As a current college freshman, I feel like I have experienced an entire lifetime of events in the past 8 months. There have been a lot of highs and a lot of lows. I honestly don’t know if I could tell you what I expected going into college, but I can say that I was far from prepared. The summer before moving up to State College all I heard was “college is the best 4 years of your life”, “man I wish I was still in college”, “college is so much better than high school”, “you’re so lucky”. All of these phrases that bounced around were positive. I scarcely came across a negative comment when it came to adults and their college experiences. But underneath all the glorified partying, newly found freedom, and a community filled with people your age, being a college student is tough. And I don’t think we’re given enough credit for what we have to deal with.

College is a time for growth. And I’m a firm believer that in order to grow, you have to struggle a little bit. It’s that ability to say you survived something, that allows you to prove to yourself that you are more capable than you may have thought. But at the same time, I think that some struggles cannot be fought alone. One of the most overlooked and blanketed issues amongst students, both in college and other education, is mental health. Sure, we have health classes. They are pretty useless though. In my health class I remember we spent a month memorizing the names of all the bones in our body. That time could have been dedicated to learning about mental health and ways to deal with it, because that would have been a lot more beneficial.

The top five mental health issues faced by college students are depression, anxiety, suicide, addiction, and eating disorders. Mental health issues are very common, which is why I find it absurd that the topic has a tendency to be stigmatized by the public. To prove my point, let me hit you with a few facts. According to a study done by the American College Health Association, 60% of students reported feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety and 40% reported experiencing such crippling depression that they had difficulty functioning on a day to day basis. Suicide is the second highest leading cause of death amongst college students with 1,100 students taking their own life on a yearly basis. 70% of students develop an alcohol dependency or alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism for their mental health challenges. Obviously these numbers are shockingly high. A study done here at Penn State found that in the past year the demand for on-campus mental health services increased by 40%. However, Penn State has made no effort to better promote their services or provide more easily accessible resources for its students. There are a lot of reasons for students to experience high levels of mental health. There is a lot of pressure on them, and for such young people it can take a toll.

I believe that mental health needs to be address more in the classroom in order to take away to negative connotation behind it, and provide students information on how to get the help they need. With the pressures of friend groups, being away from home, school and grades, career progression, and just finding time for yourself, not being able to escape your own debilitating thoughts is like a death sentence. Colleges should take a step in helping their students to succeed by readily handing them as many resources and services as possible. I know that it is often said that colleges have what you need if you search for it, but should you really have to look hard to find something as simple as having someone to talk to about what might be going on in your head?

WAYS TO GET HELP:
Online Therapy
CAPS (at PSU)