Study shows students reporting more mental health issues

“College Life Can Be Overwhelming,” reads the neon board at the entrance to the IU Health Center.

Any student could tell you that, but how much more can students take?

A study released last week found that five times as many high school and college students today have anxiety and other mental health issues than they did in the 1930s. The study was conducted by San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge, who analyzed responses from 77,576 high schools and college students from 1938 through 2007 on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Twenge and others found no direct cause or correlation, but they speculated that the increase is related to societal pressures such as body image, wealth and status.
“This does seem to be a problem,” Twenge told the Associated Press.

Senior Andrew Wilburn agreed with Twenge. Wilburn said he has been grappling with anxiety and other behavioral disorders his whole life but it became more unbearable as his responsibilities mounted. 

“I think in college it caught up with me because you have all these deadlines,” he said, adding that it’s becoming normal for students to have mental health issues.

Approximately 30 percent of IU students are treated for some sort of mood disorder, including depression and anxiety, said Nancy Stockton, the director of IU’s Counseling and Psychological Services. While this number might seem high, it aligns with the national comparison to other colleges, she added.

“The economic pressures, the job situation – I think that is obviously imposing stress,” Stockton said.

However, she said she believes the way we think about mental health issues has changed, which might have contributed to the study’s results. People are more aware of mental health disorders, and more importantly, the treatments.

“More students come in having been prescribed medicines in high school,” Stockton said.

She considers this a societal recognition that depression and other phenomena are likely to happen at younger ages.

Even if we can’t lower the numbers, she said, we can spread the word that there are better treatments.

When IU psychology professor John Bates saw the Associated Press article about the study, he questioned his students about the causal factors. His students generated two ideas.

“It could reflect that people are more willing to admit pathological symptoms than they were before,” Bates said. “Or maybe people are under more stress now.”

Bates said the college environment has certainly changed during the years. A broader spectrum of people can go to college now than could in the Depression era. Stockton also mentioned the prevalence of binge drinking and other dependencies.

“I don’t know if college is any more academically stressful than it’s ever been, but it might be more socially stressful,” Stockton said. 

CAPS offers a variety of counseling sessions to help students cope with their stressful social and academic issues, whether it be severe depression or just a minor bump.
Wilburn tried out CAPS for his anxiety, but found that he was really the only person who could make a change in his behavior. 

“There’s no handbook for life,” he said. “It’s kind of an anxious thing if you think about it.”