11y ago
Unfortunately, HIPAA and FERPA overlap and cancel out in some weird ways when it's the university running the counseling service.
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cjbprime 11y ago
selimthegrin is correct below -- HIPAA does not apply to on-campus mental health services, and there are many ways for therapy records to be shared with the campus administration via FERPA, even against the consent of the therapist. It's a terrible loophole that needs to be closed. In the meantime, it seems we can't in good conscience encourage people to use their on-campus counselors for mental health crises. (And the off-campus counselors are going to be more expensive, such that people you warn off the on-campus ones might just get no help at all.) :/ Here's an example of a college administration obtaining therapist records to use in their legal defense, under FERPA after the student sued them: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/09/391876192/college-rape-case-shows-a-key-limit-to-medical-privacy-law http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/09/391876192/college...
- Thriptic 11y ago
  Holy shit, I retract my statement. How has this not been addressed yet? I will write my congressman this weekend about this issue.
PopeOfNope 11y ago
> I would highly encourage anyone feeling depressed to seek counseling, and for the most part school mental health services are a safe and welcoming place to find help. In this day and age, I would be very, very careful about who you talk to about any kind of mental health issues. Get a reference from somebody you know and trust who has received direct care from the professional in question. Preferably more than one and never from a school. Make sure it's someone you pay directly, NOT a school counsellor. I appreciate you wanting depressed people to seek help, but sometimes dealing with it yourself is better than dealing with the system.
tsotha 11y ago
I think this goes back to the VA-Tech shooting, where some nutter chained the doors shut and shot everyone inside one of the buildings. After that there was a great hue and cry because his therapists knew he was dangerous but it was illegal to tell anyone.
- PopeOfNope 11y ago
  Nice theory, but this isn't a new phenomenon. I had a friend of a friend get dismissed in a similar manner back in 2001. The official reason is the therapist decided college would put undue stress on an already fragile mind. The unofficial reason is they didn't want the liability. If somebody harms themselves or others on campus, the college is liable.

selimthegrim 11y ago

Unfortunately, HIPAA and FERPA overlap and cancel out in some weird ways when it's the university running the counseling service.

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cjbprime 11y ago

selimthegrin is correct below -- HIPAA does not apply to on-campus mental health services, and there are many ways for therapy records to be shared with the campus administration via FERPA, even against the consent of the therapist. It's a terrible loophole that needs to be closed. In the meantime, it seems we can't in good conscience encourage people to use their on-campus counselors for mental health crises. (And the off-campus counselors are going to be more expensive, such that people you warn off the on-campus ones might just get no help at all.) :/ Here's an example of a college administration obtaining therapist records to use in their legal defense, under FERPA after the student sued them: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/09/391876192/college-rape-case-shows-a-key-limit-to-medical-privacy-law http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/09/391876192/college...

Thriptic 11y ago
Holy shit, I retract my statement. How has this not been addressed yet? I will write my congressman this weekend about this issue.

PopeOfNope 11y ago

> I would highly encourage anyone feeling depressed to seek counseling, and for the most part school mental health services are a safe and welcoming place to find help. In this day and age, I would be very, very careful about who you talk to about any kind of mental health issues. Get a reference from somebody you know and trust who has received direct care from the professional in question. Preferably more than one and never from a school. Make sure it's someone you pay directly, NOT a school counsellor. I appreciate you wanting depressed people to seek help, but sometimes dealing with it yourself is better than dealing with the system.

tsotha 11y ago

I think this goes back to the VA-Tech shooting, where some nutter chained the doors shut and shot everyone inside one of the buildings. After that there was a great hue and cry because his therapists knew he was dangerous but it was illegal to tell anyone.

PopeOfNope 11y ago
Nice theory, but this isn't a new phenomenon. I had a friend of a friend get dismissed in a similar manner back in 2001. The official reason is the therapist decided college would put undue stress on an already fragile mind. The unofficial reason is they didn't want the liability. If somebody harms themselves or others on campus, the college is liable.