Mental Health Issues In College Lunches

Your brain undergoes massive changes that transition you from an adolescent to an adult, which can be arduous. Students are already plagued by societal and peer pressures, the need to be accepted and feel validated, and the addition of academic and parental pressures and their own development can put a lot of stress on a person. This can lead to the development of anxiety or depression in a student, and with the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, it is unlikely that a student would seek help even if they recognized the signs. This stigma is worsened by the absence of mental health information and support in schools. Both students and educators need a deeper understanding of what mental illness is, how and why it occurs, and how to help those who suffer from it.

Depression and suicide are becoming increasingly problematic for students currently in college. Spreading awareness and taking the stigma off of these issues is essential to helping those who are struggling come forward and seek help. By doing this, students can learn how to cope with their thoughts and feelings that are part of their illness in order to become stronger people as they enter the workforce. Constant financial and societal pressure to succeed can take a mental toll on college students, but by educating both teachers and students about the warning signs of depression and suicide, as well as how to help, it is possible to lower the frequency or risk of these illnesses in today’s college students.

As a person who has an experience of mental suffering during the first year of college, I found the psychological problems that many college students undergo as the most interesting subject to compare the articles from the popular press and peer-reviewed journals. The Newsweek’s article “After Virginia Tech.” (2007) written by Daniel McGinn discusses the Virginia Tech tragedy and how colleges are attending to the mental health issues of students. On the other hand, the peer-reviewed article “Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Applied to College Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial” (Pistorello, Fruzzetti, Maclane, Gallop, & Iverson, 2012) from Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology analyzes the effect of a cognitive behavioral treatment

People with serious mental health illnesses were considered to be the vulnerable and at risk for having positive outcomes through transitions from secondary education to higher education and adulthood (Haber, Karbur, Deschenes & Clark, 2013). Mental illness was noted to be the cause of more disabilities than any other disability category in the United States (Odds and Ends, 2010).

More than 45 percent of young adult students quit attending classes or college altogether because they feel as though they are not receiving adequate accommodations, whether professors or counseling services. While not all students seek treatment, the leading reason why is the worry that they will be judged by their peers (Chadron State College). Having programs that promote seeking treatment and make students know it is normal to feel emotionally unstable at times of extreme stress, that it is treatable, and it is positive to seek treatment could benefit students and colleges together. While colleges cannot offer the adequate help all students suffering from a mental health issue, having options for students can make it easier to cope. In another study by the Chadron State College, they reported that suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death on college campuses, as a wide-spread issue increasing.

Highschool students believe that once they go to college that everything will be different and change, no one is sure why mental illness is increasing in college, medicine and technology to help cope with it. Research shows that 288 students have relapsed after six years of treatment. Most think it is because it is living away from home and having to make new friends.

College is universally known to be some of the best years of a young adult's life, however for some it is the worst. Students fresh out of high school have many opportunities in college for independence, knowledge, traveling, forming new relationships, and a multitude of fun exciting adventures, so why would any of these young adults feel suicidal? The newfound personal responsibility accompanied by hard classes and social pressure that comes with college can be taxing on a college students mental health, and sadly most colleges and universities are ill equipped in helping students who are faced with these challenges. Recent years have shown an increase in dropout rates for colleges, and on a darker note, suicide attempts. An alarming number

In a nationwide survey gauging the attitude of college administration on the growing mental health issues among students, one dean shared “Students bring more and more nonacademic issues to campus … we are becoming a secondary social service agency” (Levine & Cureton, 1998). This was not an isolated phenomenon, but rather a troubling position shared across the nation. College presidents and deans fail to recognize the growing need for increased mental health services and academic support. Disability and counseling services are frequently on the cutting block when funding is questioned leaving 20% of children and 18.1% of young adult students suddenly losing the resources they need to thrive in an academic environment (NAMI, 2016).

