DID YOU KNOW 64% OF STUDENTS ARE NO LONGER ATTENDING COLLEGE BECAUSE OF A MENTAL HEALTH RELATED REASON?

Our goal is to raise awareness and encourage campuses to adopt new programs to diminish the stigma associated with mental health illnesses.

 

Statistics show that an average of 1,000 suicides occur yearly on college campuses (Hipple, 2010). Our objective is to make students more aware of the significant prevalence of mental health illnesses on college campuses. Studies show that stigma is the top obstacle for those not opting to seek help. We urge you to help us bring this global issue to light.

 

Feel free to share our link to this petition on your social media websites.

 

http://www.change.org/p/college-students-florida-international-university-raise-mental-health-awareness-on-college-campuses

 

Who is affected by the stigma associated with mental health illnesses?         

 

The stigma related to depression, suicide and other mental health illnesses needs to be diminished. Being aware of the statistics can help students realize the prevalence of mental health illness on their college campus. A study was completed surveying both undergraduate and graduate students about suicide. The study was completed at 70 different colleges in the United States. It found that 8% of undergraduate and 5% of graduate students attempted suicide at least once (Drum et al., 2009). The survey results also revealed that 47% of undergraduate students and 43% of graduate students had three or more serious suicide ideations (Drum et al., 2009). These horrifying statistics need to be made aware of throughout college campuses.

 

What contributes to not seeking resources on campus for mental health illnesses?

 

Sadly, stigma is the number one reason why students do not seek help for their mental health illness. Research found that only 26% of college students are aware of mental health resources on their campus (Westefeld et al., 2005). Lack of knowledge of these resources contributes to the stigma of not wanting to receive help. A solution to this problem can include mental health clinicians speaking at all freshman orientations and in freshman classes. More than 50% of students who dropped out of college due to a mental health illness did not seek support from their college campuses (Gruttadaro & Crudo, 2012). Students were asked why they did not seek the services offered and 36% replied it was because of the stigma associated with mental health illnesses (Gruttadaro & Crudo, 2012).

73% of college students have experienced a mental health crisis while attending college (Gruttadaro & Crudo, 2012).

One out of four college students suffer from a mental health illness (Borchard, 2010).

Second leading cause of death for college students is suicide (Borchard, 2010).

31% of college students have felt so depressed that they could not function (“Learn About The Issue”)

 

Students who are aware of the factors that cause stress can help better prevent depression and suicide. These factors include the cost of tuition, competitiveness, acceptance rate and crime on campus. Do not become a statistic; instead lets unite to fix these problems on all college campuses.

 

What is the problem?


Our goal is to raise awareness and encourage campuses to adopt new programs to diminish the stigma associated with mental health illnesses. In the age group of 18 to 25 4.1% of people in the U.S. suffer from a serious mental illness (“Serious Mental Illness (SMI)”, 2012). There is currently a stigma associated with mental illness. With all of the college shootings and terrible events happening in our country and around the world there is an evident need to work on informing students that there is help available. The harmful consequences of this stigma include a reluctance to seek treatment, a lack of understanding that is pervasive throughout families and community, and a belief that the suffering will never end (“Mental Illness”, 2014). It is important to spread the knowledge so the stigma can be conquered.


Why is this important?

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) completed a survey of college students in Virginia and the results were disturbing. One in three students reported prolonged bouts of depression (“Mental Illness Prolific”, 2004). Depression in college students is associated with a higher risk of suicide and is often self-medicated through drug abuse or drinking (“Depression”, 2012). This leads to a higher risk of unprotected sex. More then 6% of college students have reported seriously considering suicide (“Depression”, 2012). A disturbing fact is that the third leading cause of death in the age range of 15 to 24 is suicide (“Depression”, 2012). This may be prevented with proper assistance and guidance that is available for free on most campuses. Eradicating the stigma has to begin somewhere. Starting in our next generation of college students is important to us all.

 

 

Who can make the change?

 

We all have the power to make the changes we are proposing. Change can start as an abstract idea until it evolves into something more concrete. Although we would like to believe that the change a few people could make can be enough that is almost never the case. Because of this, we have addressed our petition to the president of Florida International University, Mark B. Rosenberg and the Psychology Department Chairperson, Kristin Nichols-Lopez. We believe these two individuals may have the power to actually make the changes we are proposing.

These two individuals have the power, influence, knowledge, and experience to concede how dire the issue of mental health awareness on college campuses is. These educated individuals can be of great aid in supporting our petition, and this can in turn, show the gravity of the problem to those who are not as savvy on the issue. It can all start with one group, one school, and one community. We address them because with their help we cannot only help create awareness to this issue, but we can strike change. Creating awareness is one of the first, but most crucial, steps to assembling change. We would also like to target those individuals who are not mental health savvy. Petitioning those who are involved in the fields of mental health would be like preaching to the choir. We want to address those who do not know the gravity of this issue. With the influence and power Mr. Rosenberg and Dr. Nichols-Lopez have, the possibilities to reach out to these individuals would be endless.

 

What we hope to accomplish

We hope to raise awareness to this issue by educating people on the subject. We have created a petition in hopes that the real facts and statistics will catch people’s attention and help us spread the word. Our ultimate goal is to have colleges that have already implemented on campus centers raise awareness of these campus resources and help lower the stigma associated with mental health. Some colleges presently have these resources, but students are tentative or reluctant to use these options because they are scared of the way they will be perceived by their peers. We hope that by providing students support we can decrease the number of suicides among college students and also decrease the number of students that drop out due to mental illnesses. We also hope to see an increase in students seeking help and making their issues known, instead of hiding them.

Joining forces with Mr. Rosenberg and Dr. Nichols-Lopez, would open many doors to solutions to the issue of mental health awareness on college campuses. For instance, we could implement programs such as Mental Health Awareness Week coinciding with finals week, which is known to be the most psychologically overwhelming period for any college student.  We could also begin a program that targets students who wish to share their mental health experiences with others who are not as informed on the issue. Also, it would be beneficial to create a group that is peer lead to advise each other on experiences and coping skills. 

 

           

Here is a video discussing what Catholic University students know about mental illness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEicC-uz5WA#t=59

 

 

 

 

Depression and College Students. (2012). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-and-college-students/index.shtml

 

Mental Illness. (2014). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477

 

Mental Illness Prolific Among College Students. (2004). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Press_Room1/20041/August3/Mental_Illness_Prolific_Among_College_Students.htm

 

Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Among U.S. Adults. (2012). Retrieved December 2,    2014, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/serious-mental-illness-smi-among-us-adults.shtml

 

Borchard, T. (2010). Statistics About College Depression. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 3, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/09/02/statistics-about-college-depression/

 

Drum, D., Brownson, C., Burton Denmark, A., & Smith, S. (2009). New Data On The Nature Of Suicidal Crises In College Students: Shifting The Paradigm. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(3), 213-222. DOI: 10.1037/a0014465

 

Gruttadaro, D. and Crudo, D. (2012). College Students Speak: A Survey Report on Mental Health [PDF file]. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Retrieved on December 3, 2014 from www.nami.org/namioncampus.

 

Learn About The Issue. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2014, from http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Learn_About_The_Issue&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=146782

 

Westefeld, J. S., Homaifar, B., Spotts, J., Furr, S., Range, L., & Werth, J. L. (2005). Perceptions concerning college student suicide: Data from four universities. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 35, 640 – 645.