Gabriela Hernandez-Saire

English 395

Spring 2017

Exploratory essay

Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck

somewhere you dont belong (Mandy Hale). As college students we can all agree that

college is a change that impacts several different aspects of our lives whether we live on

campus or commute. These changes can lead to stress that we are not used to such as

being home sick, having to make new relationships, learning how to manage your time,

and in general exploring and experimenting new things. Although change can be good,

we can only handle so much change at a time and with all these new changes several

different health issues may come arise either throughout ones entire career in college or

at some point in time while enrolled in school. With about three quarters of mental

disorders starting before or around age 24, one of the largest health issues many college

students face is mental health such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.1 In most

cases these three intertwine with each other making it hard to accomplish daily activities

or successfully achieve goals. There are several different reasons and causes for these

mental health issues that our society has led us to believe are normal for students by

putting a stigma, both personally and publically, on having or speaking out about ones

mental health symptoms or concerns.

These mental health issues are a growing problem and tend to go unnoticed or

unannounced by people that have them either because of the stigma put on them or the
lack of knowledge of how serious depression, anxiety, and eating disorders can get. These

three mental health issues can be unbearable on their own, but when they intertwine with

each other it can make students even more miserable, resulting in negative coping

mechanisms and even dropping out of school. Being anxious, feeling sad, and eating too

much/little, occasionally is nothing more then a part of life but college students

sometimes dont realize the length and severity of these symptoms or the fact they are

progressing from simply being anxious to not being able to breath, feeling a bit sad to not

wanting to get out of bed every day, and occasionally forgetting to eat/overeating or

wanting to look healthy to purging and over exercising. Anxiety can lead to depression,

which can lead to eating disorders that can lead back to anxiety and depression, creating a

cycle where students could possibly become prone to other mental health issues and even

more serious medical issues.

The primary groups at risk for these mental health issues are first year male and

female college students living both on and off campus particularly the LGBT community,

international students, and more religious students, because of the personal stigma they

have on mental illnesses.1 Having anxiety, depression, and/or any eating disorders can

drastically affect the students academic potential, professionalism, relationships with

family, friends, and even how they feel about themselves; including their self-views, self

worth, and self-efficacy. There is a wide range of mental health issues that vary in

severity anywhere from not having the motivation to complete daily tasks, thoughts of

self harm, to even committing suicide. These issues are major problems that can follow

students for the rest of their lives if not treated properly. Mental health problems in

college students are not issues that should have a stigma along with it and certainly not
something to take lightly especially because forty five percent of drop out rates due to

mental health problems are from students that were not able to properly get

accommodations/help for their problem.2 They are serious problems that affect so many

people, not only at the University of Maryland but also in several other institutions. There

are many interventions that the University of Maryland campus can implement to help

the students feel more comfortable and get rid of the perceived public and personal

stigma in order for them to get help. One of the major steps the University can take is to

speak more about mental health issues throughout the semester, whether it be in classes

or emails such as red flags to look out for, where and how to get help, who to call, and

just making getting help more available to students. The University health center does a

great job of this already by having peer educators and other resources but there is still a

long way to go in order to get everyone informed and willing to get help when needed.

Expanding the number of peer educators as well as having professors talk more openly

about how and where to get resources for mental health issues would be a great start to

reduce the stigma on mental health and increase the likelihood of students to seek help

when needed.

References:

1. Eisenberg, D., Downs, M. F., Golberstein, E., & Zivin, K. (2009). Stigma and
Help Seeking for Mental Health Among College Students. Medical Care
Research and Review,66(5), 522-541. doi:10.1177/1077558709335173

2. Gruttadaro, D., & Crudo, D. (2012). College students speak: A survey report on
public health. The national alliance of mental illness, 4-22.