|
Local Resources
Information for Specific Groups
- For Parents
- For Educators
- For Community
Members
- For Law
Enforcement
- For Prosecutors
Related Information
Brain Information
Taking Actions
Funding Information
|
|
Teen Dating Violence - 2008 Awareness Week
Mental Health and College Students
In the wake of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech University, many people seek to learn more about the mental health of college students and what can be done to encourage their well-being. College can be an extremely exciting time. It is a step toward independence and adulthood, filled with exciting challenges. However, college can also be a scary and uncertain time for students, raising new emotional issues. One challenge many college students face is confronting, and dealing with, their own mental health issues. As we have seen all too often, mental health issues left unaddressed may lead to disastrous outcomes.
The following is a collection of background information on the issue of college student mental health, with suggestions on what colleges can do to promote student well-being.
Statistics
- One out of four young adults will experience an episode of depression by age 24. (American Psychiatric Association)
- According to a 2004 survey by the American College Health Association, nearly half of all college students report feeling so depressed at some point in time that they have trouble functioning, and 14.9 percent meet the criteria for clinical depression.
- Students reported feeling the following:
- Over 60% reported feeling things were hopeless one or more times.
- 10% of students reported seriously considering attempting suicide at least one time. ( American College Heath Association, 2004)
- Depression often leads to alcohol and drug abuse.
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that unintentional fatal injuries related to alcohol use increased from about 1,500 in 1998 to more than 1,700 in 2001 among U.S. college students aged 18-24. Over the same period, national surveys indicate the number of students who drove under the influence of alcohol increased by 500,000, from 2.3 million to 2.8 million.
- Young people aged 18 to 25 have the highest prevalence of binge (38.7 percent) and heavy (13.6 percent) drinking, with a peak rate (48.2 percent for binge and 17.8 percent for heavy drinking) occurring at age 21, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
- According to a 1997 national study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, nearly half of all college students surveyed drank four or five drinks in one sitting within the previous two weeks (defined as binge drinking).
-Students who live in a fraternity or sorority house are the heaviest drinkers – 86 percent of fraternity residents and 80 percent of sorority residents report binge drinking.
-Thirty-nine percent of college women binge drank within a 2-week period compared with 50 percent of college men.
- According to a recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry, 18% of college students suffered from clinically significant alcohol-related problems, compared with 15% of their non-college attending peers. (http://www.healthyminds.org/collegestats.cfm)
Advising Issues
College students deal with cross-cultural issues, family dysfunction, poor frustration tolerance, experimentation with drugs and alcohol, and weak interpersonal attachments (Kitzrow, 2003). Greg Kneser, Dean of Students at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, noted that many students also lead "hyper-enriched lives" with cell phones, computers, classes, jobs, sports, travel, volunteer work, and more (Kneser, 2004). Kneser concluded this may be too much to handle for some students.
Academic unreadiness also plays a role. Many college students received outstanding grades in high school without developing adequate study habits. Each year, the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) asks entering college students how much time they spent doing high school homework. Nationally, in 2002, more than 60% of entering college freshmen indicated that they spent less than six hours per week studying, even though 90% earned a high school grade point average of “B” or higher (Higher Education Research Institute, 2002).
While many students may have bad days or bad moods, depression is more complex. A 2002 Centers for Disease Control survey found that depression, to the extent that it interfered with typical daily activities for two or more weeks, was reported by 28 % of college students. Female students are more likely than male students to experience serious depression (Silverman, 2004). The rate of depression among college students rose almost five per cent in just the past four years, with 38% of these students on antidepressant medication and over 25% in therapy. Another change noted on college campuses is the number of students entering college already taking psychotropic medications.
In addition to the normal developmental concerns of college students (identity development issues, changes in lifestyle and living arrangements, relationship transitions, etc.), today's students are pressured to get good grades, hold down jobs, and become involved in college life. Coping with the financial realities of a college education is also stressful for many. For some minority, international, first-generation, or immigrant students, college may mean dealing with new forms of discrimination, a lack of role models, family expectations, and challenges in daily living activities.
What Can Be Done?
Develop a comprehensive "well-being" model program
A comprehensive model would ideally integrate mental health services, substance abuse prevention programs and a suicide prevention program on college campuses. Promoting wellness, injury prevention, and public safety would lessen the risk to a young person’s well-being and strengthen his/her mental health. Significant numbers of students on college campuses suffer from depression and/or anxiety and use alcohol or other drugs. Counselors in both the drug abuse and mental health fields confirm that students who seek mental health treatment often report symptoms of substance abuse, while college students who use alcohol or other drugs often display signs of depression or anxiety. When a college student suffers from depression and/or anxiety and uses alcohol or other drugs, each problem can exacerbate the other. The combination of the use of alcohol or drugs and a mental disorder can lead to other high risk behaviors, which is why colleges need to develop an integrated program that can deal with issues separately.
