Mental State Of College Students Essay

Mental disorders are as common among college students as same-aged non-students, and these disorders seem to be growing in amount and severity. It is not unusual for undergraduate students to experience varying levels of anxiety, depression, and stress during their matriculation; some college students experience academic stressors as well as non-academic stressors. Non-academic stressors could include seemingly obvious issues like moving away from family for the first time or some issues that may be harder to recognize like private health concerns. Dr. Richard Kadison, chief of mental health services at Harvard University and author of “College of the Overwhelmed” reported that almost 50% of college students are likely to suffer some degree of

Additionally, the BRS has been used in the context of a university in previous studies, and proven to be a valid and reliable instrument when examining resilience levels among college students (Amat, Subhan, Jaafar, Mahmud, & Johari, 2014; (Lai & Yue, 2014). These tests were completed independantly by each of the participants.

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.

After graduating high school, no one prepares you for college. Most kids when they are finished with high school don’t even fantasize about going back to school. I have always wanted to go to college ever since I was a young kid. I also had dreams of myself going to college, but in my dreams, everything was picture perfect. In reality, college has been very challenging for me. No one tells you about the adjustments and complications that you would have to face to become a successful college student.

One of the biggest reasons why college and university counseling services are seeing an increase in the number of people requesting help and in the severity of their cases is simply that more people are now attending

First of all, adjusting to academic challenges in the freshman year can create stress for students in a variety of ways. First-year students experience stress while trying to keep up with the new academic workloads in college, which are completely different and more challenging than the workloads in high school. To illustrate this, in Alan Schwartz’s article in the New York Times magazine entitled “More College Freshmen Report Having Felt Depressed,” he wrote about the results

I 've been in college for a short amount of time and I can say that I am completely aware of the fact that you can definitely get discouraged, tired and maybe even wish to drop out and quit college completely.Most people also can get very stressed and will want to give up without putting in the effort,and according to this class, the reason is solely due to the person lacking communication.I however, plan to explore other reasons as to why people drop out.

College students are showing greater levels of stress, anxiety and depression, and signs show the trend will become worse. The bottom line is that college students are already facing a mental health crisis. To quote one source “Statistical trends related to depression are hard to come by, but most experts agree that depression rates in the United States and worldwide are increasing.” (citation). Much of today’s research shows that college students today have greater levels of stress than any time in history. Stress can be good if it motivates, but it's bad if it wears an individual down. Many factors can contribute to the stress that one experiences, and this stress can cause changes in the body that affect an individual's overall physical, mental, and emotional health. The ramifications of this kind of stress are affecting the mental health of college students everywhere. Another social stress that can cause pressure on an individual and cause mental health issues is an unhappy living situation. Families living in poverty can suffer severe mental issues. This social issue is a common one that many people in today's society face. The World Health Organization has described poverty as the greatest cause of

It seems that many high school students in America are feeling increasingly anxious and distracted. Between getting the right grades to making time with friends, some feel more stressed than ever before. Often, I hear and see the effects that stress has on students, especially those who are enrolled in upper level programs like Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB). The fact is that mental illnesses are becoming a bigger occurrence each day in high schools all across the country. Between academics, family, friends, sports, and other commitments, it is becoming more and more difficult for students to balance everything in their lives. Of course, there are those who don’t have the best coping skills, and some develop suicidal

The up rise in mental health illness amongst college students has become a growing public health concern nationwide (Byrd 2012, McKinney 2012). Rising incidents have led to increased rates of suicide, depression and a variety of mental health illnesses which vary in complexity, severity and prevalence within many U.S college campuses (Arria 2012). Despite the increasing volume of now known mental health cases, many students are still not seeking psychological treatment (Aselton 2012). In an era where depression and suicide have become leading causes of death amongst adolescents and young adults (Farabough 2012, Hirsch 2007), efforts must be made to treat these mental health concerns as early and diligently as possible. The University of Maryland Baltimore County is a melting pot of students with cultural, mental and physical diversity. This paper/presentation will aim to discuss a variety of issues which depict the common predictors of depression, barriers to seeking care, student’s knowledge/ attitudes and beliefs about counseling services.

Many factors such as balancing social life and academics with mental and physical health contribute to stress levels in college students. Depending on the time of the year the level of stress in students rises and falls. Chris provides insight, sharing that, “during the first part of the year…[she] see[s] a lot of stress because it’s an adjustment…then midterms, then final exams.” Although “a lot of external factors have changed, the reality is that college students still experience stress like I did when I was in school,” Donevant-Haines shares empathetically. Because of her experience as a counselor at Coastal, she has inside information about stress and anxiety present throughout the student population. Chris shares that the “fast paced world [and] acknowledging that everyone deals with stress...it is the number one thing that brings students to counseling services.” Once students are aware that stress is an extremely prevalent issue on campus, some “feel comfortable in taking a step towards making an appointment with counseling services” (Donevant-Haines).

If you ask any college student, whether freshman or grad student, what their top three problems in college are, stress will inevitably top that list. I’ve been at Louisiana Tech for less than three months, and I have had countless mental breakdowns. Students’ issues range from financial instability, to scholastic problems, to emotional anxiety, back to financial instability, and right over to being ill prepared. When most students think about the overwhelming amount of stress they’re facing, they link it back to the University. The stress became too much as soon as we started college, but do not solely blame the University. Trace the problem back to its root, High School.

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 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.

In the book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on college campuses, authors Arum and Roska (2011) discuss how college is “academically adrift,” denoting how minor academic learning is in comparison to other facets and how academia is failing its students (p. 30). One point the authors emphasize is that it is academic learning is more crucial for students to show the value in their collegiate experience (p. 30). This is in contrast with how universities focus on utilizing student engagement for retention purposes, which the authors believe is not as pivotal (p. 31). This means that to measure the success of college, we should not mention retention but what students learn. While the authors make an interesting case, this view does not focus on students holistically. Indeed, students go to college to learn, but students are more than their academics. When students are seen as only learners and measured by that, I believe this affects their mental health negatively. It causes them to only focus on their academic achievements and how much they learned, instead of focusing on themselves and their sanity. When a student’s mental health is not at his or her best, they cannot properly learn. For this reason, my paper will focus on students advocating for their mental health as an important skill a college graduate should have, with the main basis coming from my own personal experience. Additionally, this paper will discuss how changing certain policies and practice areas can help