Moving into college is like a double edged sword. On one hand, you cannot wait to get out of the house but on the other, you are nervous to leave the only place you have ever known. You get to your dorm and unpack everything laying it all out perfect. Your parents drive and that’s it, you are all on your own for next four months until winter break. At first, its picture perfect as you make new friends and get on your professors good side. However, almost a month in everything takes a wild turn. This is the reality that I and many other college students face each year. Many have dealt with mental health issues prior to college and some have had them come about from being in college. Either way, mental health is a growing issue on college campuses. There are many outlets for students to seek help however, some of these outlets lack in their ability to fully assist them. 

Mental health disorders affect approximately twenty-six percent of Americans who are 18 and older (“The Issue: Student Mental Health.”). There are two diagnosis’s that mainly affect college-age individuals and those are anxiety and depression. According Merriam-Webster anxiety under a medical definition is “an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical signs, by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it” (“Anxiety”). In 2014, Penn State found that “anxiety had surpassed depression as the leading mental health issue facing college students” and in 2015 the National College Health Assessment survey reported that one in six college students had been diagnosed, or treated for, anxiety (Brown).  This same survey found that 21.9% of students felt anxiety had negatively affected their academic performance in the last year (Brown). On the other end, depression is something that affects one third of all college students (“The Issue: Student Mental Health.”). By definition, depression is a disorder that is marked by “sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking…feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies” (“Depression”). From the 2015 National College Health Assessment survey, 18.2% reported that depression, as opposed to anxiety, had negatively affected their academic performance within the last year. These, anxiety and depression, combined, and the fact that older adults have the lowest rate of going and seeking help, is what has made suicide the 2nd leading cause of death among college students (“The Issue: Student Mental Health.”). Those who do seek help, in a 2012 survey of 765 recent and current college students, 45% said they felt they did not receive “adequate accommodation” (“The Value of Support for College Student Mental Health.”). Even still those who do not commit suicide and do not receive help, one-third of all college students have said they felt they could hardly function from feeling so depressed (“The Issue: Student Mental Health.” ).  

There are many ways in which mental health and the support, or lack thereof, affects college-age individuals. One of the main problems is that mental illness is crippling these young adults to the point that some even drop out of college or feel they are unable to do what they need to. Another, is for those who do go to college, a lot of responsibility is thrown at them that becomes overwhelming. This being said, it can lead to anxiety and depressive thoughts like feeling hopeless. To pair right alongside the exuberant amount of responsibility thrown at college students, high schools and parents need to take more responsibility in teaching young adults about the realities of the world and about mental illness. However, many don’t know how to address the topic so they just don’t even try. Too many people are seeing the signs of mental illness and ignoring them which leads to those going through these issues to feel abandoned and alone. College campuses nationwide offer a large amount of support for these students such as counseling and psychiatry which should be preached across campuses consistently. For those students who do not seek help, they are more likely to not attend class, fail classes, or drop out all together, which is why it is so important that people recognize and talk to the person when they see the clear signs of mental illness. Since this is such controversial topic among many who may or may not believe in mental illness, I expect a few opposing views. One of which being that young adults need to take responsibility and stop blaming mental illness as the reason why they are not succeeding.  When addressing the fact that parents, high schools, and others should be helping talk about these issues, one could say that we cannot keep holding our children’s hands forever and we have to let them grow up at some point. There are many who do not believe in mental illness and this creates the stigmas that may lead to many not even wanting to seek help. Some feel that mental illness is exaggerated and we are creating a generation of adults who need “safe spaces” and “mental health” days which is failing our youth in the long run. However, many of these beliefs are doing more damage than good to those who suffer through mental illness. 

