College Campuses Taking Action on Mental Health

Inquiry: Mental health has been declining in college students, but why aren’t they seeking more

help and what are college campuses doing to help?

Proposed Thesis: College campuses should be taking action to raise the awareness of mental

health, and provide more services to students so that they can feel comfortable getting the help

they need.

Hawley, Lisa D., et al. “Baseline Assessment of Campus-Wide General Health Status and
Mental Health: Opportunity for Tailored Suicide Prevention and Mental Health
Awareness Programming.” Journal of American College Health, vol. 64, no. 3, Apr.
2016, pp. 174–183. EBSCOhost.

The authors of this article address the prevalence of suicide and mental illness among

college students, and provide statistical evidence to show how common these issues are.

Rates of anxiety and depressive disorders have been high for young adults, which can

eventually lead to thoughts and attempts of suicide. The authors state that finding out the

rates and demographics of anxiety, depression, and suicide can provide a baseline for

further action. They conducted a campus-wide surveillance survey at a public university,

and used this survey to gather information on the mental health, physical health, and

demographics of the campus. The survey was sent out to every student and faculty

member, and they were asked to answer questions that included mental health, and

suicide knowledge and experiences. Once the data was collected, the authors used it to

develop multiple mental health and suicide awareness programs. A face-to-face mental

health training program was implemented, which consisted of trained professionals that

could asses students’ mental health and help prevent those at risk for suicide. A

university suicide prevention Web page that contained helpful resources for students and
 faculty. The study done in this article provides evidence for the issue of declining mental

health among college students. The suicide prevention programs also reveal the efforts

that campuses are making to provide guidance for their students. The article may offer

some bias due to a possible nonresponse from students who did not feel comfortable

doing the survey, therefore the results may not represent the mental health status of many

students.

Wolverton, Brad. “As Students Struggle With Stress and Depression, Colleges Act as
Counselors.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/education/learning/mental-health-counseling-on-
campus.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=F
ooter.

Brad Wolverton begins the article by recalling a story about a student who emailed his

professor to let him know that he would be leaving school for a long time, and this was

because the student had a plan to check himself into a psychiatric ward. The professor

took action and called a safety campus officer to check on the student, but he was already

applying for his sixth medical leave. Wolverton argues that “His journey illustrates the

intense struggles students can face and the increasing steps colleges are taking to manage

what some experts are calling a mental health crisis on campus.” Students have been

facing the pressure to succeed and feel that if they do not, they are a failure, and this

creates the great deal of anxiety among college students. Colleges have been making

efforts to increase counseling services, but there has been such a major increase in the

demand for these services, and students feel as if they are without help. Many college

campuses have been trying to hire more therapists and increase the availability of them.

The University of Texas began a crisis-response system that is able to help all students
 who need it. Penn State University implemented drop-in clinics throughout campus, so

students can receive help whenever they need. The University of South Florida began

“relaxation stations,” where students can relax and wind down. The author’s argument

that students have an increased need for counseling services follows with my proposed

thesis, and the examples of the multiple resources being created at universities is

evidence for the action being taken by the stakeholders. This article may contain bias due

to the supporting evidence for college campus services, and there is not much towards the

students’ experience with these services.

Giroux, Dominique, and Elisa Geiss. “Evaluating a Student-Led Mental Health Awareness
Campaign.” Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, vol. 24, no. 1, Spring 2019, pp.
61–66. EBSCOhost, doi:10.24839/2325-7342.JN24.1.61.

The authors of this article argue that the stigma around mental health illness is keeping

college students from feeling that they can seek help. They address the two types of

stigma that students can face: self-stigma and public stigma. Dominique and Geiss held a

student-led campaign at a liberal arts college, which was to increase awareness of mental

illness and decrease the stigma. The mental health awareness week consisted of a mental

health open mic night, where students could share their stories and receive information

from faculty members. The students were given many other opportunities to learn about

the commonness of mental illness and resources on campus. After the campaign, the

authors collected data on the participants and said that “While exploring the effect of

participation in the events on self-stigma, we found that students who participated had

increased positive attitudes toward seeking help—” (Dominique and Geiss 65). Their

study revealed that if students are exposed to more mental health awareness campaigns,
 then students will feel more comfortable seeking help. This article supports my claim that

college campuses need to raise awareness of mental health for their students, and the

results of this study prove that it can be helpful and effective. The evidence that the

authors provide regarding the presence of mental illness among campuses can also

support my claim.

