With the semester winding down and papers and exams piling up, many of us are likely feeling a little stressed. For some of us, the stressors extend past the last few weeks of the year and beyond academics to finances, summer plans, housing, family problems and relationships. Some are struggling with grief, some with addictions, some with insomnia.
Some suffer from an oppressive feeling of emptiness and loneliness that can be debilitating.
Mental health issues are common among college students. According to a 2004 survey by the American College Health Association, almost half of all college students “report feeling so depressed at some point in time that they have trouble functioning,” while about 15 percent of students “meet the criteria for clinical depression.” The Archives of General Psychiatry reports that 18 percent of U.S. college students suffer from “clinically significant alcohol-related problems.” An August 2008 msnbc.com article noted that half of American college students have considered suicide and five percent have attempted it.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among American college students. In the article Chris Brownson, director of the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center, said, “We know only a quarter of suicide patients are our clients, which means 75 percent of them never come through our doors.”
Students struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, grief and other mental health issues should know that there are resources available to help them. They should also know that seeking help does not mean that they are too weak to handle the situation themselves.
Getting help means taking control of your mental health.
Fortunately, increasing numbers of students have been seeking help with mental health problems. In the past eight years, UT has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of students served. Unfortunately, the number of students suffering from mental health disorders has also been increasing, and a recent study from the Archives of General Psychiatry found that fewer than a quarter of those with mental health disorders actually seek treatment. Jane Bost, associate director of the Counseling and Mental Health Center, notes that while for some the stigma about seeking mental health treatment is diminishing, others are still wary of getting help or think that only severe problems merit treatment.
The UT Counseling and Mental Health Center offers a variety of services to students dealing with concerns ranging from mild stress to thoughts of suicide. There is individual counseling offered through the center and an anonymous 24/7 telephone counseling.
There are small groups and classes that meet to address many different concerns and a MindBody lab, where students can practice stress management and meditation techniques in self-paced exercises. The center’s Web site offers information about different mental health issues, several mental health self-assessment quizzes and an interactive Stress Recess program that guides students through stress management exercises. There are also campus outreach events like the annual Stress Fest, and a new suicide prevention program in the works for September. All these services are free of charge to students.
There are so many ways for students to get help dealing with the problems they are facing. With all the anonymous online, over-the-phone and self-directed resources available, students should not let any anxieties about one-on-one counseling prevent them from seeking the help they need. And they should know that they are not the only ones facing these issues.
“We are all in this together,” Bost said. “All of us can identify with emotional mental health issues. … [Students’ issues] are not just affecting them. It affects all of us.”
Martin is a Spanish and religious studies sophomore.
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