What students are worrying about
June 1, 2009 by Geneva ReidPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Student Life
“These are the best years of your life,” college students often are told. But a recent survey tells a different story.
An overwhelming majority of college students say they feel stressed much of the time, according to a recent Associated Press-mtvU poll.
The four biggest worries? Grades, school work, money and relationships.
Here’s what the survey found:
- 85% of students say they’re stressed in their daily lives.
- 42% admit they’ve felt depressed or hopeless for a few days in recent weeks.
- 13% are at risk for mild depression. (This was based on their answers to questions often used to diagnose depression.)
- 11% have thought about hurting themselves – or believe they’d be better off dead.
As if these numbers aren’t worrisome enough, there are two even more disturbing statistics:
- More than 50% of students who say they’ve considered suicide this past year haven’t gotten any kind of treatment or counseling.
- Close to 50% of students showing moderate symptoms of depression aren’t aware of the counseling resources their college offers.
What does your school do to help make students aware of the counseling resources available to them? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Tags: counseling, depression, Health, stress
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June 4th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Our culture is a high-stress, fast-paced, competitive environment at home, school and in the workplace. Our culture has evolved a matching educational system that is based upon competition. It is bad enough that there is a hurried lock-step schedule to keep up with. But we pit students against one another rather than let them learn at their own pace. There is a stigma for anyone who “can’t cut it.” We have known all this for decades. But no one seems to have the will or clout to do anything about it. It would require one huge overhaul and a totally different way of thinking about what an education is and what learning is. When we finally burn ourselves out, perhaps another more sane educational culture will evolve to replace ours. If we just wait for that to happen, we are exposed to the risk of cultural extinction.
2 cents worth for free.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Being an adult is stressfull. I think what is being measured here is the fact that most college students are being exposed to normal, grown up stressors for the first time in their lives. Rent? Due at the first of the month, no exceptions. Job? Gotta keep the boss happy or you don’t eat. School? The professor doesn’t care if you’ve been out drinking all night, that paper is due is at 9 AM.
Most college kids have just left the warm cocoon of Mom and Dad where they had free room and board and any money they earned at an after school job was solely for clothes or partying or fun. For a lot of these kids, college is the first time in their lives that decisions they make about work or money or how they spend their time have harsh, real world consequenses.
True. Making this transition to the grown up world is hard, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. With all the stresses of adulthood come the unfettered pleasures of choosing your own path and finally having total control of making yourself into the person you want to be. (Instead of who your parents want you to be, for example.)
My school has counselling programs in place to help students who want it, but I think that peer relationships, campus social clubs and service oriented clubs are just as important when it comes to aleviating stress and achieving a sort of life balance. Observant professors and counsellors can give students who seem to be strugging a push towards the various programs on campus that can be of help. Sometimes students just need someone who will listen and nod and tell them that everything is going to be fine.
Everyone is different and will come to handle the rigors of adulthood in their own ways. It’s one of those things you learn in college that isn’t on the curriculum. It’s part of growing up.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Here here, Lisa. You nailed it right on the head. For the first time most students don’t have someone making sure their self esteem isn’t bruised and it is a cold hard crash of reality.
The world often isn’t FAIR and stress–oh you better believe it! It exists on lots of levels that you, as a high school student, never had to deal with. I think the only difference today is that people are asking the students about stress in their lives. No one seemed to care if I was stressed. It was sort of assumed that you would be stressed and would learn to deal with it. That was normal.
Quick word to students–stress is a part of life. Get used to it. Deal with it or get help dealing with it. Complaining won’t make it go away. And, most of all, feeling stressed does not mean you’re not the exception but rather NORMAL. You’re growing up. Congratulations!