There is a stigma behind depression that makes admitting to the disease something that people just do not do out of their own will. This sense of shame then results in a large number of people going around undiagnosed and untreated for something as serious as depression. There needs to be a stronger conversation about how real depression is and how important it is to get help to treat it. The lack of a conversation being had is hurting college students further than their depression (Li). Due to some colleges not having accessible counseling services, or mental health programs, it helps in the results of self-treatment of student’s depression. Or simply due to the fact that some students do not know that they either have depression, or that there are services at their colleges that are there to help them. More colleges need to have outreach programs to help students to understand that it’s okay to seek help and that there are many ways to manage their stress. Ways that do not include harming themselves and their bodies. It is statistically likely that if all of this stress begins to add up, suicidal thoughts may begin to occur. This is a serious downfall to

The concept of mental health is not a new concept, especially for college students. Cornell University has become synonymous with high suicide rates and poor mental health. Cornell students undergo a tremendous amount of stress in maintaining their academic excellence, while contributing to the community as well. The suicide “image” perceived is so pervasive that my friends from California would often bring up how alarming this is. However, according to our guest lecturer, Tim Marchell, Cornell University actually has an average suicide rate on par with schools of similar caliber. He attributed this common misperception of high suicides at Cornell to the high visibility of students jumping off bridges (Mental Health, Tim Marchell). Due to the fact that jumping off a bridge has a shock factor, it is highly visible in the media. Secondly, because Cornell University is an Ivy Leagues intuition provides a confirmation bias for those who believe in the immense academic rigor. More often than not, students become so focused on their academics and extracurriculars, they forget about their fellow student and occasionally neglect their mental health.

Social pressures felt by students in tertiary institutions and graduates continue to increase, as well as the prevalence of mental illness in college students (Pedersen et al., 2014). Many would argue the pressures of higher education elicit high anxiety rates, feelings of failure, stress, suicidal ideation, and depression among college students. Effective treatment and screening options for depression and suicidal ideation in this growing population demands more attention.

“The suicide rate among young adults have tripled since the 1950s” (Barrios, 229). Specifically, on college campuses, there are more than 1000 suicides. This makes suicide is the third leading cause of death in college students (Cerel, 46). Studies that were performed at Oxford and Cambridge showed that the elevated rise of student suicide was due to the academic pressure. Later studies questioned if it was the school’s environment that contributed to a student’s choice in taking their own life or did schools simply attract students who were emotionally unstable. Many students come into college with disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and personality problems. This contributes to the rising number of student suicides. Since then, universities have been trying to help students with mental disorders and students who develop them while in college by offering mental health centers and counseling. Some universities have even taken the measure to give students with disorders an extended deadline and fewer courses a semester. Colleges and universities have provided a lot for students to be mentally and physically healthy on their campus, so this begs the question: How can the nature of college lead a student to commit suicide?

Towards the end of the course, our class held a facilitation for participants to discuss mental health issues on campus and how the university can better provide for its participants. We posed the question “What is keeping students from living a life that is mentally healthy?” and through various activities and conversations, found answers to this question. Following our event, we used the issues and ideas gathered to

Mental health affects the way people think, feel, and act. This type of health includes a person’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being (HHS, 2017). Mental health impacts a person’s everyday life and without receiving the proper help that they need, could resort to self-medicating or extreme measures. Approximately 800,000 people die by completing the act of suicide every year, which makes suicide the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds. (WHO, 2017). Universities and college campuses are on the frontlines of young at-risk people’s lives. When young people move to college it is a large transition time in their lives. For most college youth, this is their first time moving away from home and with rigorous course work, the stress can be overwhelming. This particular time in their lives is when the onset of most mental disorders arise.

Besides the rate of psychiatric disorder, it is important to look at the type of diagnosed illness of young adults. When thinking about college life, many adults point to certain illnesses and factors that are synonymous with higher education. According to Dr. Richard Kadison and Theresa DiGeronimo in their book College of the Overwhelmed, 85% of college students report feeling stressed, and 30% of students seeking counseling cited “Academic Concern” as their chief complaint; however, neither of these are diagnosed medical problems, only complaints. These statistics fuel the stereotype that college students suffer mainly from stress and anxiety disorders. While this has some validity, Blanco et al.’s study shows that the most prevalent diagnosed illnesses were