” … Colleges have been steadily increasing the availability of treatment and counseling, and students have responded. At the University of Michigan, for example, the number of students seeking counseling has risen 22 percent in three years, said Todd Sevig, director of counseling and psychological services.

Some college officials see the contradiction inherent in their new efforts to offset stress and encourage the joys of reflection and unstructured time. After all, it was multitasking, hyperorganized, résumé building behavior that helped some students get admitted to their schools in the first place.

“We admit only the most over-scheduled children and we boast of how many sports they play, how many clubs they organize, how many hours of volunteer service they provide,” said Elaine Hansen, president of Bates College, in Lewiston, Me., in her inaugural address two years ago. How then, she went on, could Bates encourage those same children to risk “moments of woolgathering, daydreaming, improvisation” that she viewed as an essential component of a liberal arts education? … “

> From NYTimes: “Today’s Lesson for College Students: Lighten Up”