College Students – Mental Health in The US
R. Quintiliani, Ph.D., LADC
The Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors has released data on the mental health status of American college students. Two survey between 2016 and 2018 yielded results from as far back as 2014. Here are some selected statistics (rounded):
Anxiety 47-61%; Depression 40-49%; Stress 45%; Relationship and/or Family Issues 33%; Academic Performance Concerns 28%; Psychiatric Medications 26%; Suicidal Thoughts/Behaviors 20%; Alcohol/Drug Issues 18%; Prior 
Treatment 15%; Self-Injury 13%; ADD/ADHD, LD, Experiencing Oppression, Assault, Eating Issues ALL below 9%. This is the 6th year in a row that anxiety placed in the top category for college students seeking help.
Some other important information includes the following.
- The staffing make up of Counseling Centers represented mainly psychologists and social workers, with a student to clinician ratio of 1,737:1. There is approximately a 30% demand level, up 5% in more recent data. Use of telehealth has increased to 9%. Wait lists are norms, especially in larger institutions of higher education (30,000+ students). There is a slight increase in counseling staff from more diverse populations; this is in response from complaints from minority students.
- The data suggests a condition of continuing deterioration of mental health status in college students. This does reflect the American population as a whole, with slightly higher increases in younger populations. In my own opinion, after over 30 years of clinical behavioral health employment, it feels like the American culture is in a meltdown situation; there are many
complex reasons for this conditions. - Some reasons noted for increased stress and, therefore, mental health issue exacerbation among college students are financial concerns, family health and relationships, social status, technological domination (perhaps increased cellphone addiction). Independent research has suggested that there may be a correlation between increased cellphone addiction and the rise of reported mental health conditions.
- Colleges and universities, just like community level mental health/substance use/ behavioral health programs appear to be under-funded and under-staffed to meet the challenges presented. What will it take to WAKE UP the government leadership that something BIG needs to be done about the poor behavioral health of the American population?
See Inside Higher Ed for more information. www.insidehighered.com/news… Retrieved 10/28/18.
Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC
From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton Sangha
Author of Mindful Happiness
“experience near empathy” (Kohut), “unconditional positive regard” (Rogers), “hovering attention” (Freud), “the holding environment” in “intersubjective space” (Winnicott), and compassionate awareness to emotional distancing, separation, and dispassion is no easy task. In more in-depth clinical interactions, the process of projective identification between therapist and client may drain your emotional resources; sometimes being “as if” you were the experiencer of your client’s pain and suffering can take a serious toll on your own emotional resources. At time the therapist’s own emotional life lacks the quality of connection experienced in the therapy session. Success in setting emotional boundaries is a very important self-care skill. It may determine your success, failure, joy, or misery in the clinical work you do. It will definitely prevent most case of “burn out.”
helping skills. We suffer just like other people do. Hopefully, our training and experience have given us a bit of a positive edge here. Here are some things you may wish to consider to improve your own level of self-compassion.
meditations below are presented to expand the use of interoceptive processes in therapy practice. They are presented in very brief form, so slow down the work when using these in your therapy practice. Rather than repeating the introductory process, I will note it here. Be sure to use it in each meditation.
may be sexual, physical, or emotional. This form of abuse is so destructive because the child has no cognitive/executive/verbal ways to understand and respond to the experience. The long-term bio-psycho-social-spiritual effects of PVT are quite difficult to treat effectively. One reason for this is that some therapist are determined to utilize their favorite approaches (mainly forms of pure talk-therapy and psychodynamic holding) despite the limited effectiveness that these forms of therapy results in. Still worse for the client is generic talk therapy, often a mixture of various talk-therapy components but no actual evidence-based method of helping. Remember it is our obligation to Do No Harm and to use therapeutic interventions beyond alliance that are effective. There may be moral if not ethical implications here.
outcomes. In the interest of research, of course other therapies have been found to be effective with trauma. To mention a few, these are EMDR, DBT, PET, and, Briere’s self-trauma therapy with slow, complete exposure work. MBSR and ACT may be helpful regarding emotional dysregulation in traumatic re-experiencing and self-empowerment. Of course effective attachment therapy with very specific object relations correctives is also helpful.
add more details to this process in future posts.
recovery is concerned. I also believe that WE ALL are in some form of recovery process (depression, anxiety, addictions, trauma, eating problems, grief and loss, chronic physical illness or injury, etc.). This may not be the BIG-R Recovery process, but it is recovery process as a deep-seated, self-oriented process of hope, health, and happiness. Hope this information is helpful tip you.