MENTAL ILLNESS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS 1

Mental Illness In College

Students
Jorge Hernandez
University of Texas at El Paso

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Mental Illness has become a concerning issue among universities

and colleges as more students have began to speak up in regards to
their obstacles of being mentally ill while attending school. The
consequences of social stigma, the pressures of school work, and the
overlapping activities college students deal with can increase their
mental health issues. Severe consequences such as dropping out of
school and suicide have become more apparent among mentally ill
college students. Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety
disorders, and bipolar disorder in addition with the stress of school
work has pushed many students over the edge.

In many college campuses, mental illness has been ignored and

not addressed as much as other issues among students. According to
research conducted by the National Health Alliance on Mental Illness,
40% of mentally ill students do not reach out for help (BestColleges).
The AUCCCD Survey conducted in 2012, reported that anxiety is the
predominate concern and 41.6% of students are affected, followed by
depression as affecting 36.4%, and suicidal ideation affects 16.1%
(apa.org). The survey also describes how at least 64% students who
received campus counseling, improved their performance in school and
appeared to get better, proving that counseling can be effective on

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college students who seek for help. The issue regarding mental illness
in college students is complex because many campuses do not offer
effective counseling programs, or cut the counseling programs due to
budget shortage. However, many students do not seek for

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help at all due to the social stigmas placed on mentally ill people,
therefore the issue of mental illness among college campuses is
difficult to easily solve.
The social stigmas places on mentally ill people have had a
psychological impact on society and have created unhealthy
stereotypes that have affected many mentally ill people, including
college students. Social stigmas in regards to mental illness include
stereotypes about clinically depressed people and classify them as
lazy or attention seeking which creates a harmful depiction and
draws attention from the actual issue. The consequences of social
stigmas lead to mentally ill people to avoid seeking help or treatment,
which leads to greater and severe issues. From my survey, out of ten
people, five knew what mental illness was. However, out of those five
people, only three believed it could have an effect on peoples daily
lives. Social stigmas also contribute to neglect by friends and family,
and in some cases bullying and physical violence (MayoClinic Staff) .
This mistreatment can affect the mentally ill person and deviate them
from improving their mental health, as well as leads them into
isolation. This affects many mentally ill students as well. Mentally ill
students avoid seeking help due to a fear of being stereotyped or
treated differently from their classmates or friends. Many students

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avoid confronting their mental state and decide to face everything

alone which is overwhelming and has been a contribution to many
students that have dropped out of school. The stress and expectations
of school and teachers can be harmful to mentally ill students who are
already sick and dealing with personal issues. Their mental health
makes many more things difficult to handle than the average person.
Social stigma has stereotyped

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schizophrenics as crazy and violent, and stereotyped people with

borderline personality disorder as 'attention seeking and liars. Social
stigma has made many people unaware of the consequences and how
harmful their actions can be to mentally ill people.
The effects of mental illness on college students has been a rising
concern among college campuses. Mental Illness among college
students has become a rising issue, but somehow it has not been a
wide topic of dissuasion in society and has been disregarded for the
most part. According to the Huffington Post, there has been a drastic
decrease in the amount of freshman college students who use drugs
and alcohol, which explains that many students have become less
social. Although the decrease of alcohol and dugs is a positive trait, it
represents the increase in social isolation that incoming freshman have
experienced which has been caused by heavy stress and
anxiety(Kingkade). The isolation that students experience can lead to
depression which leads to a neglect of school work and participation on
college campuses. Depression causes self-loathing, lack of energy,
detachment, and at times physical pain. The symptoms of depression
causes many people to slowly avoid interaction with people which
creates a misunderstanding of their loved ones. Depending of the
severity of depression, some people can handle it better than others

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and some have a quicker recovery than others as well. Therefore,

every person requires specific help to suit their needs and
circumstances which creates a curial necessity for counseling and
psychiatric availability. When left untreated, depression can become a
severe issue and leads to extreme circumstances such as chronic
fatigue, which requires

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hospitalization as they are un able to do any daily activities such as

personal hygiene responsibilities. At most extreme circumstances,
depression leads to suicide. Depression can be burden on many college
students as they have to deal with the pressures of school and their
illness can prevent them from getting their work done effectively or at
the right time. Similarly, bipolar disorder can have a deep impact on
the daily lives of college students. Bipolar disorder has many different
levels and types and has a different effect on ever person affected by
it. The drastic mood swings can create a persistent instability that
creates conflict with consistency and productivity. People with bipolar
disorder experience extreme mood swings from manic episodes to
depressive episodes that can have different length times, therefore
making it difficult for them to deal with many aspects of life. College
students with bipolar disorder can experience a constant change in
their productivity which leads to fluctuating grades throughout years
and leads to GPA changes that have an effect on financial aid
availability. Bipolar people also experience a misunderstanding from
peers, family, and friends especially since their illness can be more
apparent than others. Anxiety disorders also correlate with depression
and bipolar disorders, and at times people can have a combination of
these. Anxiety is the most common issue among college students and

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has had a deep effect on many students. College kids with anxiety
disorders deal with everyday confrontations that can be triggering and
hard to deal with. Students have to be involved with public speaking
which triggers high anxiety levels on some students, and leads to a
feeling a humiliation and embarrassment. Similarly, students are
heavily involved with group work that can be hard for students with
anxiety disorders since they might become unreliable, or not able to

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communicate their ideas fluently and accurately as they would like.

