Dalhousie dentistry Facebook scandal prompts surge in counselling requests

Dalhousie University's counselling services are experiencing a surge in the number of people seeking help in wake of the dentistry Facebook scandal.

The story erupted in December when CBC News revealed screenshots from the group where some students talked about using chloroform to drug women.

The 13 fourth-year dentistry students who were members of the 2015 DDS Gentlemen’s Facebook group were suspended from clinical activities in January.

David Mensink, a Dalhousie counsellor and psychologist, said the scandal within the Faculty of Dentistry has been a trigger, causing students to re-experience things that were in their past.

"People who have been abused previously or harassed will re-experience it and we've had quite a few of them come in," he said.

Dalhousie University president Richard Florizone authorized extra funding to Dal's counselling services to hire two psychologists on temporary contracts.

Mensink said he has seen a jump in students asking for counselling due to stress, depression and anxiety since the Facebook screengrabs were made public.

Wait times jump

But even with the extra counsellors, Mensink said the wait time for students has jumped.

"If the student is functioning — they are going to classes, school is OK, they are not in any type of trouble — right now it's about six to eight weeks. Which isn't good in a school term. Eight weeks to now is into April and the term is over," he said.

Maddy Mayne is one of those students. She said she has been forced to see a private counsellor at her own expense.

"The difference between seeing someone and not seeing someone would probably be reflected hugely in my grade and in my general well being. I would have a very hard time getting through the semester if I wasn't seeing someone," she told CBC News.

Mensink said though the wait times are unacceptable, there is a more disturbing trend developing.

"The real statistic that is up is emergencies. We are doing a lot of crisis work here and a lot of emergency clients. The definition of an emergency is that they have to be seen on the same day," he said.

Mensink said the long wait times for more students not in crisis is also having an effect on crisis patients.

"So a lot of those regular functioning people are becoming more and more on our urgent lists and we are actually having trouble keeping up with the urgent [clients]," he said.

Mensink said they need two more full-time counsellors to keep the wait list from growing any further.