Is Mental Health Really a Problem?
“Listen, I am all for being healthy, but is mental health really all that important?”
“I just don’t get why we need to be so concerned about other people’s feelings.”
“I don’t have time to think about my mental health. If I am not thinking about it, it obviously can’t be that bad.”
Strange, right? Sadly, not only are these all things that I have heard or been told, but these are all things which don’t sound too out of the ordinary for our world.
Mental health has always been a taboo thing. It is something which is not discussed, not addressed.
When someone is physically hurt, we all rush to help. When someone is mentally hurt, we all rush to look away.
In recent years, however, a shift has begun.
Mental health is talked about. Mental health is addressed.
This shift, although years late, is welcomed, celebrated and needed.
This shift, although welcomed, is still not enough.
A recent College Pulse survey from 2020 showed that college students are struggling now more than ever.
One statistic stood out to me more than the others. Read it below:
“We asked students, “In the last 6 months, could you have used more emotional support than you received?” Over half (53%) of students report that they could have used more support than they received. About one in five students (22%) report that they did not need additional support.”
Now pause. Think about that.
1 in 5 students reported not needing additional support. Not 1 in 5 students needing more support. One in 5 students did not need more support.
Startling.
Even more startling is the low numbers of students using the resources from their colleges.
Whether this is due to a lack of funding resulting in limited resources or a lack of utilization is up for debate.
However, another question asked by College Pulse demonstrated a lack of knowledge about the resources colleges provide.
33% of students did not know about their colleges mental health services.
28% of students did not know about their colleges emotional well-being resources.
23% of students did not know about their colleges health and wellness resources.
More students did not know about their colleges mental health services than had an opinion about it.
Why? Is there a lack of programming? A lack of information? A lack of funding?
Let me tell you a story to demonstrate the importance of programming and awareness.
During the Summer of 2020, I began my term as the High Point University Student Government Association Vice President of External Communications.
My first task was to figure out a way we could engage with incoming freshman while they moved onto campus.
I thought and thought and thought.
Stress balls.
“What?”
“That’s a waste.”
“Why would be spend money on that?”
Eventually, I won the fight.
We handed out 3,000 stress balls over the course of two weeks.
However, the stress balls didn’t just have our logo on it. It had the contact information for the Office of Counseling Services on it.
We distributed them. We talked to people. And life went on.
Two weeks later, SGA got a direct message on Instagram.
“I just wanted to say thank you. You saved my life. I was on the verge of killing myself when I found a stress ball and called counseling. You saved me.”
Tears. I sat in my room and cried. We had saved a life.
We repeated this initiative in 2021.
Again, a direct message came in.
So when people say money can’t fix mental health problems, I call bullshit.
It is time that we step up, that colleges step up, that colleges listen, and that we support students.
