Mental Disorders In College Campuses: A Case Study

The primary purpose of this paper is to review literature and studies regarding mental health issues in college students and on college campuses. An overwhelming trend of mental health concerns have been raised in this population. There are many variables and factors involved in the well-being of college age individuals. Stressors and triggers often disrupt the optimal daily functioning of this group. The college environment brings unique barriers to mental health wellness as well as an excellent untapped potential for prevention and education initiatives and programming. This review was focused on the complex nature of mental health issues in the specificity of college age students and in the unique college campus environment.

Mental disorders are as common among college students as same-aged non-students, and these disorders seem to be growing in amount and severity. It is not unusual for undergraduate students to experience varying levels of anxiety, depression, and stress during their matriculation; some college students experience academic stressors as well as non-academic stressors. Non-academic stressors could include seemingly obvious issues like moving away from family for the first time or some issues that may be harder to recognize like private health concerns. Dr. Richard Kadison, chief of mental health services at Harvard University and author of “College of the Overwhelmed” reported that almost 50% of college students are likely to suffer some degree of

Mental health among college students has been proven to be a relevant social issue that our society faces. There are certainly a few different institutions that play a large role within the development of this social issue. The first institution, and the primary institution at play with this issue, is the higher education system. In terms of mental health and having access to resources, college students haven’t always been as lucky as they are today. One study in 2007 explains the story of Junior at Syracuse University (Kravets, 3081). Anita Rutman had a history of mental health issues; she even found herself being admitted to a mental health hospital. One morning in February, she threw herself off of the eighth floor of Boland Hall and landed on a patio and fortunately lived. However, her attempt stemmed from the university sending her letter three days prior that informed Anita that the school was planning to dismiss her because of her suicidal tendencies (Kravets, 3081). Anita later sued Syracuse for ten million dollars for malpractice and negligence in handling her condition.

The beginning of my paper focuses mainly on the problems of mental illnesses on a college campus. I intentionally laid out the problem to allow my audience to realize it’s seriousness before I wrote the solution to this problem was in the hands of the high school students. Because the Board of Education’s main focus should

For many young adults, college is a time of great discovery as it presents them with an incredibly diverse assortment of people with whom they may mingle with. However, the mentally ill are often excluded from these interactions. Due to numerous misconceptions about their condition and the ensuing stigma that this creates, college students with a psychiatric disorder are left to endure unnecessary shunning from their peers. Fortunately, some universities have taken it amongst themselves to prevent this injustice from occurring, a prime example of which is the New Diversity Initiative program.

“A mental disorder (mental illness) is a psychological pattern that is generally associated with a defect or disease of the individual’s mind. It causes a disability that may affect an individual’s behavior patterns in ways that are not part of one’s normal development or culture. Mental disorders are common in the United States. Within any given year, nearly 25 percent of adults and slightly over 20 percent of children are diagnosable for one or more mental disorders. While mental disorder appears to be widespread among the population, the main burden (or threat) emanates from about 6 percent of those who suffer from a debilitating mental illness.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011)

As the research suggests, there are an obvious number of students on college campuses that are exhibiting the detrimental behavioral, social, and academic effects of mental health issues. I wanted to observe whether the number of suffering college students is increasing or not to identify the severity of the problem on college campuses and determine the best approach to deal with these numbers. In a 2012 study directed by Mark Salzer, he states that college students suffering from mental health are “enrolling at increasing rates” also making note of the fact that “Eighty-six percent of students with mental illness withdraw from college prior to completing their degree” (1). This discovery further shows that mental illness is affecting more

The issue of mental health has recently become an important issue throughout America, especially with young adults. College campuses are critical to a majority of these young adults, and their environment on them are extremely important for creating a healthy and safe place for them to live and grow. At the University of Nevada, Reno, students need more opportunities and better resources in order to thrive both as students and as people. Throughout this proposal, there have been suggestions that, if put in place, can improve the Student Health Center and in return, benefit the students of the university. By collaborating more directly with students, focusing more on participation, and broadening their outreach, the Student Health Center will

“Colleges provide a unique opportunity to identify, prevent, or treat mental disorders because campuses often encompass students’ residences, social networks, and many services,” writes Linda Cook. Often, if a student is struggling, campus resources are the first place they turn. Whether a student turns to a professor, campus clinic staff member, or resident assistant, the hope is that they will be met with compassion. Colleges and universities should require their staff and students to be well-informed about common mental illnesses that often emerge in the college years. Awareness of signs and symptoms, available treatments and resources, and proper ways to intervene can help fight the mental health crisis. Yet many colleges still improperly

The stakeholder I will be representing is Dr. Doris Iarovici, a psychiatrist at Duke University Counseling and Psychological Services. Iarovici is also the author of the book Mental Health Issues and the University Student, in which she discusses the growth of students seeking mental health on college campuses. Furthermore, Iarovici discusses different factors that contribute to mental illness on college campuses, such as work ethic, risky lifestyle choices, culture clashes, sleep problems, and others. Iarovici also writes about how models of mental health treatment that can be applied on college campuses and accompanying challenges to those treatments. For the community health meeting, I plan to discuss the following points of view presented by Iarovici: perfectionism, sleep problems, models of treatment and problems with

More than 40% of college students struggle with mental illness and less than 60% of college campuses have a licensed psychiatrist available to these students. If these students don’t have anyone to help them how are they able to power through the semester of college and how are they supposed to be succeed? However, many people don’t see the difference between having a licensed psychiatrist and a grad student studying to be a psychiatrist, which many campuses have, deal with students. Although I concede the fact that having some help for students with mental illness on campus (the graduate students) I insist that having more than just the grad students should be available because a grad student cannot prescribe medication to students nor offer real professional help, and considering students with mental illness probably will not

Mental health is a serious topic that is often not taken seriously. Due to my own struggles with depression, I have experienced the impact mental illness can have on a student’s life. Mental illness can make everyday life feel unbearable and can have just as serious of an effect on a person as a physical illness. The causes of increasing mental health problems in college students are numerous, and it will take work from both students and universities to overcome this problem, but change is necessary for the health of U.S. college students.

Mark S. Salzer, author of the article A Comparative Study of Campus Experiences of College Students With Mental Illnesses Versus a General College Sample, claims that a student affected by mental illness will very much likely exhibit feelings of a significantly worse, less-engaging, and uninvolved overall college experience than a student who does not suffer from mental illness. He supports this claim by providing statistics showing the number of college students affected by stress and offering analyzed comparisons between affected students and normal students, developing the differences between the two student experiences as a result. Salzer wrote this article in order to establish a defined difference between these categories of students

Thesis: Mental Illness in colleges needs to be addressed because of the rise in college students being diagnosed in mental health problems.

Although I emerged victorious, I am still a chronic, clinical sufferer of mood and anxiety disorders. Looking back on my own story and having been able to talk to others like myself, I now know that it is a story I share with many students. As a future educator, this common theme of mental illness having such a negative impact on student success worries me. I believe that the current, typical approach to a high school education may inherently be a