In “Living with Depression”, a spoken poem by Dan Roman, he explains that depression is like living with a roommate that he spends all his time with. The best analogy he uses is saying that “he (depression) wants me to move out, and sometimes I do too, I don’t know if there’s a difference” (Roman). This is something that so many can relate to since mental illness is a growing problem, especially in young adults, across the nation. There is a large lack of adequate support for these newly-released-from-the-nest adults. For college students, many have found depression and anxiety to be crippling to their academic performance. For example, I deal with depression and anxiety every day. Sometimes it gets to the point where I feel like I can’t get out of bed or function I’m so tired, even when I get enough sleep. This is where skipping classes, sleeping past classes, or even dropping classes starts to become a large problem. This is a problem not only I face but 64% of respondents in a 2012 survey said they have faced as well (“The Value of Support for College Student Mental Health.”).  Depression, if untreated, can lead to fatal consequences such as self-harm or even suicide, it can also lead to the obvious, worsening depression (Orenstein). USA today has reported that one in 12 college students make a suicide plan (Sabatke). Imagine taking all of the students currently enrolled in the University of South Carolina (33,772), then dividing that by 12 to get 2,814 (“USC Enrollment”). This would mean that according to this statistic 8.3% of the students at USC this year have made a plan to kill themselves. When looking at the numbers in that way, it makes this harsh reality eye opening. Especially thinking in friend groups or classes that out of 12 people, statistically speaking one of them has made a suicide plan this school year. Students muddle through their classes as they struggle to stay awake long enough to do work and find the motivation as well. Hard work spent studying doesn’t pay off when that D comes back on a test and anxiety flies through the roof while trying to make a plan to bring up that grade.  

Behind every college student should be a strong support system and a network of already known resources. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for many. Before students even get to college, they should be educated on the signs and outlets to treat mental health. On large university campuses it can difficult for the health centers to be able to reach out and educate each student. Jeff Bulanda talks about taking a youth led approach starting in middle schools and led by high school students. He says that “youth leaders can share their direct knowledge of adolescent health problems and may provide innovative ways of engaging their youth in making healthy choices” (Bulanda). Although this is a large responsibility for those adolescents, it is something that schools nationwide should take the initiative to start up. The program he discusses is called S.P.E.A.K. (Share, Peace, Equality, Awareness, and Knowledge). This program took a youth led approach by having high school student’s talk to middle school students at 6 after school programs (Bulanda). This program proved to be effective in educating the youth about mental health stigma, how to openly discuss mental health, and how to get help/lend help. This is a way that schools can start early on educating youth to create proper coping skills later on in life, like in college. Many college students enter college without the ability to cope and handle anxiety and depression which leads to so many suicides. Not only should schools take responsibility to educate but parents should as well. They should allow open communication and offer understanding. Sabrina Benaim perfectly explains how difficult it can be explaining depression and anxiety to a parent who isn’t trying to understand. In her spoken poem titled “Explaining My Depression to My Mother”, she says “I am sleepwalking on an ocean of happiness I cannot baptize myself in. Mom says happy is a decision…she says I am so good at making something out of nothing” (Benaim). This is a perfect explanation as to how parents are shutting out their children because they just aren’t trying to understand. Parents need to be there to help their children even with the things they may not be able to understand or fix on their own. It is so important not only for parents to educate their children on mental health but themselves as well, so they are able to assist their child in any way that is needed. My mother, although she struggles with mental health issues herself, had a hard time grasping that I was dealing with similar things as well. When I first came to her she was angry and cold, she just didn’t understand where the depression and anxiety was coming from. If she had been more open and understanding then I wouldn’t have felt so lost and like I was stuck dealing with everything all on my own in Columbia. At the end of the spoken poem, she says that her mom asks if she is afraid of dying and she laughs and says “no mom, I am afraid of living” (Benaim). This is a reality that so many college students have come face-to-face with, a reality that schools and parents overlook. However, we should start at high school or even middle school teaching them in schools and talking to them at home about depression and anxiety and ways to get help when they may need it.

There are many signs of those suffering depression and anxiety but signs that so many ignore because it isn’t them. Many feel that others aren’t their responsibility and that it is such a sensitive topic to even bring up so they don’t bother. Common signs of depression is long term sadness, loss of interest, sleeping a lot or not sleeping enough, eating a lot or not enough, irritability, weight changes, uncontrollable emotions, thoughts of suicide, and  many more (Bulanda). If someone sees these signs but chooses to ignore them, this could lead to just one more suicide. It is not to say the one who ignored the signs are responsible for the suicide however, everyone should do their part. Anxiety can be seen from avoiding large groups, being distant, panic attacks (which include hyperventilating, shaking, loss of vision, and throwing up) (Bulanda). Again, something very easy to be recognized. Those who overlook these signs leave those suffering feeling lonely and confirming that no one cares, even when people do. These signs are things that everyone should be educated on so that everyone knows when to reach out a helping hand. Although it can sometimes be difficult to know how to step in, even acknowledging that person is all they may need. It’s all about being able to judge the situation and know that even if someone isn’t asking, offer help anyways.

