“College was the best time of my life, you’re going to love it.” Almost every adult in my life told me this until it was finally my turn to pack my bags and move off to my dream school. Now here I am in college, and it feels like everyone is sad.
Going from home to college is probably the hardest transition of one’s life, and most people go into college expecting some level of difficulty. You are most likely in a new city/state, with new people, in a new home and without your family. With all of these factors working against you, it is no wonder a lot of students struggle.
Many experts agree the mental health of college students is universally not in a good spot in recent years. According to a 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine, “The frequency of depression, anxiety and stress among university students was found 75%, 88.4% and 84.4% respectively.” 23.2% have severe-extremely severe depression and 64.6% were found to have severe-extremely severe anxiety. In the study’s findings, the researchers concluded there was an “urgent need of some preventive measures and interventions to improve the mental health of students.”
What is causing this many college students to have mental health problems? Yes, the transition plays a large factor, but the rates do not decrease with time spent at college; there is so much more. The problems can largely be categorized under academic and social pressures.
According to the Newport Institute, a 2019 study found that academic pressure is often associated with stress about poor grades, tests (even when feeling prepared) and tense feelings while studying. These are all made worse by pre-existing anxiety and depression symptoms. The constant pressure to achieve as close to academic perfection as possible is draining and stressful; always having to get a high number or your future could be in jeopardy.
The academic pressure can cause the following mental health symptoms, “Anxiety, depression, increased substance use, impaired overall health and well-being, poor sleep quality, leading to problematic coping strategies such as taking sleeping pills, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol to help them sleep, high levels of stress and burnout, which ironically result in lower academic achievement, depersonalization and poorer quality of life,” according to the Newport Institute.
Social factors that contribute to depression are categorized well in a study titled “Social Exclusion and Depression among undergraduate students: the mediating roles of rejection sensitivity and social self-efficacy” published in Springer Link. One’s sense of “social exclusion,” “rejection sensitivity” and “social self-efficacy” can all contribute to one’s feelings of depression, according to the study.
Social exclusion is the feeling that you are being left out by others and that friendships are dissolving. Repetitive and excessive feelings of exclusion can negatively impact self-esteem, anxiety, sense of purpose and connection with others and the ability to process mental pain. Rejection sensitivity is one’s fear of rejection and social self-efficacy is one’s belief in themself to form and hold social bonds. All of these feelings are often unwarranted, meaning that the feelings do not happen just because one is actually being excluded or constantly rejected, it can just happen.
While living at and attending college, these feelings are all amplified due to the constant presence of other people and internal and external pressures on how to engage socially. It is easy to fall into a hole of depression and isolate yourself. Feeling alone is scary and can feel impossible to deal with.
I feel an important question to keep in mind when dealing with these feelings is, “Are scared because you are alone, or are you alone because you are scared?” It helps me keep in mind that I am not inherently alone, merely at a point where being social is scary or hampered by external factors; sometimes you just need help.
Too many people spend their time in college just trying to make it to the next day, or to the next vacation. This is not what our college experience should be. Like my parents, I want to be able to say that college was the best time of my life. There is so much potential in the collegiate system to provide an environment that values academics and mental health equally.
We need to restructure the academic system and find a less linear way to measure our knowledge and capability when it comes to various subjects. Tests are stressful, outdated and are largely ineffective at measuring the proficiency of students who struggle with the test taking format. Project based learning should be encouraged, along with a move away from assessment models that encourage short term memorization. The stress relief from academic pressures and time spent studying is also a step towards making socializing easier.
Colleges should provide free and reliable access to healthcare professionals and resources; mental health needs to be a top priority. Encourage us and teach us how to take care of our mental health. Make it as much of a graduation requirement as that 100-level art class.
Harvie Marcotti can be contacted at
hmarcotti@kscequinox.com
