JAMES ANDERSON / Scroll Photo Illustration
While praying and reading the scriptures may help with feeling comfort, some people may need to find other options to help them with their needs.

Abandonment. Neglect. Abuse. These were the words used to describe her dysfunctional family.

Her father had abandoned her family when she was only 6-years-old. She hadn’t heard from him since then. Her mother would bring home multiple boyfriends, and she would forget to feed or clothe her own children. The young girl and her siblings were beat and abused.

Now a student at BYU-Idaho, Julia* is leading a normal, busy life – but not without the help of counseling.

Just like Julia, there are students at BYU-I who need professional help.

“Many students have something horrible in their past, but you would never guess it by looking at them. The students’ experiences are things that you think could only happen in a movie,” said Sandra Rowe, a BYU-I alumnus and psychiatrist in Idaho Falls.

Conditions like depression, anxiety disorders, addiction to pornography, abuse and eating disorders are the top reasons why students at BYU-I go to the counseling center to get help, said Reed Stoddard, director of the Student Health and Counseling Center.

“In situations like these, professional help is recommended but not required. It depends on the severity,” Stoddard said.

Yet many students are afraid of the stigma that is attached to seeing a counselor or “shrink.” They’re afraid of what others will think, Rowe said.

“If people have to see a counselor or a psychiatrist, it doesn’t mean they’re crazy. They’re people; they just have an illness,” Rowe said.

Another situation that discourages people from seeking counseling is their belief that prayer and priesthood blessings are all that is needed.

“If I had diabetes, I wouldn’t pray harder for it to go away,” Stoddard said. “I would get the medical help that’s available.”

Even after endless nights of praying and fasting, the particular problem may still not go away.

“If your efforts aren’t getting it done and you’re still experiencing the symptoms, the wise thing to do would be to get the help you need,” Stoddard said.

Also, some may feel that if their particular problem isn’t improving with prayer or priesthood blessings, then it means they don’t have enough faith. Many depressed people feel this way, Stoddard said. What they don’t realize is that some situations require additional help before they can start improving.

In his talk “Myths about Mental Illness,” in the October 2005 Ensign, Elder Alexander B. Morrison of the Seventy said, “We must understand, however, without in any way degenerating the unique role of priesthood blessings, that ecclesiastical leaders are spiritual leaders and not mental health professionals. Most of them lack the professional skills and training to deal effectively with deep-seated mental illnesses. … Remember that God has given us wondrous knowledge and technology that can help us overcome grievous problems.”

There is help available to those who need to see a psychiatrist or counselor. One option is the Student Health and Counseling Center, located at the southeastern end of campus by the Gordon B. Hinckley Building.

High quality service is available, with a staff that has a lot of experience and education, Stoddard said. The hours are from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday but closed for devotional on Tuesdays.

The final advice that Rowe had to give was, “Remember, if you’re suffering from these things you’re still a normal person. Don’t be afraid, don’t be ashamed.”

Julia is not ashamed any longer and talks about her childhood with relative ease. Counseling has helped her change her way of thinking and to not feel responsible for her family’s bad choices. She said, counseling made her see the goodness inside and reaffirmed the truth that she is a child of God.

“I am completely emotionally healthy, because I opened up and worked through it,” she said.