The Virginian-pilot on how it’s time to improve student mental health:
For many young people, college can be tough emotionally and socially as well as academically. In today’s environment, though, things are much worse — dangerously so.
By just about any measure, the mental health of today’s college students is in free fall. The situation is dire and demands immediate attention. North Carolina State University in Raleigh has the unwanted distinction of being the epicenter of this crisis, with eight student deaths this academic year — at least five of them suicides. The problems that contributed to those tragedies are also widespread on other campuses.
College has always been a challenge. Many students are away from home for the first time, living independently of their parents, and are exposed to all sorts of temptations. Finances, grades, job prospects and decisions about the future ratchet up the anxiety. Sexual assault is all too common. The proliferation of social media has greatly increased pressures and, too often, feelings of inferiority.
On top of all that, today’s students endured the added stress of a global pandemic upending their high school or early college years. Then there’s the haunting backdrop of violence, of mass shootings at schools and on college campuses. The everpresent culture wars and increasingly bitter divisions in our society don’t help. It’s little wonder that students are vulnerable to depression and anxieties.
Across the country, colleges and universities are dealing with a surging demand for mental-health care, a demand greater than many of them are prepared to handle.
In some ways, the increased demand is good news, an indication that today’s students are more open to seeking help. The unhealthy stigma that has long kept many people from trying to deal with mental-health problems is fading.
It’s not good news, though, that students may not be able to find the help they need, when they need it. Colleges must face the reality that the traditional ways of doing things aren’t working. When students are in distress, it’s not enough simply to wait for them to find their way to a counseling center, where they will likely have trouble scheduling an appointment any time soon with professionals already burdened with heavy caseloads. Lives may be at risk.
More funding and more staff are essential, of course, but they aren’t the only answers. Colleges are finding innovative ways to give more students the help they need. Peer counseling, group sessions and telehealth work for some. Crisis lines can help, as can reporting systems that let friends, professors, coaches and others voice concerns about someone so that an appropriate person can reach out to a troubled student. Some colleges offer students classes or other resources to help them learn healthy habits and strategies. Workshops, seminars and even apps can help students manage stress, use time wisely and get more sleep, for example.
Colleges are modifying some policies to be more flexible and student-friendly. Making it easier for a troubled student to take time off, for example, can help avert a crisis.
Professors, too, can be encouraged to develop policies and deadlines that are less arbitrary and more likely to help students succeed.
Faculty, curricula, research, libraries, buildings, facilities, athletics — there are so many demands on the resources of a college or university. We should never forget that at the heart of it all are the students.
The colleges and universities around the U.S. should make safeguarding the mental health of their students a top priority.
How terrible for a student to lose the chance for a good education and strong start in adult life because stress and depression take hold. How utterly tragic for a student on the threshold of a bright future to become so overwhelmed that suicide seems the only answer.
Investing money and effort into more counseling, outreach and innovative resources can help keep kids safe — and make their lives and our society better.