ARU Institutions of Higher Learning Education Discussion Response

please respond to Kathleen:

College presents unique challenges, life changes, and opportunities for students. For many, it may be the first time living away from home. For other students, college may be more academically demanding than high school, causing stress they have not experienced before. The challenges they face in college are unlike what they likely encounter in other phases or aspects of life. With these challenges comes an increased risk of mental health concerns. It is estimated around 20% of college students have depression (Kalkbrenner & Flinn, 2020), and over 40% of students have experienced anxiety to the point that it impacts their functioning (Kwan et al., 2021). Rehr & Nguyen (2022) report that the number of college students reporting mental health diagnoses continues to increase, and Kalkbrenner & Flinn (2020) report that student enrollment is also growing. The growth in college students and mental health diagnoses validates the need for institutions to take a proactive approach to how they address these concerns.

Mental health concerns are relevant to student affairs professionals who serve students outside the classroom. Many college students can benefit from education on coping to help prevent maladaptive coping mechanisms (Rehr & Nguyen, 2022). Such education is a project for several offices across an institution’s campus to partner up to implement. For example, Rehr & Nguyen (2022) suggest the counseling department collaborate with athletics to provide coping strategy education to student-athletes.

I notice the way mental health issues impact students negatively. In my role as Title IX Coordinator, students often face new or exacerbated mental health symptoms because of trauma. On my campus, our counseling center provides weekly workshops on various topics. This week’s reading and the research I have done for this post have given me more to think about in terms of partnering with offices across campus to help reach students.