College students are in a mental health crisis

Warning: This article contains information about suicide. If you or a loved one needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

in this month Better houses and gardensReaders were treated to a beautiful interview with British singer and actor Harry Styles, which was filmed neither in his home nor in his garden, but was nonetheless very revealing.

In it, the 28-year-old admitted he had set up his first therapy session five years ago, after dealing with mental health hurdles for years as a teen idol and singing sensation with One Direction. He had avoided it for a long time.

“I thought it meant you were broken. He wanted to be the one who could say that he didn’t need it.”

Admission is welcome, as young people face mental health challenges in staggering proportions. As more and more young celebrities like noemi osaka, Camila Hair, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner tell your stories, hopefully more and more young people will see that it’s okay not to be okay. (Although I am no longer a “young person” or a celebrity, I did write about my own struggles here last year.)

But if any of these people had been in a US university when they were at their lowest point mentally, they might not have received much-needed help. That’s because colleges are failing our students when it comes to mental health.

AN new studio by the Healthy Minds Network found that the mental health of college students has been steadily declining over the eight years they collected data, with a whopping 135% increase in depression and a 110% increase in anxiety between 2013 and 2021.

The COVID pandemic saw a terrifying rise in suicidal ideation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionwith 25.5% (a quarter) of 18-24 year olds more likely to report that they had seriously considered suicide.

As of 2018even before the pandemic, suicide was the second most common cause of death among college students.

This school year alone, there has been a series of terrible news.

just last week, Arlan MillerA 19-year-old cheerleader from the University of the South and A&M University in Louisiana, posted a disturbing suicide note on Instagram and took her own life.

In April, the star softball player from James Madison University lauren bernett He died by suicide at the age of 20.

Also in April, a California Polytechnic State University student Zach Blanchard He died by suicide at the age of 21.

Katie Mayer, team captain and star goalie for the Stanford University women’s soccer team, took her own life in March. In a few months, she would have graduated.

at least five NCAA athletes He died by suicide in less than two months. Just this academic year, at least four students at Saint Louis University and Washington University died by suicide.

Those are just some of the horrible headlines.

There is a term called suicide contagion, a phenomenon that has been difficult to manage, especially within universities, where campuses are communities and news of one suicide can sometimes lead to others.

memory in 2010At my alma mater, Cornell University, there were six student suicides in six months.

In the wake of COVID, many colleges are trying to make mental health awareness a more prominent part of student life.

But access to mental health services remains the main obstacle. Universities across the country are severely understaffed and under-resourced.

In some cases, students wait months for care and often give up. In other cases, a staff of 10 mental health specialists has to care for thousands of students each year. When private care is available, many do not purchase insurance.

To make matters worse, colleges across the country fail to establish and adhere to appropriate protocols for students in need.

According public recordsIn some cases, teachers ignored required accommodations for students with certified special needs, schools’ leave policies were deemed discriminatory, or they failed to provide counseling to victims of sexual assault.

Unsurprisingly, Congress has also failed.

in 2016, the House introduced the Campus Mental Health Improvement Act, which would have provided grants to universities to improve mental health services and would require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a University Campus Task Force. It has not happened.

in 2021, the Senate introduced the Higher Education Mental Health Act, which would also have established a commission to better study and address the mental health needs of students. It has not happened.

in 2022, the House introduced a Student Mental Health Rights Act, which would solidify the university’s legal obligations to students. It has not happened.

As the mental health of our college students has worsened, access to on-campus services has in many cases become more difficult to come by. This is a parody, and unfortunately preventable. Making mental health services readily available saves lives. And with each new suicide, the issue becomes more urgent.

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