Success and Stigma

The impact of mental illness on college students in America.

Massacres at the hands of unstable gunmen headline the news all too often, adding fuel to the fiery gun-control debates in American legislative bodies. The right to bear arms has been bombarded with incessant scrutiny, but the mental states of such shooters seem often overlooked. With mental health disorders on the rise, they are more prevalent than ever on American college and university campuses. Despite the dramatic increase of mental disorders in recent years, access to mental health services merely stagnates, preventing many students from succeeding in college.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.” With all the modern advancements in health care and technology, one would expect improvement in overall mental health. The sad truth is that more Americans than ever are living with mental disorders, and that number does not seem to be decreasing anytime soon. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), about one quarter of American adults experience mental illness in a given year, with approximately 6% of them living with a severe mental disorder. Like many other societal issues, problems with treatment for mental illness are deeply-rooted and have existed for ages. In earlier times, mental illness was commonly thought to be the result of demonic possession or simple godlessness; through such views, the stigma on mental illness formed and has since been a permanent fixture in society. Along with the stigma came the institutionalization, or otherwise confinement, of people with mental illness, which was a common practice in America until the de-institutionalization movements during the Kennedy administration and the 1970's. While institutions were often places of cruelty, misdiagnosis, and malpractice, supporters of de-institutionalization wrongfully assumed that the newly liberated ex-patients would easily assimilate back into society. Abandoned by their support systems and without a home, many of the de-institutionalized were forced into prisons, nursing homes, and onto the streets, cut off from any hope of adequate treatment for their mental illness.

Though “times have changed,” how applicable is that to mental health? Shockingly enough, people living with mental illness can still be commonly found in prisons and nursing homes, instead of seeking appropriate treatment. Access to mental health services remains among the most elusive of American health care, with over 60% of adults living with mental illness receiving no services. (NAMI) Not only is psychiatric care expensive, but many are also afraid of becoming part of the stigma as a result of seeking mental health services. Society has created a dangerous and unyielding experience for people living with mental illness, and its effects can be seen virtually everywhere — especially among college students.

Though college students aren’t always thought to be particularly susceptible to mental illness, around three-quarters of mental health disorders begin before the age of 24. (NAMI) To put things in perspective, let’s say that we have a class of twenty students that represents the United States: about five of those students will experience a mental illness in a given year; one of those five would be living with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar disorder. Three out of the five would not receive necessary mental health services at all. In a 2012 survey of college students by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 73% of those surveyed reported that they experienced a mental health crisis in college.

Although a mental health crisis doesn’t guarantee the presence of mental illness, what happens when students do find themselves battling a mental disorder? As evident by the outrageous amount of people living with mental illness who don’t receive treatment, many students choose not to, or are unable to access mental health care in college. A major reason for not seeking treatment is the stigma; many students are afraid of someone they know seeing or knowing about them seeking treatment for mental illness. Many just feel they cannot handle the stress, of college and drop out; in the same NAMI survey of college students, 64% of students who reported they dropped out of college credit their decisions to mental health reasons. Instead of receiving needed treatment, students are finding mental illness to be a huge barrier to their success and are unsure of how to cope with these challenges. Dropping out of college, though a common choice among students living with mental illness, certainly isn’t the only option. With suicide being the third leading cause of death for ages 15 to 24, and over 90% of suicide victims having one or more mental disorders, many students turn to this last resort as a permanent solution to their problems.

The mental health of the United States is deteriorating at an alarming rate, affecting everyone from college students to senior citizens. Though overall mental health shows little sign of improvement any time soon, the necessity of mental health care is often eclipsed by the stigma on mental illness, keeping many affected students from seeking services and thriving in college. Anyone can fall victim to mental illness — it is not the result of bad decisions or godlessness. As Abraham Lincoln said, “A tendency to melancholy…let it be observed, is a misfortune, not a fault.” No matter how much coverage is offered for mental health care, stigma remains a huge barrier to accessing such services; it is unlikely that we’ll ever see a mentally healthy nation if we can not break down that stigma and be supportive for people all over the world living with mental illness.