Student Mental Health

 Mental Health Effects on College Students 

Mayra Aparicio Pineda

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH? 

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Throughout your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. 

WHAT IS CAUSING A STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS?

• PRESSURE TO SUCCEED 

Many college students feel pressure to succeed academically. The desire to achieve high grades in a difficult academic environment can lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety. Students may overwork themselves and neglect their own well-being, especially if they procrastinate on assignments. Procrastination itself can be a coping mechanism for anxiety about grades.

• FINANCIAL WORRIES 

Many students must take out loans to afford tuition, room and board and other fees. This can lead to financial worries as students wonder how they will pay back these loans after graduation. The financial cost only increases the pressure to succeed in one’s chosen field. On top of all of this, textbooks and other supplies are expensive. Students may have to work one or more jobs in college to cover these costs. Managing work and school can increase stress levels and anxiety, as well as take away from your time to sleep and relax.

• UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE FUTURE

Many students enter college without deciding on a major. Even those who have declared a major may not have a clear idea of what they want to do with their degree. This indecision and lack of direction may lead to anxiety or even depression. Our society promotes the idea of immediately entering college after high school, and then immediately starting a career after college. Unfortunately, this can cause stress for students who need more time to decide what career path they want to take.

• DECREASED STIGMA
  

What we see as a mental health crisis might be due to an increase in students seeking mental health services. Some researchers believe that the rates of mental health concerns are about the same as they have always been, but more students are open about their struggles and are more willing to seek treatment. Regardless of what is causing the mental health crisis, colleges and communities should work together to address students’ concerns.

RESEARCH

A person's university years are more emotionally and academically challenging than almost any other period of their education. An individual experiences numerous obligations and obstacles at this time, which can lead to a wide range of physical, social, and emotional concerns. In the article titled, Exploring the relationship between mental health-related problems and undergraduate student dropout: A case study within a civil, the authors A.A. Del Savio, K. Galantini, and A. Pachas conducted a research regarding mental health and higher education. They found a study which stated:

"in the USA at four universities showed that 40% of their students have at least one mental health-related problem (Lipson and Eisenberg, 2017). Similarly, 59% of the students at a Canadian university have moderate to high levels of depression, and 56.3% reported the same in anxiety levels (Suresh et al., 2021). In a Spanish university, 34.9% of the students evaluated had symptoms of depression; 39.6% symptoms of anxiety; and 28.8%, symptoms of stress (Blanco et al., 2021). Other research found depression in around 13% of the studied population of undergraduate students (Hossain et al., 2021). Women are more likely to develop depression, anxiety, distress, and stress symptoms than men (Ibrahim et al., 2013; Elmer et al., 2020). Finally, the WHO estimates that, among higher education, the average rate of depression is 1 in 20, that is, 5% of the general undergraduate and graduate population (WHO, 2012)."

COVID-19 EFFECTS ON MENTAL HEALTH 

A recent issue that has caused students to suffer with mental health has been the pandemic which began in 2020. During the beginning of COVID-19, students had to quickly adjust to the changes of going remote. Going remote put a lot of stress and anxiety on students. The article titled, Remote Learning and students’ mental health during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A mixed‐method enquiry, by S. Lischer, N. Safi, C. Dickson, conducted several surveys. The data they received showed that some students were able to manage with the changes, however other students "expressed difficulties in concentrating and maintaining the necessary motivation for distance learning". A common condition that caused this was not having a private study location from home. Moreover, having to learn and communicate exclusively online made some students nervous, stressed or anxious because of technical problems. 