(Source: http://www.health.columbia.edu/pdfs/student_suicide_paper.pdf)
Work to destigmatize seeking help
Many suicide prevention practitioners believe that campus social marketing campaigns can stimulate changes that destigmatize mental health problems, remove barriers to accessing appropriate care, and encourage students to seek help. With more demand for mental health services, colleges and universities may find their resources spread thin. They can make services more efficient by training in assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management of mental illnesses. They also may rely on community-based resources for assistance with the college student population.
Publicize campus firearms policy
It has been estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of college and university students
possess firearms on campus (Miller, Hemenway, & Wechsler, 1999 & 2002). Most college campuses have policies concerning firearms on campus, although it is unclear how consistent these policies are or whether they are enforced. Firearms policies should be well-publicized and supported.
What Can Colleges Do to Promote Mentel Health in Students?
- Educate students about available mental health services. Use brochures and flyers, but also consider distributing pencils, planners, and water bottles, that include important college resource information.
- Provide medical and mental health evaluations as part of student fees.
- Survey students to find out what kind of mental health services they would use.
- Develop a 24-hour hotline staffed by trained students and staff for students to call in a mental health emergency.
- Encourage an open dialogue about stress and mental health issues.
- Have recognizable students such as musicians, athletes and student leaders share their experiences with problems like anxiety and depression.
- Fund adequate staffing for counseling centers.
- Provide follow-up care for students who come in to counseling centers seeking help, especially if they have been prescribed medication.
- Build working relationships with community mental health providers.
- Put the student counseling center in an area with other common services so students do not feel stigmatized.
- Provide telephone consultations on mental health issues.
- Offer evening and drop-in appointments for counseling services.
- Use support teams of health care professionals and experienced counselors to spend time in the dorms socializing with the students and keeping an eye on them.
- Train residential advisors on how to identify the signs of mental illness and how to encourage students to seek help.
- Meet with incoming students to talk about some of the challenges and stresses they might face. Advise them about resources are available from the college.
Educate students on ways to cope with stress.
- Provide nutritious foods and exercise programs on campus to encourage good mental and physical health.
- Develop a confidential system for students to report other students they believe have mental health issues or suicidal tendencies.
-
Increase available resources for students during times such as final exams when students are more likely to be stressed or depressed.
Links for Additional Information:
- Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The mental health needs of today's college students: Challenges and recommendations. NASPA Journal, 41 (1), 165-179.
- Kneser, G. (2004, April). College students leading hyper-enriched lives. St. Olaf E-newsletter May 23, 2005, http://www.stolaf.edu/president/enewsletter/0404.html#2
- Silverman, M.M. (2004). College student suicide prevention: Background and blueprint for action. Student Health Spectrum, 13-20.
- Young, J. R. ( November 30, 2004 ). Prozac campus. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A37-A38.
- Levine, A., & Cureton, S. (1998). When hope and fear collide: A portrait of today's college student. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
- Gallagher, R., Gill, A., & Sysko, H. (2000). National survey of counseling center directors; Alexandria , VA : International Association of Counseling Services.
- Kadison, R. & DiGeronimo, T.F. (2004). College of the overwhelmed: The campus mental health crisis and what to do about it. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
Prepared from research by Laura McLean, Student Intern,CA Attorney General’s Crime and Violence Prevention Center, August 2007
Information for Specific Groups -- For Educators and School Readiness Coordinators
An estimated one out of every four children in California is directly exposed
to violence as a victim or witness. New scientific research has shown that exposure to violence has
a measurable physiological impact on a child's developing brain. As an education professional,
it is important for you to be aware of the potential consequences of chronic exposure to violence,
including developmental and behavioral problems that can manifest in school as Attention Deficit Disorder,
Hyperactivity Disorder or Seriously Emotionally Disturbed classifications. Children exposed to violence are
at serious risk for school failure. We hope this Web site will give you resources to recognize students
who have been chronically exposed to violence and to minimize the damage caused by exposure.
Children come to your classroom or program with vastly different emotional and
chronological development. Resiliency theory tells us that teachers have a tremendous impact on what
happens in the classroom. Brain theory tells us that teachers can set up an environment that is both
conducive to learning, enriching and engaging, and in which every child feels that he or she can contribute
to the class.
The following information and classroom exercises were created by Dr. Bruce D. Perry.
|
