Website Is A Resource For Emotional Health Issues On College Campuses

NEW YORK, May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As the number of college students struggling with emotional and mental health issues continues to be a serious concern, ULifeline.org has been relaunched to help address the needs of young adults who might be experiencing depression, anxiety, and a wide range of other issues.  Visited by more than 160,000 people each year, ULifeline provides an anonymous, confidential web-based resource center allowing college students to search for information regarding emotional health, including alcohol, drugs, stress, sleep, depression and suicide prevention.  It is estimated that one in 10 college students have contemplated suicide, which remains the second leading cause of death among this group.  ULifeline was created by The Jed Foundation, the nation's leading organization working to promote emotional health and prevent suicide among America's college students.

"Each year, tens of thousands of students log on to ULifeline because they are struggling with emotional health issues or know someone who is," says John MacPhee, Executive Director of The Jed Foundation.  "We are committed to having a positive impact on the lives of students by letting them know that they do not have to carry these burdens on their own and can safely and anonymously use ULifeline as a resource."

The newly redesigned ULifeline features improved navigation and new content covering a wide-range of emotional health topics relevant for students in their daily lives.  Other widely-used tools, such as its Self Evaluator, a confidential mental health screening tool that was created in collaboration with Duke University to assess the issues for which a student may need to seek help, have been updated to provide an easier user experience for both students and counselors.  The site also includes an enhanced Counseling Central section that provides counseling professionals with information, ideas and tools for supporting student health and preventing suicide.  In 2009, a study by The Jed Foundation, mtvU and the Associated Press found that 13 percent of college students had been diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point in their lives, and 10 percent reported signs of moderate to severe depression.  The same research also revealed that half of all college students had been stressed to the point that it impacted their academic or social functioning at some time during the prior academic year.

The Jed Foundation provides ULifeline to all colleges and universities free of charge, regardless of the size or type of institution.  The service has been developed with input from leading experts in mental health and higher education.  ULifeline allows participating colleges to share, present, and customize information about their own specific campus resources and counseling center to students who access the site.  Currently, more than 1,300 schools are involved in the ULifeline Network and the number continues to grow.  Students and campus mental health professionals can visit the new ULifeline at www.ULifeline.org. 

About The Jed Foundation
The Jed Foundation (TJF) is the nation's leading organization working to promote emotional health and prevent suicide among college students.  TJF materials and tools are available to all colleges and universities throughout the United States.  Founded in 2000 by parents who lost a son to suicide while he was attending college, the organization has developed several programs, which include: ULifeline, an online resource that gives students access to campus-specific resources and allows them to take an anonymous emotional health screening; the Peabody Award-winning Half of Us campaign with mtvU, which uses online, on-air and on campus programming to decrease stigma around mental illness and encourage help-seeking; Love is Louder, a movement online and in communities to build connectedness and increase resiliency; and a portfolio of nationally-recognized tools, resources and training programs that help campuses effectively promote mental health and protect at-risk students.  Learn more by visiting www.jedfoundation.org, www.ulifeline.org, www.halfofus.com, or www.loveislouder.com.

SOURCE The Jed Foundation