Navigating Mental Health at AUBG

Navigating mental health at university is a complex topic. With rising concerns about rates of suicide, depression, and anxiety, mental health calls for even more attention. It is something that we should be talking about. 

 

From Registrar’s Assistant to AUBG Counselor 

 

Milena Simova, a counselor at AUBG, graduated with a master’s degree in psychology back in 2010. Milena’s specialty is in family therapy, psychodrama, and EMDR. She shared that she was always involved with NGOs that work in the field of mental health. The (new) counselor has an extensive background of working with people with severe mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. 

 

Milena’s initial experience here at AUBG started when she got out of maternity leave. But not as a counselor. 

 

“I wanted to do something that was not so emotionally involved,” she said. She started working as a registrar’s assistant.

 

After two years, she realized that she needed to go back to what was familiar to her: “And I left the registrar.” She worked as a psychologist at the hospital for a year. Once she found out that there was an open spot for a counselor position at AUBG, she applied.

 

“That’s how I ended up here,” Milena said.

 

She has been working as a counselor at AUBG since 2024.

 

Milena recognized the generational difference when it came to talking about mental health: “The older generation is more skeptical. Sometimes they notice that their children are suffering, and they are willing to search for help. But for the child only.”

 

She said that freshmen and senior students struggle the most. 

 

Freshmen, on one hand, are quite stressed about adapting to a new system of studying. Seniors also experience a lot of anxiety. According to Milena, they are concerned with questions: “Where should I go [after graduation]? What should I do? Should I start working?”

 

What Milena did not expect was the alarming rate of suicidal thoughts. Based on her conversations with colleagues from other universities: “It is a current trend.”

 

“It was not like this last year or the years before. This really surprises me. Because… you are like, just entering life, right?”

 

Mental Health and the Vulnerable 

 

Milena broke down the way she approaches the sessions with the students.

 

The first session is the introduction session. Here, the student gets to know the counselor better and decides whether or not she is the right person.

 

“They can sense if I am supportive, if I understand them,” she shared.

 

Confidentiality is an integral part of any therapy session. There are two exceptions, though: “If they are suicidal, and if they plan to hurt someone else.” 

 

“If I leave them, it is like leaving people with open wounds on the street,” she added.

 

If needed, Milena gets in touch with Dr. Daskalov and the Dean of Students, Sabina Wien: “Together we decide how we can support them to receive medical care.”

 

If a student is just starting to take the medication, it is a critical period. “They become even more suicidal in the beginning before it goes away. It is a period that needs to be observed on a minute basis,” Milena shared.

 

“Mood swings are very common. There is a huge level of anxiety that varies from light, small anxiety that can be managed, to the one that turns into a panic disorder.”

 

Milena tries to provide students with some coping tools. One of the tools that she identified was water. 

 

“Drink more water, take long showers, go for a swim, go look at the river. The river is quite full of water now. Just go and look at it. Water naturally reduces stress,” Milena said.

 

Mental Health and Difficult Conversations

 

“The short answer is, because mental health is such a personal thing, you feel like you are the one, and nobody experiences this. And you are so vulnerable that if you share, you do not know where it will take you.”

 

The conversations around mental health are very different from the ones about physical health. 

 

“If you suffer, for example, from clinical depression, your blood work is excellent. You have no temperature. You seem like you are a healthy person. And if you start explaining that you do not feel well, you are contradicting yourself a lot,” Milena said.

 

People cannot see your damage, therefore, they struggle to connect with it. “There is also this fear that it is contagious,” Milena added.

 

Individual Support vs Institutional Support: How do we find the balance?

 

A lot of students do indeed struggle to open up. Milena explained that we have the space that can really provide support. There are certain limitations, though. 

 

“Your health, no matter physical or mental health, is your personal responsibility. It is not the community’s responsibility. It is not the government’s responsibility. If you do not feel good, if you do not seek help, that means that you are not ready for it,” Milena said.

 

“If you are not ready for the treatment, you will deny everything. People need to become aware that they need help.”

 

Should we place all the responsibility on the individual?

 

“Well, I do not know,” Milena said.

 

“It will be inappropriate if I go around the campus and start pulling people. They will be like, are you making me sick if I am not sick?” she added.

 

The counseling center should take soft measures, though. Milena suggested an option of brochures where some symptoms are explained. 

 

“Our community here is overwhelmed with events. They are like three every day. At least.” According to Milena, this makes it difficult to attract students to initiatives related to mental health. Apparently, even the library is booked for the whole week.

 

AUBG’s Reaction to Tragic Events

 

After the tragic event last semester, the university called for a crisis leadership meeting. Milena was part of the meeting. But this was not the case after Stefanija’s tragic passing.

 

“Nobody called me. They did not invite me to the crisis leadership meeting,” she said.

 

The reaction was quite delayed. Milena mentioned the Broadway week: “Perhaps it postponed it [memorial] further along the way.”

 

Improving Mental Health Services

 

AUBG has a Disability Support Center. According to Milena, the center is accommodating five or six people with mental health struggles right now.

Milena shared that it is better when we ask direct questions. We also have all the necessary tools. According to Milena, MentiFyers and academic advisors should be more sensitive towards people. 

 

“From down to up, it is difficult. The decisions should be taken by the leadership, and they can disseminate them downwards,” Milena shared.

 

“Even though we say that we are a community that could support you, we have our limits.” 

 

“Of course, because we are not a rehab camp. Your main reason here is to study,” she added. 

 

Milena suggested that people who are really struggling should take a leave of absence: “Fix your health, take medication, go to therapy, go see your mum, eat good food. And when you are on track again, come back with our support.”

 

The interview was cut short as there was a knock on the door. Milena had to leave and see the student for the appointment. 

 

Let’s hope that the counseling center becomes a safe and comforting space for people who are in need, no matter how big or small their concerns are. 

 

Edited by: Toma Krumov and Niya Manditsch

 

The first article of the series, We Should Talk About This is available at https://aubgdaily.com/279/we-should-talk-about-this/