Students find Resources for Mental Health

College can be a challenging time. Whether it’s moving away from home, a stressful work load, or personal things happening off campus,  the pressure that society has applied on young adults in college has been a problem for generations. Poor sleep, bad diet, and isolation are common problems among college students. Trying to balance everything is hard and can be overwhelming, but Bismarck State College has resources to help.

Amber Vollmers is the Behavior Health & Wellness Coordinator at BSC. Vollmers started in the K-12 system as a school counselor and was hired at BSC in February of last year. She sees firsthand the challenges students face throughout the year.

“The number one concern we’ve seen this year is anxiety, and then number two is executive functioning skills,” Vollmer said. “A lot of times when students are trying to transition from high school into college, they’re finding that their study skills aren’t as strong as they would like them to be.”

Vollmers said the MACC has seen a little over 200 students this year, which was an increase from previous years. She also shared that she’s helped a lot of students with ‘scale building,’ such as, how to be more flexible and how to retain more information. With anxiety being the most common issue for BSC students, Vollmers gave some tips on how to manage it.

“Anxiety is something that usually happens before an event, and is usually associated with something negative in their life,” she said. “Building positive experiences on top of the negative ones, the hope is that eventually they level out.”.

Vollmers said that she tries to help students with short term solutions by focusing on skills and strengths. One part of Vollmers’ role is counseling, but another part is community resources. 

“If a student doesn’t have insurance, or they’re struggling with food stability and those types of things, they can come down to the MACC and ask to speak to a counselor. We will get them in to talk about what their needs are, and we can help them with Medicaid applications, or connect them with other community resources for food stability and all their needs.”

Struggling students can find these resources for mental health and wellness available at the Mystic Advising & Counseling Center. The MACC is located on the lower level of the Student Union. Appointments are available face-to-face, over the phone, or virtually. The MACC is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to  4 p.m.