Student well-being is a critical priority for the university and an important indicator of student success. “Like many universities nationwide, Stanford is experiencing increasing demand for mental health services. In an email response to The Daily, University spokesman Stett Holbrook acknowledged the mental health difficulties students face on-campus. “It’s so easy to struggle in silence here,” they wrote. A frosh almost defined the experience of duck syndrome verbatim: In The Daily’s mental health issue last year, one anonymous sophomore said they spent over 45 minutes on hold with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS.) One law student told The Daily that the entire law school (nearly 600 students) shares one counselor. Generally, when students struggle with mental health, the advice is cookie-cutter: see a professional.īut mental health care at Stanford has received notoriously mixed reviews. Liu believes it’s “easy to overlook” struggles and different life experiences at Stanford, because of the school’s “emphasis on achievement.” With a six-figure average post-college salary and a legacy of CEOs and world leaders, Stanford students shoot for the moon, but might not accept simply landing among the stars.ĭuck syndrome is not an official mental health diagnosis, but the feelings of worry, comparison and self-deprecation can root themselves in more serious illnesses like generalized anxiety, social anxiety and clinical depression. But she doesn’t deny that Stanford’s culture is, at least partially, at fault. She told The Daily that, depending on the communities students opt into, there’s a varied risk of falling victim to duck syndrome, based on her observations. Liu defines duck syndrome as people “pretending that are going through Stanford effortlessly while actually struggling.” The Bridge is a 24/7 peer counseling center, available for students to explore feelings, get help sorting out issues or just have someone to talk to. ’23 spends her days helping people that struggle with these stressors. It’s something college students across the country fall victim to, due to the common stressors of balancing academics, extracurriculars and social life.Īs a live-in peer counselor at the Bridge Counseling Center, Lily Liu ’21 M.S. But at Stanford, it’s advice you know all too well.ĭuck syndrome, the website reads, is the idea that “students are struggling to survive the pressures of a competitive environment,” paddling their tails off, “while presenting the image of a relaxed student,” floating peacefully on the water.Īlthough the term appears to have originated on the Farm, the experience is not entirely unique to Stanford. If you’re far removed from the Stanford bubble, this instruction might seem bizarre. “Don’t be a duck!” reads the headline of a student affairs website page.
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