Why are college students struggling with mental health?
There are a lot of factors contributing to the proliferation of mental health issues on college campuses. In some ways, the biggest issue is also the most obvious, according to Dr. Albers. “The primary issue is that the number of students that are entering college that have mental health issues is greater than the resources available to help them,” she explains.
There is a silver lining to that particular cloud. There was a time in the United States where individuals living with mental health or cognitive issues weren’t considered “college material.” The system we have today is under-resourced, in part, because higher education is accessible to a broader range of students than it used to be.
Another silver lining: The stigma around mental health is slowly diminishing. More students are using campus resources like disability services, counseling and support groups. And it’s increasingly common to talk about emotional health concerns with friends, professors and staff. In other words, the mental health crisis in higher education is easier to see now, because of this generation’s willingness to speak up and get help.
Of course, that’s just one facet of the situation. There are a lot of reasons college students are struggling. Dr. Albers highlights the following issues.
Timing
Many students start their higher education journey while still going through the physical and developmental changes that come with puberty. “It’s a common time for mental health issues to either occur for the first time or be exacerbated due to all the transition,” Dr. Albers notes.
Academic pressure
Regardless of what higher ed path a student takes, their ability to pursue a career in their chosen field may hinge, in part, on their academic performance. And for many students, transitioning to college-level coursework can take time, and some not-so-great grades.
Financial stress
In the United States, higher education isn’t free — in fact, it’s prohibitively expensive for most people. While many people take out student loans to relieve some of the financial pressure, most still have to work at least part time to make ends meet.
But even that’s often not enough. While rarely discussed, housing and food insecurityare such common problems on college campuses that many now have food pantries on site. And, of course, those student loans have to be paid back, whether you leave with a degree or not.
Even students who aren’t paying for their own education can feel pressure to make sure the people or organizations investing in them “get their money’s worth.”
Fear of the future
Dr. Albers notes that even the most self-assured individual will likely face anxiety about their future in college. Fear of making the wrong decision can be paralyzing under the best of circumstances … and many students aren’t in the best of circumstances. They’re overtired, overworked and under stress. This can all lead to what is known as “catastrophic thinking.” This is a thought or worry that spirals quickly into the worst case scenario. For example, “If I don’t get a good grade in this class, I wont graduate with honors, I will never get a job and I will end up homeless.”
Loneliness and changing support structures
College is a time when the support structures you’ve relied on all your life may become a bit more remote. Being away from parents, mentors, therapists, churches and high school friends can leave you feeling disconnected from your community.
As Dr. Albers puts it, “You have people and relationships that help you during times of transition and mental health issues. And those can become lost or fragmented when you go to college.” The sense of dislocation can be especially acute for students from marginalized groups, international students, veterans, parents, part-time students and commuters.
Physical health concerns
It’s probably fair to say that, as a population, undergrads tend not to be the healthiest bunch of people on the planet.
“Diet, exercise and sleep often fall low on the priority list,” Dr. Albers says. “Students feel like they don’t have time for them. But those three things are the cornerstones of mental health.” When you add stress to the equation, she adds that, “It’s like pulling the rug out from underneath someone who’s already struggling to stay balanced.”
Substance use and abuse
“Substance use can exacerbate or trigger mental health issues,” Dr. Albers states. You don’t have to have a substance use disorder (SUD) for substance use to impact your mental health. That said, there’s a clear relationship between dependency and mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health explains the relationship this way:
- Substance use can trigger changes in the structure and function of the brain in a way that makes individuals more likely to develop a mental illness.
- People who have a mental illness sometimes self-medicate to relieve their symptoms. While it can sometimes seem misusing substances helps in the moment, it actually exacerbates symptoms in the long run.
- Brain changes in people with mental illness can sometimes amp up the reward effect of a mind-altering substance, which may make a person more likely to use it again.
In other words, the relationship between substance abuse and mental illness isn’t necessarily one of cause and effect. Instead, think of them as mutually reinforcing.
Trauma
“Sometimes, people have high levels of trauma — invisible wounds that they arrive to college with,” Dr. Albers notes. For people in that situation, the stress of transitioning to college can be extremely destabilizing.
Still others experience trauma on campus. Campus sexual violence (CSV) is a particularly pervasive problem.
The American Psychological Association reports that 43% of the crimes committed on college campuses fall into the category of sexual assault (CSA). The mental health impact of campus sexual violence is significant. Not only is it associated with poor academic performance and dropping out, but it’s also linked to alcohol use and mental illness.
Relevance:
College students face numerous mental health challenges due to factors such as academic pressure, financial stress, developmental changes, and uncertainty about the future (Cleveland Clinic, 2023). This reinforces the need for mental health solutions that account for individual differences in emotional responses.
Reference:
Cleveland Clinic. (2023, August 24). Tested: College students and mental health. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mental-health-in-college-students