In another article titled, In-Person Instruction or Remote Learning?: Understanding Students' Learning Experiences during COVID-19, by E. Marquez and S. Garcia surveyed students to identify what for of leaning they preferred. A student mentioned they felt it "was incredibly important to meet people. It kept  [them] from feeling isolated and helped [them] make friends who [they] could study with." In addition,  returning to in person lectures was a welcome modification that made students recognize the importance and worth of human engagement. A student shared the following: “It is very important to have face-to-face interaction with people because it is the only way to actually develop relationships with people. I feel like I met a lot people this year virtually but never actually got to know them. Really only their names and maybe very few basic things.”. At the beginning of COVID-19 most students felt like they lost that connection between other students, resulting in a feeling of loneliness. Although, going back in person had its pros, it also had its cons. Some students felt anxiety of gettin sick and getting their families sick as well. Students also felt a pressure of readjusting to being face-to-face. 

CONCEQUENCES 

• -Peers, family members, faculty, and staff may be personally affected out of concern for these students.
• -Depression and anxiety can have harmful effects on relationships and work productivity.
• -Suicide and suicidal thoughts can affect the larger campus community.
• -Roommates, peers, faculty, and staff also experience profound grief over student suicides and suicidal   behavior.
• -Campuses feel the burden when students with mental health difficulties do poorly on course work and      drop out of school.
• -Colleges and universities must be prepared to address the psychological impact of suicides on other students, as well as on teachers and staff.
• -Poor student retention can mean losses in tuition, fees, and alumni donations.
• -The community is negatively affected when students are unable to finish their degrees and contribute valuable skills in a competitive job market.
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PERSONAL VIEW 

Student mental health is an important issue for me because it is something that I deal with personally and believe is an important issue in my community that should be addressed. Going into college I did not know what to expect, but after going through my college journey and now being a senior, I have seen and experienced a lot. I have felt a lot of stress, pressure, anxiety, and depression during my years in college. I often feel a pressure to succeed not only for myself, but for my parents and younger siblings as well. Being the oldest in my family means I have to be the best version of myself in order to become a positive role model for my younger sisters, which can be difficult when I cannot always be perfect. Growing up in a hispanic household, I often had to learn to become independent at a young age and teach myself. This has made it difficult for me to seek for help in situations that I need it the most. Not learning to get help has been hard on me because I end up putting so much weight on myself that I cannot carry on my own. However, I do believe it is important to ask for help when needed and I am learning to become better at that for the sake of my own mental health.

STUDENTS AFFECTED BY MENTAL HEALTH

Bernardo Garcia 
"I often feel stressed or overworked and wish I knew how to manage by school work better"

Krystal Manriquez 
"whenever I'm on campus I tend to become anxious, this causes me to lose focus during my classes and effects my performance in school"

Victoria Perez 
"being a freshman in college makes me anxious because I have to adjust to the new changes and learn to manage my time. I have recently felt very stressed and overwhelmed and I tend to not get much sleep, which has effect my mental health a lot"

WHY STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE MENTAL HEALTH DAYS | HAILEY HARDCASTLE

STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT THROUGHOUT THE WEEK TO IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

               

RESOURCES FOR MENTAL HEALTH

• iPrevail 

https://lacounty.iprevail.com/chatrsc=lac_c_go&gclid=CjwKCAjwtp2bBhAGEiwAOZZTuKGgEVhHfiChyvbFzCKHIiRbBlnZVHpCE4vtKR_cmO-lETXVoDhHrxoC1QMQAvD_BwE

• CSU Mental Health Services  

https://www.calstate.edu/attend/student-services/Pages/mental-health-services.aspx

• Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

https://988lifeline.org/

SOURCES 

Lischer, Suzanne, et al. “Remote Learning and Students' Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Method Enquiry - Prospects.” SpringerLink, Springer Netherlands, 5 Jan. 2021, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-020-09530-w. 

Marquez, Eleazar, and Samuel Garcia. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Scholarworks @ UTRGV. 23 Aug. 2022, https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=me_fac. 

Savio, A.A. Del, et al. “Exploring the Relationship between Mental Health-Related Problems and Undergraduate Student Dropout: A Case Study within a Civil Engineering Program.” Heliyon, Elsevier, 25 May 2022, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022007927. 

“Why Students Should Have Mental Health Days.” YouTube, TED, 4 June 2020, https://youtu.be/1qq7lDL-bzY. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.