Over the past couple of years, the number of mental health cases among university students has increased drastically. As university’s curriculum and work load have increased, so has the amount of students who are developing mental issues such as severe anxiety and stress. The overall number of students who are coming to school and developing mental problems, or even those entering school with pre-existing mental problems has increased by a large amount (Clay). Looking at through the eyes of a college student such as myself, these problems have an extremely negative effect on the overall well-being and attitude of young student’s, and can seriously affect their health throughout the following years in college, or even in life itself. Along with the acquisition of new and unexperienced responsibilities students have, living the life of a college student can be hard, and because of this many students are seeking help from student health centers. And that is where a major problem arises; with so many students seeking help from these health centers, in most cases not all students are able to receive the help they need, in the time that they need it. To most student bodies, this is a serious problem and inconvenience on the university’s part, and it is their responsibility to fix the problem at hand. However, some are considering the idea that it is possible that a number of students are not utilizing the resources they have available. While a number of students may not receive help for their mental health issues, it is not always the case that these students are actively seeking help available to them. From this, it is easy to see that universities must make a better attempt at providing the help these students need, as the effects of these mental health issues have on them has an extremely negative effect on their lives and overall well-being.  

As freshmen enter college, there are a number of new things thrown into their lives that they may not have experienced in life before. Being a freshman myself, I have experienced first-hand these new responsibilities, and how they impact you being new to such a changed environment. Going from living at home with your parents, with someone always there to remind you what to do and when to do it, to living by yourself, most of the time in a different city, and having to complete every aspect of life on your own, is a hard transition. Now of course, an individual will handle these new responsibilities differently, but for the most part it is tough to experience such a change in lifestyle. However apart from a change in that aspect alone, something that has a serious impact on college students is the change in work load they experience moving from high school to college. The work one does in college carries an immensely larger weight on someone’s life than the work done in high school, and the feeling of that increased importance and overall amount of difficulty of work to be completed would naturally stress someone out. When someone, especially someone as young as most of these university students, develops mental health problems such as stress and anxiety, the effect can impact their everyday lives. In a National College Health Assessment conducted a couple years ago, it was found that 33% of the students that were surveyed reported feeling “so depressed within the last 12 months that it was difficult to function” (Holterman). These problems are getting to be so severe, that as a result from it the overall number of students dropping out of school due to mental health issues is continuing to rise too (Winrow). This just goes to show the seriousness of the problems these students are facing, and how important it is that a solution be found. 

As the numbers of students experiencing mental health problems increases, university student health services are struggling to provide the aid all of these students need. As a result of the inability to meet the needs of these students, a number of university systems are receiving backlash from the students themselves. Many students are turned away from counseling services, and those who aren’t are still likely to be placed on a waiting list of up to 3 weeks (Thielking).  Along with that, it is reported that only around 60% of colleges possess the full staff imperative to addressing student psychiatric needs (Roy). Apart from the lack of help available among student health centers, it goes so far as to the university ignoring or failing to properly address suicide attempts. While suicide is an extreme circumstance in many cases, it is not unheard of. The sheer weight of increased responsibilities, large amounts of stress and anxiety, and even the development of problems relating to depression, has such a strong effect on the well-being of students that it may in fact lead them to the point of something as extreme as killing themselves. And that is why this issue is so important. Students attend universities to learn and further their education in order to prepare them for life in the future, and if those students are affected by these health problems every day, school becomes a burden on them instead of an educational and positive resource. 

University systems can take multiple steps to addressing the problems students are experiencing with their mental health, and from what the students are saying that begins with increasing the availability of counseling and help sessions. Having to wait weeks at a time to receive help is not good, especially for students that may be experiencing problems that require immediate attention. Being a college student myself, and having gone through freshman orientation and early presentations done by the university to lay out everything students need to know, I can say that one thing universities need to focus on is making sure students know where to go, and how to receive help. From the presentations I was given, I can say that one thing that was not especially emphasized was what students should do if they were in fact to experience or develop problems with their mental health. Students need to know what kind of help they should seek, and what that will particularly do for them. Students accept help in different ways, and it is important that student health centers offer resources that accommodate different kinds of students with different kinds of mental health problems. Some students may search for a more personal approach, while some may prefer not to come outright and speak on what they are experiencing. Either way, these students need help and it is the university’s job to provide for their students. 

When people are considering the crisis involving mental health among college students, it is very rare that they consider the idea that it may not be all together the universities fault that some students are not receiving help. Especially in the case of committed suicides that stemmed from stress and anxiety, it is important to consider the idea that there is not always something that can be done. A survey done by the University of Michigan showed that a surprisingly low number of students actively seeked help when they needed it. This mostly came from overall “skepticism on treatment effectiveness and general lack of perceived urgency” (Eisenberg). One can look at this in two ways. First, being that the university should attempt to show students that coming to them will provide help and that it is their job to make sure students are trusting in their ability to help them, and second off being that it is the student’s responsibility to seek help when they need it. In regards to this idea however, it is important to take into consideration that some students, especially those who experience extreme depression and suicidal thoughts, are not going to want to get help for themselves out of pure fear of how they will be viewed or how their problems will be received. However, this should not take away from the shortcomings the university health systems have in regards to meeting the demand of help needed by students. These health services need to prioritize a problem that is increasingly important among today’s university environments. 

With the increase in mental health cases faced by universities each year, the measures and solutions taken by them needs to increase as well. Students are not receiving the help they need, and when they are experiencing something such as extreme anxiety and stress, going to school becomes a burden overall, and the negative impact it has on their lives takes away from the overall value students are supposed to receive from going to college. While it is important to understand that these university health systems face challenges that are sometimes out of their power, in most cases these students who are seeking help are unable to find it from the only resource they have to go to. Students should not be wait listed weeks at a time to receive a therapy appointment, as those weeks gone untreated do nothing but worsten the problem. Students need to be aware of the various resources they have available to them at their universities, and should be met with the treatment that suits their needs the best. It is a university’s job to represent and aid their student body at all times, and when these students aren’t able to receive necessities involving health, the negative impact it has continues to grow. When students are able to receive help they need, it is then that they will be able to focus on what is important in attending a university. That is why it is imperative that universities take further steps to provide help to students who have developed and struggle with mental health issues today. 
