Why College Students?
By the age of 25, about 74% of those who will have mental health disorders will have had their first symptoms. (Kessler, 2007)
A large survey reported that among 8,155 students, 6.7 % reported suicidal ideation, 1.6 % reported having a suicide plan, and 0.5 % reported making a suicide attempt in the past year. (Kessler, 2007)
Common Mental Health Conditions in College Students
Anxiety Disorders
Depression
Eating Disorders
Bipolar
Sleep Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric problems among college students, with approximately 11.9 % of college students suffering from an anxiety disorder. (Predelli, 2015)
Depression has prevalence rates in college students of 7% to 9 %. Depression is one of the most common reasons students seek counseling in college. (Predelli, 2015)
It is estimated that eating disorders occur between 10% and 20% of women and 4% to 10% of men in college suffer from an eating disorder, and rates are on the rise. (NEDA,2018)
About 3.2% of college students meet the criteria for bipolar disorder. Due to additional stress, many individuals with bipolar disorder can struggle with the college experience.
Up to 60% of all college students suffer from poor sleep quality, and 7.7% meet all criteria of an insomnia disorder. Sleep problems have a great impact on the students’ daily life. (Schlarb, 2017)
COVID-19 & Mental Health
“The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a new global health threat. By increasing the risk of isolation, fear, stigma, abuse and economic fallout, COVID-19 has led to an increase in the risk of psychiatric disorders, chronic trauma and stress, which eventually increase suicidality and suicidal behavior.” (Banerjee, 2021)
Stressful experiences such as learning about the diagnosis of COVID-19, fear of infecting others, symptoms of the illness, hospitalization, and loss of income may lead to the development of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A recent study in China indicated that 96.2% of recovering COVID-19 patients had significant posttraumatic stress symptoms. (Sher, 2020)
- Kessler RC, Amminger GP, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Alonso J, Lee S, Ustün TB. Age of onset of mental disorders: a review of recent literature. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2007 Jul;20(4):359-64. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0b013e32816ebc8c. PMID: 17551351; PMCID: PMC1925038.
- Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2015). College Students: Mental Health Problems and Treatment Considerations. Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry, 39(5), 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0205-9
- Collegiate Survey Project. (2017, May 04). Retrieved from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/CollegiateSurveyProject
- Sher L. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates. QJM. 2020 Oct 1;113(10):707-712. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcaa202. PMID: 32539153; PMCID: PMC7313777.
Banerjee, D., Kosagisharaf, J. R., & Sathyanarayana Rao, T. S. (2021). ‘The dual pandemic’ of suicide and COVID-19: A biopsychosocial narrative of risks and prevention. Psychiatry research, 295, 113577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113577
- Schlarb, A. A., Friedrich, A., & Claßen, M. (2017). Sleep problems in university students – an intervention. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 13, 1989–2001. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S142067