The college environment poses new health risks for students. In college, students become agents of their own physical and mental well-being. Several health risks arise from this newfound independence. Furthermore, the college environment introduces students to new threats to their health such as heightened stress levels related to academic expectations. However, we have highlighted how college students can alleviate the effects of mental health issues by focusing on their health and well-being, seeking out counseling services on offer, and avoiding negative coping mechanisms. Lets’ start with What Health Issue Affects The Highest Number Of College Students.
Mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse affect the greatest number of college students (according to Healthline.com). Students who haven’t shown signs of mental health issues before entering college may succumb to these mental health issues as a result of the greater academic workloads of college.
What Are Mental Health Issues?
Mental health issues are psychologically identifiable conditions that affect an individual’s mental state. The following issues are those which are most common amongst college students. Anxiety disorders cause a feeling of distress. This may lead one to avoid the commitments of everyday life. In the case of college students, this would negatively affect their academic performance.
Depression is characterized by a constant feeling of sadness and loss of interest in things that previously one enjoyed. Depression can cause sleeplessness and loss of energy. Extreme depression can lead to suicide. Often anxiety and depression can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as eating disorders or substance abuse.
Why Is College Bad For Students’ Mental Health?
For a freshman entering college, it is the first time that they are not in a structured environment. This can be jarring and increases the risk that college students will experience anxiety and depression.
A lack of sleep is a factor that can have a large impact o the psychological well-being of an individual. Lack of sleep from late-night studying and attending early morning classes means that the stress of college is harder to deal with and increases the likelihood that a student will suffer from anxiety and depression.
Many college students take on student debt to afford tuition, this financial stress has a serious burden on these students’ mental health. The new social setting of the college is also a factor in a college student’s mental health as social anxiety can arise from pressure put on students to fit into the new social hierarchy.
College Student Health Statistics
To begin to understand the extent to which mental issues affect college students it is helpful to look at the statistics (the following according to statista.com in 2021):
- 25.7% of mental health practitioners report that anxiety is their main concern among their college student patients.
- Furthermore, 37% of college students report showing symptoms of depression.
- 31% of college students in the US stated that they had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
- 27% of college students in the US stated that they had been diagnosed with depression and other mood disorders.
- 4% of college students in the US stated that they had been diagnosed with an eating disorder.
- 1% of college students in the US stated that they had been diagnosed with a substance use disorder or addiction.
How To Help College Students With Mental Health Issues
The following tools can be used to help counteract the effect of mental health issues faced by college students:
- The use of colleges’ mental health services: counseling services offered by one’s college can be used to make the challenges of college life feel manageable.
- Doing exercise regular exercise can help alleviate the stress of academic pressure. Eating healthy foods can improve health and well-being.
- Implementing effective time management can reduce the stress caused by academic performance.
- Evaluating one’s mental health concerns through regular journaling can help college students identify if they need to seek mental health support.
- Seeking out friends and family when one is feeling burdened by the stress of college can help reduce the feeling that one is alone in one’s problems.
- Avoid negative coping mechanisms such as excessive drinking and drug use as a temporary solution to stress.
Conclusion
Mental health issues affect the highest number of college students. Anxiety and depression are the most common among this demographic. These health issues arise from college students having to adapt to a new environment that is less structured than the environment than the one that they are used to. Furthermore, the greater academic workload contributes to increased stress levels and may lead students to sacrifice sleep to meet the demands of this workload. This leads to a snowball effect whereby lack of sleep makes students less able to cope with the stress of academic performance.
