Survey says mental health chief concern for college students as school year begins
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According to a recent survey, 49% of college students reported that mental health is their top concern as the fall semester begins, topping a list that included academics, inflation and mass shootings.
Per a release, in a nationwide online poll of nearly 1,200 American college students conducted by higher education health and wellness provider TimelyMD from July 25-27, nearly seven out of 10 students (69%) reported experiencing mental health issues such as stress, anxiety or depression. The overwhelming majority of respondents (86%) said their current level of stress and/or anxiety is the same as or greater than this time last year.
There was good news from the survey as well. As mental health awareness becomes increasingly prevalent and destigmatized, students have become more likely to seek out emotional support (71%, up from 64% in January), especially from their peers.
In contrast to earlier this year when students said they were more stressed about COVID-19 than ever, the driving source of their stress is no longer the pandemic. More than half of matriculators (54%) stated they are less or not at all concerned about the pandemic; 60% of students said their campuses’ COVID-19 precautions are appropriate.
According to the release, despite the majority of students reporting mental health issues, 68% of students who responded graded their personal mental health as either a “B” or “C.”
The poll also named students’ other main stressors — mass shootings (41%), inflation (40%), finances (40%) and academics (38%). At the time of the survey, only 16% of expressed concern regarding monkeypox.
“Students’ top stressor is their own mental health; that’s saying something,” Rufus Tony Spann, PhD, executive director of mental health at TimelyMD, stated in the release. “While survey results are encouraging and indicative of a societal shift in mental health awareness and greater recognition of resources, it’s clear students still need more support.”
Students reported that the best thing campuses can do in terms of support is to provide a hybrid approach to health and well-being, particularly in providing more virtual counseling/mental health support, followed closely by more in-person counseling/mental health support and additional peer-to-peer support resources.