From the Maker of Effexor: Campus Talks on Depression

Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company, is planning a mental-health educational campaign on college campuses to raise students' awareness of depression and the drugs that can treat it.

Starting next month, the Madison, N.J., maker of the antidepressant Effexor is planning 90-minute forums in campus auditoriums around the country, called "Depression in College: Real World, Real Life, Real Issues." The programs will feature free screenings for depression and speakers, including professors, physicians -- and Cara Kahn, a young star of the MTV reality show "Real World Chicago," who takes Effexor to treat her own depression.

The campaign is one of the biggest marketing efforts ever for an antidepressant on college campuses. Living with the stresses of academic pressure, romantic woes, too much junk food and too little sleep -- and, in many cases, independently of their parents for the first time -- the nation's 15 million college students are an important market for drug companies looking to build antidepressant sales.

Drug companies sold $12.2 billion in antidepressants in the U.S. last year, according to IMS Health, in Fairfield, Conn. It isn't clear what portion of sales were to college students. But some campus health officials estimate as much as 20% of the nation's student population takes antidepressants at some point in their college years.

Wyeth is hoping to get the forums onto 10 campuses this year. So far, it says it has secured four, including Washington University, St. Louis, and the University of South Florida, Tampa. It declines to name the other two or to disclose what it is spending on the forums, citing competitive pressures.

Poster for a depression screening from the nonprofit group Screening for Mental Health.

Some academics aren't keen on having a drug company host an educational event on campus. "It's a slippery slope I do not believe that universities should take," says Steven Hyman, Harvard University provost and formerly director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "Colleges that participate probably are not consciously colluding to market the product of a company, but they are dependent on the resources of the company."

The highlight of the forum is the 23-year-old Ms. Kahn, whom Wyeth has hired as a spokeswoman. Far from concealing her treatment for depression while she was a student at Washington University, Ms. Kahn talked about it on the "Real World" TV show. "It was never a secret I was on medication, even if it meant taking the pill in the middle of a class," Ms. Kahn says, in an interview. "But I didn't brag about it. I've been dealing with it for a while." She says she may discuss taking Effexor in her campus appearances, but emphasizes, "In accepting the job, I really made it clear that I am not a walking commercial." Ms. Kahn and Wyeth decline to say how much the company is paying her.

Wyeth says its forums are meant to teach kids about depression, not sell pharmaceuticals. There won't be any ads or signage for the company or the drug, says Douglas Petkus, a Wyeth spokesman. "We don't look at it as a marketing plan. The intent is to address a segment of the marketplace that does not really get as much education on this topic. The focus of this program is not on the commercial message." Wyeth will be acknowledged as a sponsor of the event on a brochure.

Wyeth is getting involved elsewhere on campus. The company has joined with Pfizer Inc. (maker of the antidepressant Zoloft), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (maker of Paxil) and Eli Lilly & Co. (Prozac) to help underwrite the National Depression Screening Day, taking place Thursday at dozens of campuses, hospitals and high schools nationwide. Students fill out questionnaires about sleep, weight gain or loss, feelings of hopelessness and thoughts about suicide and dying and get referrals, if warranted.

Depression and students' mental health are high on the list of priorities for campus officials. Wyeth estimates 1.6 million incoming freshmen experience episodes of depression. And in a recent survey by the American College Health Association, almost 10% of 16,000 students reported having seriously contemplated suicide. Suicide is the No. 3 cause of death of people ages 15 to 24.

But the idea of giving drug companies a role in education and awareness efforts is unacceptable to some administrators. "In the case of celebrities speaking, who are actually being paid by the company, there is a risk that inappropriate marketing will go on," says Harvard's Dr. Hyman, who adds that campus screening programs run the risk of misdiagnosis and unnecessary prescriptions.

Officials at the University of South Florida had no such qualms. "As long as the presentation is very balanced and the marketing isn't happening at all, then we have not found it to be a problem thus far," says Karen Milo, professor of psychiatry at the University's College of Medicine who is coordinating the Wyeth forum there. "We haven't had problems with sponsorship because frankly it is not seen," she adds.

Laurie Reitman, director of the student health and counseling center at Washington University, says she and her superior discussed the issue of Wyeth's sponsorship and decided the forum was ethically in the clear. "I don't see anything wrong with utilizing every available resource to publicize educational resources for our students," Dr. Reitman says, adding that the appearance by Ms. Kahn, a WU alumna, will "fill Graham Chapel," which holds nearly 1,000 students.

Working with Wyeth is Screening for Mental Health Inc., a Wellesley Hills, Mass., nonprofit that receives some of its funding from drug companies. It helps colleges conduct screenings for depression, eating disorders, anxiety and alcohol abuse, providing public-service ads, posters and promotion ideas. Screenings in public places can attract surprisingly large numbers of students, says Joelle Reizes, special projects director. Slogans, such as, "Stressed? Come find out how much" or "Come test your mood," work better than telling students to attend a "depression screening," she says.

Wyeth has made other efforts to get involved in campus mental-health programs. Last month, the National Mental Health Association and the Jed Foundation sent 3,000 college presidents a letter and a 13-page study called "Safeguarding Your Students Against Suicide," underwritten by Wyeth and Forest Laboratories Inc., New York. The report urges the presidents to make sure their campuses are staffed with medical professionals who can prescribe "newer" antidepressants.

Certainly, the use of antidepressants on campus is growing. Greg Snodgrass, president of the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors, says a recent survey indicated that 18% of students seeking help at counseling centers got prescriptions for psychotropic medication -- up from only 7% in 1992. He says he would worry about hosting a drug-company sponsored event -- "especially if I was at all concerned that their motive was to promote their brand."

Write to Paul Glader at paul.glader@wsj.com²

Updated October 10, 2002 3:40 p.m. EDT