Mental health can get lost in shuffle of college experience
College offers a boatload of never-before-experienced stress, fun and freedom. Students must juggle academics with friends, extracurricular activities and finding their place as new college students, all while on the cusp of adulthood.
Once in a while, colleges tell students to make time for themselves, and how they have resources such as counseling when they get stressed. But although people discuss breaking the stigma surrounding mental health, very few actually talk about it. I did not realize the major shift in my own mental health until I returned home for break in December.
I was diagnosed with depression in January. At first, I was in disbelief. I enjoyed my classes during my first semester, made great friends and joined organizations I love. It wasn’t until I returned home that I realized how I actually felt underneath. The major stressors of college had built up inside without me even noticing it.
When faced with my declining mental health, I have had a lot of questions. How could I be depressed during what some people call the best time of my life? I almost felt ashamed. What I have realized is how the lack of genuine discussion surrounding emotional wellness on campuses across the nation is letting students’ struggles go unnoticed. In this way, colleges and universities must implement greater strategies to not only help students with their mental health, but to understand it. College students, especially freshmen, are pressured to show that they are having a great time via social media. Students post highlight reels daily, but never post what is going on outside of the fun. The college bubble discourages students from talking about how they truly feel, as they may believe that they are the only ones struggling.
Without addressing their own emotions, students will continue to struggle until it is too late. Mental health is so stigmatized in college to the extent that many fear appearing weak among their peers if they bring it up. Universities fail to create meaningful discussions that would help students feel more comfortable expressing their feelings. Professors or administrators do not talk about mental health, but about stress and how it is normal as a college student. They put up a front that they care about students’ well-being, yet seldom acknowledge it.
The problem on campuses across the country is not just how little attention is paid to mental health, but how students might fail to notice how they are feeling because of busy schedules and large workloads.
What schools could do is implement daily or weekly check-ins for students’ mental health, even just to get them thinking about how they are feeling at the moment. This could be emailed to students as a survey on their current state for their own awareness about their mental health. University administrations should also create schoolwide discussions surrounding mental health, either in large or small group settings, to destigmatize talking about it in the school community as a whole. By seeing firsthand how students are feeling, even anonymously, school officials could work toward understanding the reality of the mental health crisis.
In recent weeks, while coming to terms with the reality of my mental health, I have wondered how something so major could go unnoticed. College students
are overworked while maintaining a social life, and it is upsetting how many students might need help but haven’t gotten it due to not realizing how they feel inside. In order to destigmatize mental health, especially on campuses, colleges must check in on students who make up the community and truly listen to the needs of students.
Acknowledging mental health and encouraging discussion on campuses will make for a more welcoming and safe environment for all students.
Teresa Kurkjy, 18, is from Brookfield and is a student at Syracuse University.
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