{"id":346,"date":"2023-09-18T20:17:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T20:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/?page_id=346"},"modified":"2026-04-06T19:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:29:53","slug":"concerned-about-someone","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/concerned-about-someone\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerned About Someone?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Need Help Now?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Are you worried about a student or learner, or do you need urgent assistance for your own mental health concern? The <a href=\"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/bhcst\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Behavioral Health Crisis Support Team<\/a> (BHCST) can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at <a href=\"tel:4105169355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">410-516-WELL<\/a>\u00a0<strong>(9355)<\/strong>. The BHCST pairs specially trained public safety officers with licensed clinicians to provide mobile crisis response to the Homewood, Peabody, and East Baltimore campuses.<\/p>\n<p>You may be concerned about a student who seems to be struggling academically, personally, or emotionally and you want to help\u2013but how? You can express concern and be accepting and non-judgmental. You can also encourage him or her to reach out to Mental Health Services for free, confidential support.<\/p>\n<h3>For faculty and staff concerned about a student:<\/h3>\n<p>Please visit <a href=\"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/resources\/faculty-staff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Faculty &amp; Staff Can Help<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>For students concerned about a friend, roommate, or classmate:<\/h3>\n<p>Friends can be helpful to students in distress. You may be concerned about a friend\u2019s thoughts or behaviors. Often students in distress are feeling overwhelmed and embarrassed about their symptoms.\u202f Your kind words, expression of concern, and referral to a competent professional can make a significant difference in the life of the student, his or her friends and family, and the Johns Hopkins community.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to \u201ctrust your gut\u201d in these situations and act.\u202fYou may be the only person with whom your friend feels comfortable discussing their situation, or you may be one of the people who can see changes in your friend early on and help before the problem becomes overwhelming.\u202f When you notice a concern, remember that Mental Health Services wants to support all distressed, suicidal, or potentially dangerous students before concerning behaviors escalate.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/publicsafety.jhu.edu\/community-safety\/student-and-employee-threat-assessment-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Student and Employee Threat Assessment Team (STAT)<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> The Johns Hopkins University Student and Employee Threat Assessment Team (STAT) process establishes a universitywide coordinated effort to identify, assess, manage, intervene, and mitigate potential or identified threats of violence and harm involving students, and employees. Learn more about the STAT process, the team, and how to file a report by visiting the website. If you need to report an emergency or are reporting an incident that poses an imminent risk of harm, immediately call JHU Public Safety at\u00a0<a href=\"tel:667-208-1200\">667-208-1200<\/a>, or dial 911. STAT does not provide emergency\/crisis response.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What to look for<\/h3>\n<p>While each distressed person will likely experience a variety of different symptoms, there are some common warning signs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Emotional symptoms<\/strong>\u202fmay be the most evident.\u202f Look for changes that occur quickly and behaviors that are a departure from the person\u2019s normal behaviors. For example, you might notice the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Crying more often<\/li>\n<li>Decrease in sense of self worth<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t seem like themselves<\/li>\n<li>Increased alcohol or drug use<\/li>\n<li>Strange behaviors<\/li>\n<li>Becomes socially withdrawn<\/li>\n<li>Loss of ability to experience happiness or pleasure<\/li>\n<li>Excessive anger or preoccupation<\/li>\n<li>Talk of death or desire to die<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Symptoms of stress and decline often <strong>manifest\u202fphysically<\/strong>. The following, combined with other symptoms, should be observed and noted:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Weight loss or gain<\/li>\n<li>Less concern about appearance<\/li>\n<li>Sleeping much more or much less<\/li>\n<li>Poor hygiene<\/li>\n<li>Aggressiveness or violence<\/li>\n<li>Possession of a weapon, particularly a firearm<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All Johns Hopkins students are here because of hard work and determination. If you notice the following <strong>academic<\/strong> symptoms, it could be significant and should be addressed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t seem to care about school as much as usual<\/li>\n<li>Not studying<\/li>\n<li>Grades drop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What to do<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s important to intervene when you see a friend in trouble.\u202f Because your friend trusts you, you may be in the best position to connect your friend with professional counseling services and resources. The following are useful things to consider when deciding how to approach your friend:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Express concern<\/strong>.\u202fLet your friend know that you are worried and that you care about what happens to them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be accepting and non-judgmental<\/strong>.\u202fDo your best not to make remarks that could be interpreted as critical or insensitive.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Offer support<\/strong>.\u202fAsk what you can do to be helpful. Let your friend know that you\u2019re available for support.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage your friend to seek help<\/strong>.\u202fLet them know that there are professional resources that can help. You may offer to assist in <a href=\"https:\/\/myhealth.wellbeing.jhu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scheduling an appointment<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay calm<\/strong>.\u202fIf you are able to remain calm, it is more likely that your friend will respond calmly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Know your limits as a helper<\/h3>\n<p>Intervening with a friend can be stressful and draining. It\u2019s important to make sure that you are taken care of as well as your friend.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Help find other sources of help and support so you are not the only one.<\/li>\n<li>Only take on what you can manage.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid risky situations.<\/li>\n<li>Follow your intuition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When in doubt, ask for help.\u202fMental Health Services provides consultation services to students and learners about many issues, including helping each other.\u202fYou can call <a href=\"tel:410-516-9355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">410-516-3311<\/a> to talk with a Behavioral Health Crisis Support Team clinician about your concerns and get suggestions on how to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need Help Now? Are you worried about a student or learner, or do you need urgent assistance for your own&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-346","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2043,"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346\/revisions\/2043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellbeing.jhu.edu\/MentalHealthServices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}