How do College Students Deal with Mental Health?
by Aliya Muhama
What is mental health? How do college students cope with mental health? Individuals deal with stress in a variety of different ways; smoking, sleeping, lighting a candle, exercising. College students in particular seem to sometimes struggle with their mental health and finding ways to cope with it. Almost half college students had a psychiatric disorder in the past year. 73% of students experience some sort of
mental health crisis during college. Almost 1/3 of college students report having felt so depressed that they had trouble functioning. More than 80% of college students felt overwhelmed by all they had to do in the past year and 45% have felt things were hopeless. Mental health problems are highly stigmatized universally. College students may worry about a “black mark” on their academic record. They also
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worry that a psychiatric disorder will be judged negatively by peers or faculty. And finally, there is a real lack of sound information about the nature, course, and treatment of psychiatric disorders. For all these reasons far too few seek help. Colleges, as noted above, have very limited clinical services and mental health personnel. At Temple University, the only counseling service Tuttleman Services has a waitlist
Top: “Lighting a candle is one of the first things I do when I’m stressed” Naiya Morgan Bottom: “Stress kills but the number one thing I try and do is workout” Ato Aidoo
and students can be expected to wait for weeks, some even months. There is often inadequate means of providing evaluations or therapy. Insurance limitations are very common, and many student health plans are woefully thin in providing mental health care. Most students and parents have minimal knowledge about how and where to get help, such as how to get referrals on or off campus. Many students
don’t even know where to find counseling or psychiatric emergency services on campus, or if they are eligible for care. Mental health is fostered by activities and skills including: good nutrition, exercise, adequate sleep habits, meditation, yoga, cognitive behavior therapy, collaborative problem solving, stress reduction techniques, reflective discussion, and expressive art groups. Spring 2022 | 3
“I cry my eyes out but then that makes my head hurt so I’ll try to eat something or workout the next day” Serena Sky
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“I like to smoke, it puts me in a mentally different space” Janae Nwatulegwu
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Top: Prerolls (left), lighter (middle), grinder (right) Bottom: Bong
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“Other than smoking, getting pretty helps with my health. If I didn’t have a strong support system, idk how I’d do it” Shan Holder-Alleyne
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“Vaping isn’t good for you but I do it anyways” Amirit Sahota
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“I hate when people say women smoking isn’t cute, I’m not trying to be cute. I’m trying to have a good time’ Shan Holder-Alleyne
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“Why are you being so funny right now” Shan (left) says to Amrit (right)
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“I am about to pass out right now... why did I agree to this Breonna (right) says to Shan (left)
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