It is finally May! Which means I am in my last week of the spring semester. I can feel my anxiety and stress building up as I prepare for finals, but I am making time to de-stress. As I relieve my anxieties and stress, the topic of mental health among college students came into my mind. If you have been in college or were in school at one point, you probably can relate to the stresses that I have, and other students may have. Since I have some spare time today, I want to talk about some of the staggering statistics of student mental health.
As we have heard, students typically have a higher rate of stress which can be correlated to a higher rate of mental health issues. It is estimated that around 26% of Americans that are 18 and older live with a diagnosable mental health disorder. If this percentage doesn’t scare you, this can also be written as 1 in 4 adults that live with a mental health disorder. Another part that is scary to think about is that the age group 18-24 shows the lowest rate of seeking help! People within this age group feel some sort of shame if they decide to get help. I want to tell you, there is no shame in getting help!!! Please go to a therapist or a psychiatrist that can help you! Also, many colleges have confidential counseling centers that are for students who may be suffering from a mental health issue.
About 1/3 of college students that may suffer from a mental health issue report that they sometimes have trouble functioning and focusing when they feel depressed or very anxious. It is also reported that college students that have a mental health issue such as depression, anxiety, etc. typically have a lower GPA and a higher probability of dropping out of college. In addition to that, more that 80% of students feel overwhelmed with everything they need to accomplish! I can relate to that because with finals coming up, I feel very overwhelmed and anxious with all the assignments and studying I need to complete.
Raising the awareness of mental health issues in college students is very important because if these students don’t receive help, these issues can be deadly. In the college student age group, 18-24, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death. Around 1,100 lives are lost each year. This is 1,100 lives too many. If that statistic was not alarming enough, more than half of college students have these thoughts and 1 in 10 seriously consider suicide. Additionally, half of the students who have these thoughts never seek treatment or counseling. If these statistics were not horrifying enough, I will leave you with one more. 80-90% of college students that commit suicide, did not receive or seek help from their college counseling centers.
Sorry to leave you on a down note, but this is an issue that everyone needs to be aware of. You never know what demons a person may be struggling with unless they reveal it to you. This is hard to do, but sometimes that person just wants to be heard. If a friend or relative comes up to you with concerns about their mental health, take time to listen to them. Also, help them find ways to receive treatment and/or therapy. Thank you once again for joining me and reading about this serious topic. Once my semester is completely done I promise I will post more! Just hang in there! If you are a college student and your finals are coming up, stay focused and remember to take a break every hour or so! Just take a deep breath and know that you can do it!
All information and statistics came from this website:
http://www.activeminds.org/issues-a-resources/the-issue
Rachel B.
How Mental Illness Affects Me and You 
1 thought on “Staggering Statistics”