Essay Sample about The Importance of Students Seeking Help From Mental Health Services Available on Campus

College life can be one of the most rewarding and challenging times in a student’s life. It is an opportunity for students to explore themselves, and the new environment around them, but with such new endeavors, it is not without trials, and tribulations. Ultimately, leading to the fact that students are in dire need of mental health care and support for their well-being. Ultimately this has always been a subject for discussion on college campuses, as well as in public health, even more so now because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A plethora of college students are experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and bi-polar disorder, with a rise in the general population in recent years. Special attention may also be needed for students who struggle with financial burdens, because of the pandemic. This prevalence of numbers rising highlights a current topic to argue; for many people. The argument being that these services should become more accessible, and advertised to students, who face these barriers.

The students on these campuses are the people being directly affected by this matter of contention. Even despite seeking mental health help, counseling centers in these college campuses are being executed with the mentality to get rid of the problem in the fastest, and easiest way, which should not be the case. This has led to these universities being flooded with antidepressants and several other medications on campus. There is a news article written by The Chronicle of Higher Education that speaks on this subject in the matter of campuses relying on the heavy use of antidepressants “In that respect, campuses are well-stocked. Records obtained by The Chronicle from dozens of universities unveil the immense volume of antidepressants stocked in campus-run-pharmacies. At any given time, universities can have tens of thousands of pills on hand. And it is fairly easy, experts say, to get prescribed, which often involves one visit to a campus clinic. That ease, combined with a growing demand for treatment, has resulted in a high volume of prescriptions written in recent years.” (Jackson, Lily “Antidepressant prescriptions at a U. of Kentucky pharmacy, 2016-18). This increase in the reliance of antidepressants has been an alarming concern for the students that attend these campuses; they are not able to deal with the stressors surrounding their lives. Later on in the article Jackson also presents the numbers that were obtained from the University of Kentucky. “At Kentucky, for instance, 3249 prescriptions for antidepressants were received by the campus pharmacy in 2018, an increase of 67 percent from just two years earlier.”(Jackson, Lily “Antidepressant prescriptions at a U. of Kentucky pharmacy, 2016-18). 

The issue does not just rest on the amount of these prescribed medications circulating campuses, but the fact that there are many other students who feel so depressed that they can not function, or have these feelings of overwhelming anxiety. “In spring 2017, nearly 40% of college students said they had felt so depressed within the last 12 months that it was difficult for them to function, and 61% of students said they had “felt overwhelming anxiety” in the same time period, according to an American College Health Association survey of more than 63,000 students at 92 schools.” (Reilly, Katie 41). Anxiety has a high spot when it comes to the daily stressors that impair people’s day to day lives. When a mental illness is described as being that severe it does not just stop inwardly. These illnesses can start manifesting in the outward mode; it impacts the physical health of people greatly, and even then it does not seem to stop there. All of this inward turmoil can leak into the relationships that people hold with each other.

Even when students ask for, and receive help, they do not always get the resources they need. Especially considering that in rural areas where the population is larger, universities will often feel the pressure of so many students needing these resources “According to a 2016 survey of counseling center directors, the average university has one professional counselor for every 1,737 students—fewer than the minimum of one therapist for every 1,000 to 1,500 students recommended by the International Association of Counseling Services.” (Reilly, Katie 41)

These numbers put the staff members who are running these counseling centers in the category of people who can also be potentially affected. There is such a rise in the necessity of these services, and the people who can provide these services. With these centers being so understaffed, it can cause too much demand for these workers, and there not being a way to take care of this kind of demand in a pacely, and effective manner can make the experience that much worse, for students, and for the staff. The counselors, and psychiatrists that operate in these centers are valuable people who can hold a very high position in this issue specifically. They work with these students one on one to find a method to tackle these stressors.

Despite this, there are many private organization services offered off campus that can work with students if the student would ever reach out. The costs for these kinds of services can have an inconsistent range. But many can cost thousands of dollars that are oftentimes not covered by insurance putting many students who do not have the luxury of affording these steep prices at a disadvantage to seek help. “The highest proportion of respondents (93.5%) reported that feeling “too ashamed” was a major barrier followed by concerns about what other people would think... cost associated with treatment (68.9%), and no support from friends and family to get treatment (54.0%).” (Gibbons, Sidney 584). Now, although all these percentages should not be overlooked, the focus for this specific idea that I will be addressing will lie in the fact that fifty-four percent of respondents said that they feel they do not have the support from friends and family. This should put the parents, and friends who hold close relationships to people who might be a part of that fifty-four percent in the category of who else can be affected. It could be your best friend, your son, your dorm-mate, etc. These are all the people who can hold influence in the lives of those affected. These are the pillars of support for all these student’s lives, these are the people who can work towards improving the attitudes towards mental health, and to seek that help from outreach programs, or even going directly to an on-campus counseling center “The attitude results are consistent with those of Vanheusden et al[13], and Rickwood et al,[14] who found that barriers to care in their young adult samples were related to attitudes about care, including ignorance about available treatment options, negative attitudes and beliefs about seeking mental health care, and a belief that formal care would have no impact.” (Bohon, Lisa “Attitudes and perceived behavioral control“ 600).

Furthermore, there is another important question when it comes to this issue. Why are counseling centers being so overwhelmed, and understaffed? The answer to that would be the funding that goes into these programs, or better yet the lack thereof  “Despite the increase in students seeking mental health help, counseling center operating budgets have largely remained the same over the past 10 years.”  (Gibbons, Sidney et al 581). These institutions are not being funded properly, and why does that matter? Well, because in order to provide these services the professionals have to be hired, and without the proper funding, the universities can not hire enough people. They won’t. “Some schools figure we’re here to educate people and that all of this emotional development stuff, they need to do on their own or somewhere else. They say, “It’s not part of what we’re about.” I think that’s totally wrong. I think it’s very clear that people’s academic success goes hand in hand with their emotional development.” (Kadison, Richard 6) this quote was taken from an interview with Richard Kadison that was carried out by the Recruitment & Retention in Higher Education. The institutions themselves, the directors, who are a part of these committees are the ones who can push to make this change happen.

In closing, when we ask ourselves about the importance of mental health on campus we can also ask ourselves what can be done right? Well when students are the ones being affected the only thing that can be done is to engage, and spread awareness about mental health. The parents, friends, counselors, psychiatrists, and other students are all there for the sole purpose of being pillars of support. “These findings illustrate that students are receptive to counseling services and campaign messages that promote help-seeking, especially those messages that normalize help-seeking through peer support.” (Pace, Kristin 109).  These are those influential people that can spread awareness effectively, and create more of a buzz surrounding the current issue. To get the funding for these services on the other hand lies in the power of the committee directors, to push forwards for more funding, or even create campaigns to spread awareness, and ultimately better the system in place at the moment rather than keeping it stagnant.