IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH IN COLLEGE STUDENTS
Going into College can be a very stressful experience for many students. To add to the academic pressure, many students have to deal with many difficult tasks. For example, being away from their family, working long hours to afford school, having bills to pay, and many more responsibilities that come along the way. Since all these changes are happening at once, it creates a stressful environment for the students, causing them to experience mental health issues (Pedrelli et al., 2014).
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According to the National Survey of Counseling Center Directors at 274 institutions (Gallagher, Sysko, & Zhang, 2001), 85% of center directors reported an increase in “severe” psychological problems over the last 5 years, including learning disabilities (71%), self-injury incidents (51%), eating disorders (38%), alcohol problems (45%), other illicit drug use (49%), sexual assault concerns on campus (33%), and problems related to earlier sexual abuse 34% (Kitzrow, 2003).
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
College students are going in with a lot more severe mental health problems than ever before. There are many different strategies and treatments that could help college students get through the mental health issues they're experiencing through their changes. To be more specific, nutrition, physical activity, and involvement in groups are important and effective ways to deal with mental health problems.
References
Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The mental health needs of today's college students: Challenges and recommendations. NASPA Journal, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.2202/0027-6014.1310
Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2014). College students: Mental Health Problems and treatment considerations. Academic Psychiatry, 39(5), 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0205-9