Texas A&M University has partnered with third-party app My SSP to help their students better understand and improve their mental health.
College Station, Texas – Texas A&M University encourages students, faculty and staff to take advantage of the My Student Support Program, now in its second year at Aggieland.
“This is a very big move because it increases the opportunities for every Aggie student to receive mental health support,” said Kristie De La Garza, assistant director of TAMU Counseling and Psychological Services. “If they download the free app because A&M has paid for it, they can get free confidential mental health counseling.”
My SSP provides mental health resources to all students, faculty and staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
It’s free, confidential, and offers emotional health and well-being support through a mobile app or the My SSP website.
“Anxiety is consistently the top concern, along with depression and relationship issues,” De La Garza said. “We noticed a trend because of some sort of post-COVID social anxiety has increased.”
According to De La Garza, Texas A&M Counseling and Psychological Services serves 10,000 to 11,000 students a year, but just over 3,000 students downloaded the My SPP app and signed up in their first year.
“Every single member of staff cares about the whole student, the student who might be struggling, the student who might need some resources, whatever that is,” De La Garza said. “Our staff are waiting to figure out what kind of support students need.”
Thanks to the app’s chat function and phone service, students can request support anytime, anywhere. This means that Aggies studying abroad can also get help when they need it.
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