Supporting Students with Mental Health Issues - Essay Example

Dennis should be referred to counseling due to his strange behavior. Also, since he is acting in a manner that is prejudicial to other people in the student body, the university should consider removing Dennis from student housing. Since Dennis is making threatening statements, not only to students but school officials, Dennis should be identified as a student with a mental health problem that needs to be addressed. Additionally, since he is disturbing students, he should probably be removed from campus housing, unless his behavior changes significantly.

Perhaps a trial period could be instated from the time that Dennis starts attending counseling, which would remain for as long as Dennis stays in the dorms. If any more unusual behavior is exhibited or otherwise noted from resident life assistants, Dennis should be summarily removed from the dorms. Mainly due to the fact that Dennis is exhibiting threatening behavior, until he shows that he is continuing with therapy and working on issues-then and only then should he be allowed to stay on campus.

Additionally, Dennis should be checked upon periodically by counselors and other mental health professionals to monitor his behavior. "A student may be out of touch with reality and not functioning normally but not necessarily threatening any physical harm to themselves or others. One of the difficulties of managing such a situation is the fear that it could develop into an emergency at any moment" ("Supporting Students With Mental Health Problems," 2009). However, in Dennis's case, he was threatening people, and this could have escalated into a more widespread problem if something was not done in order to counteract his strange behaviors.

Case II: Gerry. Gerry's problems are more pervasive than Dennis's. First of all, Gerry physically harmed a student. In anyone's mind, even if that was subsequentially excused by way of the fact that Gerry had ingested LSD which caused the behavior, obviously it should be much harder to trust Gerry's behavior again on campus. The fact that one student was harmed was bad enough. Although Gerry's lawyer makes a point that Gerry would be in double jeopardy for having already been tried and acquitted for a crime, the university should seriously consider whether or not allowing Gerry on campus again would be a wise move.

The university's policy states, "A student will be subject to involuntary administrative withdrawal from the University, or from University housing, if the Provost determines that the student suffers from a mental disorder that is adversely affecting his or her academic performance or behavior on campus in