College Students: Mental Health Problems and Treatment Considerations

Abstract

Attending college can be a stressful time for many students. In addition to coping with academic pressure, some students have to deal with the stressful tasks of separation and individuation from their family of origin while some may have to attend to numerous work and family responsibilities. In this context, many college students experience the first onset of mental health and substance use problems or an exacerbation of their symptoms. Given the uniqueness of college students, there is a need to outline critical issues to consider when working with this population. In this commentary, first, the prevalence of psychiatric and substance use problems in college students and the significance of assessing age of onset of current psychopathology are described. Then, the concerning persistent nature of mental health problems among college students and its implications are summarized. Finally, important aspects of treatment to consider when treating college students with mental health problems are outlined, such as the importance of including parents in the treatment, communicating with other providers, and employing of technology to increase adherence. It is concluded that, by becoming familiar with the unique problems characteristic of the developmental stage and environment college students are in, practitioners will be able to better serve them.

The Benefits of Taekwondo Training for Undergraduate Students: A Phenomenological Study

“…One mechanism that is in place to assist students in coping with psychological stress pertains to the availability of counseling services within the university setting, especially as research demonstrates that mental health issues are common and persistent among university students [10,11]. Another mechanism with demonstrated value to university students in dealing with stress is that of physical exercise by means of a sport intervention [12,13]; and, this sort of intervention has been shown to contribute to improved psychological health [13].…”

Evitación experiencial, afrontamiento y ansiedad en estudiantes de una universidad pública de Lima Metropolitana

“…La inves gación evidencia niveles elevados de problemas de salud mental en esta población, probablemente debido a los cambios vitales que se producen en estas personas, así como al número de estresores que habitualmente experimentan (Pedrelli, Nyer, Yeung, Zulauf y Wilens, 2015); por ejemplo, en un estudio realizado en Colombia, se halló una prevalencia del 58 % para la ansiedad, la cual fue medida con la escala de Zung (Cardona-Arias, Pérez-Restrepo, Rivera-Ocampo, Gómez-Mar nez y Reyes, 2015). Más aún, las estrategias u lizadas por estos jóvenes cuando se hallan ante situaciones de estrés cons tuyen un tema de inves gación de gran relevancia, pues se ha observado en ellos que determinadas estrategias se relacionan con mayores o menores niveles de ansiedad (Piemontesi, Heredia, Furlan, Sánchez-Rosas y Mar nez, 2012;Torrejón, 2011); y, en dichas relaciones, la EE parece jugar un rol fundamental (Kashdan, Barrios, Forsyth y Steger, 2006).…”

Preparing and Training the College Mental Health Workforce

“…Together, they highlight the need for college-aged patients to be treated with greater complexity [31] and integrative approaches [32] and for more strategic outreach to bring potential clients to mental health providers [33]. They also provide guidance in how to accomplish these tasks in systems already working near current capacity.…”

“…Pedrelli et al [31] focus on the prevalence of mental illness, importance of assessing age of onset, and treatment considerations given the developmental stage and issues around nonadherence at college. They highlight substance use issues, childhood onset illness, the necessity of outreach for patient identification and retention, and the importance of including family and other supports in treatment when appropriate.…”