Pace, Kristin, et al. “Promoting Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior Among First-Year
College Students.” Health Communication, vol. 33, no. 2, Mar. 2018, pp. 102–110.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10410236.2016.1250065.

Kristin Pace makes the argument in her article that college students are not fully aware of

the services provided by their campuses, and this prevents them from seeking assistance.

College campuses need to be making more of an effort to raise the awareness of mental

health and services in order for students to receive the guidance that they need before it

becomes a larger problem. First-year college students face many obstacles and struggles

while transitioning into college, and this tends to lead to mental health issues, like anxiety

and depression. Students who view a stigma with mental illness may also let this get in

the way of reaching out to the campus services. The author conducted a study in which

first-year students at a university were organized into focus groups where they talked

about the transition to college and mental health. After these conversations were recorded

and analyzed, students were given the opportunity to participate in a survey. This survey

was to compare the results from the focus groups and see what students wanted in a

mental health awareness campaign. The author stated that “Those who were exposed to

the messages in the survey indicated they preferred to obtain information about mental

health from the counseling center website,” but the students revealed that they did not
 prefer to seek help from the faculty (Pace 107). The author’s results find that students

need to be further educated on the services that their campuses provide, and this needs to

be done before the mental health issues even occur. If there are more campaign messages

towards students, it can improve the likelihood that they will seek help from others and

drop the stigma. This argument is beneficial to my claim due to the evidence supporting

the need for more available campus resources. The students that were surveyed and put

into focus groups admitted to being uncomfortable with seeking help, and they would

rather be educated online. Campuses need to increase the awareness that counseling

services are important to their students.

Wolverton, Brad. “Colleges Expand Their Reach to Address Mental Health Issues.” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/education/learning/mental-health-college-examples.html.

The author used this article to describe examples of multiple universities taking action to

improve the mental health resources for students. He states that “Colleges are struggling

to keep up with an increase in requests for mental health counseling. Many have hired

additional staff members and are experimenting with new approaches to treatment”

(Wolverton). UCLA started a program that involved online resources for students to have

screenings and receive treatment, and began implementing “resilience peers” that can

offer a comforting resource for students to talk to someone. UCLA also offers a program

where students can work with a peer to deal with any mental issues they are facing. One

of the students expressed that this program gave her helpful guidance that she will

continue to use. Kent State University has made efforts to increase the clinical staff, and

the author states that “The university has provided mental health training to more than
 700 students, faculty and staff members, and created programs to help populations that do

not traditionally seek counseling” (Wolverton). Jefferson Community College created a

program where students can receive help that does not just consist of traditional therapy.

The program can help students stay on track, and receive assistance for things that may

be causing stress in their lives. Ohio State University has made an effort to expand their

counseling staff so that they are more available to their students. This article offers many

examples that show college campuses are making efforts to have the ability to help their

students, and provide them with safe and comfortable methods of dealing with mental

health issues. This can help provide evidence for my claim, because many large

universities are creating new and innovative ways to appeal to their students’ needs.

Reiff, Marian, et al. “I CARE: Development and Evaluation of a Campus Gatekeeper

Training Program for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention.” Journal of
College Student Psychotherapy, vol. 33, no. 2, Apr. 2019, pp. 107–130. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1080/87568225.2018.1433570.

The author of this article argues that college students are in a period of life where mental

health support is vital, and campuses need to implement programs that are readily

available for students. Due to the substantial need for counseling services, there has been

a development of “I CARE” which is led by clinicians that understand the mental

processes students go through and know how to assist. The author describes its main goal

to be “talking openly and directly about mental health and suicide, and reducing

participants’ anxieties and fears around engaging with others in situations of

distress or crisis” (Reiff 108). The program also makes an effort to address suicide

prevention and intervene with students who have attempted, or considered, suicide. The

author conducted a study at the University of Pennsylvania to see whether this program
was effective for preventing mental health concerns. A large group of students and

faculty were chosen to participate in mental health workshops and follow-up surveys.

The results showed that after the workshops the participants felt more equipped to

intervene in a crisis, and they felt more comfortable using these new skills to help others.

The results also showed that the workshops increased students’ willingness to seek help,

and educated them on the resources that they can reach out to. The I CARE program can

be a useful example for my argument because it provides a system in which faculty and

students can be educated in how to help, and where to get help. The results showed that I

CARE did make an impact on this group, meaning that other programs similar to this can

be implemented across universities and they will increase the awareness of mental health,

and ability to assist in times of need.