Anxiety creates a physical uneasiness as well such as sweating,
fidgeting, stomach pain, and shaking at times, therefore it can be a
more visible mental illness to some people. Therefore, people with
anxiety disorders can be neglected or avoided due to their distraught
nature and appearance. Some people are triggered by specific words,
scenarios, ideas, or events that occur during school which leads to
hard days and moments for college students with anxiety disorders.
However, least common mental illness are the ones with more social
stigmas, therefore more effects on people. Mental Illnesses such as
schizophrenia are heavily criticized and stereotyped. Schizophrenics
are often neglected due to the stereotype that they are all crazy.
Students with schizophrenia are less likely to seek help or talk about it
due to fear of mistreatment, which therefore leads to isolation and
detachment. Other mental illness such borderline personality disorder,
obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress, and personality
disorders also have a heavy impact on college students and interfere
with their personal,social, and educational life equally as the most
popular mental illness. However, those more unknown illnesses can be
more difficult for college students to deal with since there is less
information or acceptation of people with those illnesses. People have

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less tolerance for more outwardly behavior and people with severe
mental health issues can be mistreated in school or in their own
homes. Ableism takes place in many public institutions which causes
mentally ill people to become secluded but also avoid getting help.
Mental illness has a deeper effect on those students that do not seek
help in or out of school, therefore harder to treat once they reach a
breaking point. However the amount of effective resources available
for

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mentally ill students becomes an important factor in the improvement

on the mental health of students. The availability of resources for
mentally ill college students has become an ongoing issue among
college campuses. Many college campuses, especially in the U.S and
Europe, provide some sort of counseling services offered to students.
These programs include services to students dealing with any sort of
mental unease such as stress and anxiety. However, the counseling
programs offered at colleges may be efficient or not efficient at all.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 73% of mentally ill
students experience a crisis on campus (Jackson). The data suggests
that regardless of counseling available to students on campus, the
effectiveness of treatment is unpredictable. Many students prefer to
seek treatment outside of school, however obstacles such as insurance
cover, transportations, and money prevent many students from
receiving full treatment. From my survey, out of ten people, four
people said they would search for help if they were mentally ill. Out of
the other six people, three said they would not seek for help because
they are not crazy .Other students might quit their prescriptions or
avoid getting refills, and other students stop attending therapy in order
to find another type of help. Therefore, every mentally ill student has a
different situation and history that makes it more complicated for

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campus counseling to reach every student they can. School counselors

have a limitation to what they can provide to students, such as the
inability to contact family members of the students treatment as well
the inability to prescribe medication. Many counselors have many
patients and therefore cant provide constant treatment such as
weekly appointments. Mentally ill students aren't always provided with
necessary treatment in order to recover and many students don't seek
help

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at all. This creates a lot of conflict among campuses and students since
the topic of mental illness isn't usually widely discussed or presented
all the time. Many campuses don't even provide counseling services
due to the schools budget which leads to program cuttings.

This graph represents the decline in socializations among college students during the present
years. The graph suggests that the lack of socialization has been a contributing factor to the
increase of mental illness among college students.
The graph indicates that in 2014, it is most likely for students to be isolated
and anti-social than the past years before in which socialization was very
common and more frequent.

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The graph below indicates that there has been a constant decline in the usage of alcohol of

cigarettes prior to college. The graph represents how many students have become more isolated
and self-alienated from social participation, which also correlates to the increase in mental
illness.

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http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art20046477
The Mayo Clinic Staff. Mental Health: Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness.
Mayoclinic. May, 2014.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/20/youth-mental-health-is-the-governmentdoing-enough

Natalie Gil. Young Mental Health: Is the government doing enough?. The guardian. February
20. 2015.
http://files.cmcglobal.com/Monograph_2012_AUCCCD_Public.pdf

College Students Mental Health Is A Growing Concern. apa.org

June, 2013
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23274298
Ann Arbor.Mental health in American colleges and universities: variation across student
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January, 2013
http://www.mainlinetoday.com/Main-Line-Today/October-2014/Mental-Illness-A-HotTopic-on-College-Campuses/
Melissa Jacobs. Mental Illness: A Hot Topic on College Campuses. MainlineToday.
October, 2014.
http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/top-5-mental-health-problems-facing-collegestudents/
Top 5 Mental Health Problems Facing College Students. Best Colleges. web.
http://www.upworthy.com/these-9-college-students-want-to-tell-you-about-their-mentalillnesses

Phoebe Gavin. These 9 College Students Want To Tell You About Their
Mental Illnesses. UpWorthy.web.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/05/college-studentsdepressed-ucla_n_6624012.html

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Tyler Kingkade. College Freshmen Are More Depressed And Alone Than Ever.
Huffington Post. Web. February 9, 2015.