Majority of college campuses offer counseling and psychiatry to help their students. However, many of them lack in their full ability to assist students. For instance, I have been going to counseling since the first semester of my freshmen year. However, when a more recent depressive episode occurred and I was hospitalized, I went back to counseling and according to what the university has allowed for counseling to assist in was not covered for my short 60 minute session. My counselor told me I would need to seek “more extensive, outside help” to deal with my problems. This was soul crushing to feel like my problems were so big that even a university and certified counselor couldn’t help me. I’m sure this is something many students face nationwide at college campuses. In a 2012 study done of college campus counseling centers, 31.5% reported that they had a waitlist at some point during the year (Mistler,). It also stated that some counselors have felt that their centers were not adequately assisting their students in the ways that they needed. With a wait list in 31.5%, it is hard to blame them. If colleges want to help these students then they need to be able to help all those that need help. It raises the question of what if someone on the wait list committed suicide trying to wait and see a counselor but because their situation wasn’t able to be seen and evaluated right away they were not able to get help. College campuses have amazing systems in place however, even according to those who work there, they still have a long way to go. 

There are many out there who do not believe in or support treating mental illness. Some would say that college students are using mental illness as their scapegoat to be lazy and not attend class. Others would also say that they use this as an excuse for their own failure however; these statements are inaccurate. They are inaccurate because depression has begun to be debated as a chemical imbalance that affects the brain. This affect on the brain causes the feeling of being too tired to the point of not being able to function.  The medication given to many patients is meant to correct this imbalance. Psychcentral.org says that “antidepressants are believed to work by slowing the removal of certain chemicals from the brain…by making these natural chemicals more available to the brain” (Hauser). The article goes on to say that antidepressants help reduce the “extreme sadness, hopelessness, and lack of interest in life” (Hauser). This means that the medication that has been given to so many people has worked to get them back to a somewhat normal life. So, to those who try to argue that college students are using mental illness as an excuse to fail there are facts to support that it is possible to be tired and feel hopeless which would cause lack on interest in just about everything however; the medication can help them get to where they need to so they can function. I am one who can attest to this point that medication does help. During my first semester, I started medication however, during second semester I stopped not by doctor recommendation but my own, and I suffered greatly by missing classes and falling behind in my work. 

There are others who may argue that parents and other adults cannot hold these young adults hands through life, this creates a “soft” generation and they need to cope with these things on their own. This statement only holds a half-truth when it discusses coping. Young adults need to learn how to cope with these things on their own however, many may struggle to know how. Therefore, this is where more knowledgeable adults need to come into the picture to serve as guidance. Fixing a person with a mental illness is nothing that one person could do, so to say that parents should not help their child seems absurd. I believe that a parent, no matter how old the child, will constantly be there to support and assist their child. Plus, parents are sometimes the closest source to that young adult and will be the first ones to notice different behavior, which could lead to getting help coping with depression or anxiety. If we as a society shut out these adults and throw them to the wolves to get help themselves, they may never go and do that. It is said that “80-90% of college students who die by suicide were not receiving help from their college counseling centers” (“The Issue: Student Mental Health”).  Also, if we educate these college students they will know how to help a friend if they need it. Older adult involvement is crucial to save the 1,100 college students that are lost to suicide each year, since 67% of college students will tell a friend they are feeling suicidal before telling anyone else (“The Issue: Student Mental Health”). As a society, we need to be welcoming these college students with open arms and guide them, not say we can no longer “hold their hand.”

All those cute babies you see flooding Facebook being born left and right will one day grow up and go away to college. The struggles that so many face mental health wise in college today is something that needs to be changed. These students are dying at their own hands left and right and many are ignoring the signs or not knowing how to help. In counseling centers, the counselors are struggling to keep up with the demand of students flooding in. On top of this, educating youths about mental health and how to deal with it is something that should start at young age. Parents also need to keep open communication and support with their children so that when a problem arises, they are able to help or get their child help. The stigmas that cripple mental health holds back so many from getting all the help they need. They fear being judged or labeled as incapable compared to others. So for all those suffering now and all those babies who will grow up to suffer, it is important that we work to change what needs to be changed and normalize mental health. One in twelve planning a suicide is too many and those who commit suicide is one too many each time as well. As a society we all should work together to help support all these college students and those soon to be college students.
