Rapid Mental Health Issues

The top 4 mental health issues facing college students are depression, anxiety, suicide, and eating disorders. Depression is a huge problem with college students mainly because depression is linked to and leads to suicide. If one and three college students are depressed that's 33% of students who are on a pathway to suicide. Anxiety is one of the main problems because

In the United States only 50% of public school students receive any education on mental health issues prior to college. Yet, the years between middle school and college have the highest percentage of United States youth suffering from mental illnesses. Of college students who were surveyed across the country, 50% reported their mental health as being below average or poor, and 30% reported problems with schoolwork due to mental health issues.

Mental health among college students has been proven to be a relevant social issue that our society faces. There are certainly a few different institutions that play a large role within the development of this social issue. The first institution, and the primary institution at play with this issue, is the higher education system. In terms of mental health and having access to resources, college students haven’t always been as lucky as they are today. One study in 2007 explains the story of Junior at Syracuse University (Kravets, 3081). Anita Rutman had a history of mental health issues; she even found herself being admitted to a mental health hospital. One morning in February, she threw herself off of the eighth floor of Boland Hall and landed on a patio and fortunately lived. However, her attempt stemmed from the university sending her letter three days prior that informed Anita that the school was planning to dismiss her because of her suicidal tendencies (Kravets, 3081). Anita later sued Syracuse for ten million dollars for malpractice and negligence in handling her condition.

One of the biggest problems among students within post-secondary are the struggling issues of mental health such as depression, anxiety or stress which leads to the failure of adequate nutrition. The age of when mental disorders are clear to one’s self is between the age of 18 to 24 as this is the age of many adolescents are going into higher education (Kessler et al., 2005) . University students who struggle with depression and anxiety majority of the time is caused by the academic stress of being a leading cause of their mental health. As a survey was conducted by campus counselors, many found an outstanding factor of parental pressure for high grades from their child causing many students stress, depression and anxiety which elevates expectations within the student (Watkins et al. 2001, p. 322). These high rates are due to the feeling of being badgered to achieve high grades and maintain their grades while balancing their social life.

Depression, anxiety, and suicide are relatively common phenomena among college students (Klerman & Weissman, 1989; Twenge et al., 2010).

The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) oversees a comprehensive, practice-research network, designed to help directors of university and college counseling centers (UCC) monitor clinical trends, enhance treatment effectiveness, and advocate for additional resources (McAleavey, Castonguay, Hayes, & Locke, 2014). Through this initiative, standardized measures are used to collect data from UCCs across the United States. One of these, the Counseling Center Assessment for Psychological Symptoms - 34 (CCAPS-34; Locke et al, 2012), was constructed as a brief multidimensional outcome measure, assessing seven clinical subscales including depression, eating concerns, alcohol abuse, generalized anxiety, hostility, social anxiety, and academic

Mental health is a serious topic that is often not taken seriously. Due to my own struggles with depression, I have experienced the impact mental illness can have on a student’s life. Mental illness can make everyday life feel unbearable and can have just as serious of an effect on a person as a physical illness. The causes of increasing mental health problems in college students are numerous, and it will take work from both students and universities to overcome this problem, but change is necessary for the health of U.S. college students.

Increase in College Mental Health Problems Fifty percent of college students rate their mental health as below average or poor (Garcia ). The increase of anxiety and depression amongst college students has been a controversy throughout the country for a few years now. Mental health has been an increasing problem due to the need to perform perfectly academically and to maintain an active social life. Mental health has always been an issue in our society, but since recently it's been getting a lot of attention due to the amount of evidence that shows that the stress levels in college students are very high. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in three students reported having periods of depressions and one in four students reported having suicidal thoughts and feelings (Garcia).

Thesis: Mental Illness in colleges needs to be addressed because of the rise in college students being diagnosed in mental health problems.

Anxiety and Depression disorders are two of the most common mental disorders in the United States (Falsafi, 2016). It appears that the two disorders are widespread amongst college students and most cannot manage the high demands and stress (Falsafi, 2016). Therefore, they feel more prone to depression and anxiety (Falsafi, 2016). According to the authors Miller & Chung, mental health amongst college students in the United States is a growing public health concern and educators are concerned about the low academic performance of college students and how it influences their mental health (Miller, & Chung, 2009). Research indicates that university students suffer with low grades and poor academic performances, while trying to manage depression and anxiety (Falsafi, 2016). With the consistence of higher drop out rates, it is imperative that colleges and universities create programs that assist students with managing their depression and anxiety to help them through their education.

   Today a college education can overload students with too many stressful situations. Not only does Stress overload today's college students, but it is also the leading cause of personality disorders. In her essay, Cathy Bell explains that major depressive disorder strikes 5-12% of men and 10-20% of women; half of these people will have more than one occurrence and 15% of them will commit suicide ("Depression for the young"). For instance, many depressives are first recognized and treated during their years in college. For a large amount of people, depression exposes itself because of traumatizing experiences, such as leaving home and/or academic stress. For other students alcohol and drugs become a

Depression and anxiety among college students is something that experts have focused on for the past twenty years. The information they have been gathering ranges from the different stressors of college life to the effects of one's culture on how they deal with depression or anxiety symptoms. They have identified a few core characteristics of depression and thoughts of suicide. These are both serious concepts in which people need to seek help for. It is important for students to reach out to friends, family, or professionals to support them during this time. Many campuses offer counseling centers which are seeing many more people over the past few years.

- An increase of 30 percent in caseloads related to students seeking help for mental health issues between 2009 and 2010, and 2014 and 2015 at 93 university counseling centers. These mental health concerns showed prominence in anxiety and mood disorders, and suicidal thoughts, according to the Center for Collegiate Mental Health in 2015.

Another obstacle that threatens success is health and emotional issues present prior to attending school. Fogg (2009) reveals that graduate school has a reputation for triggering and amplifying depression and mental illness, especially in those already afflicted by mental health issues. Depression may prevent the individual from fully engaging in discussions, completing assignments or even reaching one’s full potential. Strategies to overcome these obstacles include complying with prescribed mental health medications, seeking support from the university’s free resource center, and focusing on self-care activities.

Campus mental health statistics paint an alarming picture of the incidence of suicide rates on college campuses and by some measures they are getting worse. Almost one in three students have admitted to considering suicide. Mental health needs on campus are real and serious, they are also growing, which is