Adults usually tell young people that, “the teenage years are the best years of your life.” But ironically, life for many young people is a heart breaking battle full of mixed messages and contradictory demands from parents, teachers, coaches, employers, friends and oneself. Growing up involves finding the link between independence and reliance on others and this can be really confusing. It can lead to stress, which may eventually lead to serious depression for young people ill-equipped to cope, communicate and solve problems. The social pressures experienced by students in the tertiary institutions and graduate studies continue to increase, as well as the prevalence of mental illness in college students (Pedersen et al., 2014). The pressures that come with higher education, bring about high anxiety rates, feelings of failure, stress, suicidal ideation, and depression. Therefore it is forthcoming that the treatment and screening options for depression and suicidal ideation be given more attention. Often more extreme social and academic pressures, can increase anxiety and depression in students (Potter et al., 2004). And so some universities have support groups formed on campuses to help students. But the question is, “Do the students patronize them?” Emory University (2015) suggests that there are specific risk factors for university students in association with suicide, including academic pressures, use of drugs and alcohol, decreased social
The mental stability of college students has dropped to a staggering low, so low that 1 in 4 college students have reported that the have had suicidal thoughts and actions. That's just the amount that have reported that they are feeling suicidal. So many college students struggle with mental illness and receive no help or guidance in curing and dealing with their illnesses.
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.
Deadlines, Midterms, finals, papers, all while trying to have a social life can become overwhelming. According college degree search, there are 1,100 suicides at colleges per year. That’s 7.5 per 100,000 students. It has been proven by research being a college today student is much harder than in the 1950’s. College students encounter a great deal of problems, such as depression, time management, and having personal relationships.
Adolescence is a time of stressful transition for teenagers. They are straddling the fence between childhood and adulthood. Changes in their bodies, brains, thinking, values, friends, responsibilities and expectations cause events that are usually a time fraught with turbulence, for both the teen and their parents. This is a normal part of human development, and must be endured in order to come out the other side, hopefully well-adjusted, happy, healthy, and
Depression, anxiety, and suicide are relatively common phenomena among college students (Klerman & Weissman, 1989; Twenge et al., 2010).
General trends indicate that the number of university students experiencing mental health problems as well as the severity and complexity of the cases being presented is increasing. (Reijers, S., 2014)
Suicide is the final part of the chain and with the information that has been shown, statistically, the more a student continues to fight in their education, the more likely they are to take their lives away. Cris Brownson and all the other authors, write about suicide within college students in “Distress and Suicidality in Higher Education: Implications for Population-Oriented Prevention Paradigms.” Suicide is second most common death within college students according to this paper and the authors want to know why this is to explain to the audience the type of problems college students typically go through. A bunch of students from University of Texas Austin were sampled to find out about their mental health history and found that a 26% of students have considered suicide at least once in their lives, 22% of undergraduate and 18% of graduate students have seriously considered suicide, and 7% of undergraduates and 5% of graduate students have attempted suicide at least once in their lives. It was also reported that 73% of these students most stressful times were because of academic reason, which branch off to financial problems, school work, relationship problems, ect. It also shows that alcohol and drugs play a major role in suicide since students will try overdosing with alcohol and drugs to try to take away their own lives. It was originally
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.
The teenage years are ones full of emotion. It is the best time of some people’s lives and it needs
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.
Teenage is a fundamental stage of life that each human being passes through. Some people face this period of their life strongly and positively, while others face many problems and difficulties. This depends on the environment these young adults live in, their parents, their friends, their living conditions, their education, and many other factors. Teenagers face many problems such as becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol, being influenced negatively by their peers, self-image and weight, or even arguments with their parents
For some teens, striving for perfection has led to harming their own health and wellbeing such as living with depression and suicide. Teenagers today are relying on what they see in ads, T.V., magazines and on the internet for their input on appearances, the way they think not only comes from media sources, but from family and friends.
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