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A Serious Illness or an Excuse?

(12/19/2011)

By Andrea Petersen
The Wall Street Journal
December 13, 2011

At University of Vermont, above, staff role play with students with mental health issues to prepare them to negotiate with professors. Earlier this semester, college senior Leah Nelson emailed one of her instructors to ask for extra time to complete a paper. "I have been going through a rough patch lately and am making the decision to take care of myself this week," Ms. Nelson wrote. Her mental health, she continued, would "take priority over everything else."

View the full Wall Street Journal article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203430404577094330403235506.html


Keywords: serious illness, excuse



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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of
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