Unprotected:
How Universities Can Be Hazardous to Student Health
By Warren Throckmorton,
PhD
Eat right. Wear seatbelts. Avoid cigarettes. Use
sunscreen.
Yearly, thousands of college kids hear this wisdom
from their university health services and wellness
professors.
However, it is unlikely that these same students
will hear this gem: “Casual sexual liaisons
on college campuses are hazardous, especially for
young women. Medically and psychologically, it’s
wise to wait.”
One campus psychiatrist wants to know why this advice
is rare. She notes, “College health centers
do a great job educating students about all sorts
of health issues. These professionals expect that,
given accurate information, students will make smart
choices. They recommend to ‘have the salad
instead of the pizza.’ They assume that young
people are capable of self-discipline – and
expect it of them. There’s only one exception:
sexual health. Here students are told: limit your
partners, and use latex. Well, it’s not working.”
This psychiatrist should know. I can tell you she
is employed in the college counseling center of
a major university and that she is also the author
of a new book, Unprotected, which describes the
faulty practices of the typical university health
and counseling center. What I cannot tell you is
her name.
The author of Unprotected has taken the name Dr.
Anonymous because she is fearful of professional
reprisals for her stunningly candid picture of college
health today. In an interview, she told me she feels
very much at risk. “I’m discussing a
taboo topic here: the dangers of radical social
agendas in my profession. My colleagues are well-intentioned,
and care deeply about their patients. But campus
counseling centers are whitewashing the painful
consequences of casual sex, STDs and abortion. They
are promoting the notion that men and women are
the same. They are not educating young people about
future and family. In these issues, so central to
campus health and counseling, we are failing our
young people.”
Dr. Anonymous says she is inhibited by her profession
from warning students about the risks of unrestrained
sexual behavior, perhaps, she believes, because
it sounds judgmental. The anything-goes mentality
has found its way in to campus health. However,
she says, morals aside, “It is not smart to
hook up, especially for women.”
A superb story teller, she describes patients who
pursue success by eating well, exercising, and structuring
their lives to get good educational experiences.
However, what they don’t do well is manage
healthy intimate lives. One student, Heather, told
Dr. Anonymous that she was depressed but never considered
that her depression might relate to a loveless “friends
with benefits” relationship with a young man.
Dr. Anonymous quotes the young woman saying, “…I’m
confused, because it seems like I don’t get
the ‘friend’ part, but he still gets
the ‘benefits.’” Has any mental
health or health professional informed Heather that
research demonstrates casual sex is associated with
an increased risk for depression? Apparently not.
Sadly, however, some prestigious universities present
the opposite message. One shocking example from
the book is the Columbia University Health Services’
website Goaskalice.com. The website portrays itself
as a resource to help students “make responsible
decisions regarding their health and well-being.”
What can student learn there? Dr Anonymous lists
some of the questions addressed: “Health risks
of bestiality;” and how to manage a threesome.
You can even learn how to clean a bloody cat-o’nine-tails
whip between sadomasochism sessions. And it’s
all included in the tuition.
I searched the site for any mention of the relationship
between casual sex and depression in young women
to no avail. According to Dr. Anonymous, I should
not waste my time, I won’t find anything to
help students limit their sexuality, only express
it.
In Unprotected, Dr. Anonymous advances a plausible
theory that one reason college health services are
inundated with depression, eating disorders and
sexually transmitted diseases is the failure of
the health professions to address the medical and
psychological risks of unrestrained sexual behavior.
She also takes on the consequences of sexual license
on long-term infertility in women, the effects of
abortion on the mental health of women and men,
as well as the role of religion in promoting good
mental adjustment – all topics Dr. Anonymous
says are ignored by today’s psychiatric profession.
I asked Dr. Anonymous what parents of college aged
students should do in response to reading her book.
She advised, “Send them the book and use it
to start a discussion. Tell your child these are
true stories of students just like them: Smart,
responsible young men and women who were not accurately
informed, thought they were protected, and are now
paying the price.” Perhaps, parents of university
students should send a copy of the book along with
their next tuition check.
The author intends such conversations, at all levels
of the university. The back cover of the book predicts,
“…Unprotected will infuriate the health
establishment and start a debate on campuses nationwide.”
Indeed, fury and debate would be a good beginning.
After that, I hope those inside and outside the
academy heed the warnings and common sense advice
of Unprotected.
Unprotected is published by Sentinel, an imprint
of the Penguin Group.
(Warren Throckmorton, PhD is an Associate Professor
of Psychology and Fellow for Psychology and Public
Policy at the Center for Vision and Values, Grove
City College. He is the producer of I Do Exist,
a documentary about sexual identity. His columns
have been published in over 100 newspapers and he
has appeared on the O’Reilly Factor, Fox News
Live and numerous other television and radio programs.
Dr. Throckmorton can be contacted via his website,
www.drthrockmorton.com)
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