Comparison Of Mental Health Problems Among Undergraduate Students
I choose to upload this essay because it is my last quarter’s final project, and though it is not a happy topic, it is very important to students and faculty, especially the college administration faculty. Therefore, I choose to upload this one.
Comparison of Mental Health Problems between
Undergraduate Students and Graduate Students
Xinghang Lu
University of Denver
Last month, a girl who was only 20 committed suicide in my previous university in China. This girl used to live next to my dorm, and it was hard to believe such sad news happened around you. The reason why she committed suicide is that she had mental health problem. She had left school for one year because of mental health problem. How would such …show more content…
a young girl give up her life? What were the causes of her mental health problem? What were her treatments? How will the university treat students’ mental health problem since such a serious problem has happened? There are numerous questions around people’s heart. However, the primary questions are what mental health problems are and why they increase among college students.
With the development of our society, many things have changed, so does the mental health problem on campus. In early 90s, mental health problem was related to the schoolwork or relationship with family issues, but today it is more about depression, anxiety, or other serious medical concerns (“Increasing mental health problems seen in students on college campuses,” 2012). In other words, the type of mental health problem has changed, and in past years, they were some simple reasons, which could be solved easily. However, nowadays, the reasons are often more complicated and related to medical concerns. Also, the amount of college students who have mental health problem has increased a lot. According to Gabriel (2011), a 2010 survey has showed that approximately a third of all college students who are not only those seeking counseling have reported that in the last 12 months they 've been so depressed that it 's difficult to function. In other words, numerous college students are suffering mental health problems in the United States. Mental health problems that are related to psychological disorders are hard to be cured. Not only do they need the medicine that can exactly control their emotions, but also they need the right counseling and get rid of negative mood. Usually, universities provide a counseling center to all the students, but in the universities the course of treatment and how counselors distinguish the treatment since there are both undergraduate students and graduate students are different.
Approximately 16% of undergraduate and 13% of graduate students suffer from depression and anxiety according to a study (Wyatt & Oswalt, 1994).
In other words, both undergraduate and graduate students are facing the problem of mental health. However, there are numerous reasons of having mental health problems, and the causes of undergraduate students and graduate students are a little different. Most undergraduate students have mental health problems because of the peer pressure, anxiety, depression, busy lifestyle, and other things that are related to campus life. However, the graduate students are often suffering from mental health problems because they struggle to find a job in the slow economy and begin to establish their careers but they are not ready (“Increasing mental health problems seen in students on college campuses,” 2012). In other words, the causes of mental health problems between undergraduate students and graduate students are different. The treatment should be different, but it is normally same among all the universities. They all have a health counseling center and provide counseling to all the students. Mental health problem is a serious problem to deal with on campus, and there are some different treatments among different universities. It is meaningful to investigate this serious problem on campuses and evaluate the universities’ solution. Therefore, this paper explores the mental health problem among college students in the United States, and it …show more content…
specifically focuses on the mental health problems at University of Denver (DU), whether the solutions are effective or not and some recommendations on the solutions.
At University of Denver, mental health problems are also very serious. According to Dr. Kent (Interview, 2013) who is an executive director and psychologist in the health counseling center at University of Denver, there are nearly 6000 students who come to health counseling center every year, and 1000 of them are coming for counseling. It is a big number, and nearly 17% of the patients are suffering mental health problems. However, the level of each student is different, some of them come to the health counseling center only because they have quarrel with their boyfriends or parents, and others may really have some serious problems, like depression and anxiety. Some students at DU who have mental health problems committed suicide, which was very sad news. Among the 1000 students, half of them are graduate students, and half of them are undergraduate students which is interesting because there are more undergraduate students at University of Denver, but there are still many graduate students seeking help because of mental health problems. In other words, both undergraduate and graduate students have mental health problem at University of Denver. Dr. Kent (Personal Interview) also states that most graduate students are more stressed because they are not only facing the problem of study, but they are also facing the problem of job and family.
Except for letting the problem become worse, DU takes several actions to prevent students from suffering mental health problems. At first, students will get a therapy called talk therapy that means students talking with counselors about their problems and worries. Also, if students come to the health counseling center for counseling very seriously, they provide crisis counselor. There are many psychologists and psychiatrists in health counseling center. According to the website, it shows that there are more than 20 psychologists in the counseling center. Furthermore, if a student has serious problem with mental health, which cannot easily be treated by the talk therapy, health counseling center will provide them medicines. The medicine is provided by the professional doctors who have license for medicine instead of psychologists. What’s more, though according to the privacy laws in the United States, psychologists cannot tell anybody about their patients’ information, at University of Denver, there are three exceptions that the psychologists can tell authorities, if the patients tell psychologists they will kill somebody, they will kill themselves, or they have child abuse behavior. However, except for these three exceptions the psychologists will keep the information of their patients as a secret, or they will lose their licenses. Finally, there are no different treatments between undergraduate students and graduate students.
In addition to the information of health counseling center, students at University of Denver can also find some sources at DU’s website. For instance, there is some information in University of Denver Magazine. If students search this information online, they could know that mental health problem is not an embarrassing problem. They should find someone to talk or some treatment to prevent them. Also, in health counseling center’s website, there are some other professional hospitals or counseling places that can help students who have more serious problems.
Every coin has two sides, so does DU’s solutions for mental health problem. I think DU’s solution is common, and it is essential to the students. Counseling center has talk therapy and medicine therapy. However, there are three things that I think DU does not focus much on or ignores.
First of all, DU has the preventative treatment on undergraduate and graduate students, but they should distinguish between them.
Though both undergraduate and graduate students are college students, they have different needs and situation. According to Wyatt and Oswalt (2013), graduate students have a higher risk of mental health problems due to stress, while undergraduate students have a higher risk of mental health problems because of feelings. Though the treatments for undergraduate and graduate students of mental health problems are the same, the prevention should be different. My suggestions is to provide some fun activities to graduate students who have more stress than undergraduate students and provide an open conversation class to undergraduate students. According to Duval (2008), graduate students are often with low motivation, a lack of sleep at the expense of extracurricular activities or a social life. In other words, graduate students are under big stress, and they do not have ways to relieve this stress. In DU, there are numerous associations and fraternities, but few or almost none of them are welcome to graduate students. Graduate students also need breaks. They cannot focus on both academics and jobs or only academics all the time. They should get involved in some activities, and they should be motivated. The graduate students used to have many motivations. However, one of the problems that has happened to graduate students recently is that they do not
have any extra motivation except their study life, and they should let themselves have a break (Duval 2008). In other words, if school can provide some fun activities that can let graduate students get involved and force them to get involved, like sports competitions or some organizations, they will relax graduate students’ bodies and reduce the pressure. Also, for undergraduate students, their causes are often related to feelings. According to Wyatt and Oswalt (2013), undergraduate students are more likely influenced by low grades and some other poor academic reports. These are all feelings of undergraduate students. Therefore, if university can provide a class that is similar to fist year seminar, but it is only an open conversation course once a week, it will be better to let undergraduate students to adjust the environment and feelings. Professors who are psychologists teaching this course do not need to give the students grades but 2 credits. Students are all willing to have a class which does not need to worry about the grades, but they still can get credits. Also, undergraduate students maybe care more about the embarrassment, but if they learn how to get rid of that and are used to talking about their feelings, they might prevent mental health problems. In this class, the professor likes a leader who leads the first-year students speaking out their feelings. If students can share their feelings, they will get better soon. Therefore, I think DU could consider providing some fun activities to graduate students and an open conversation class to undergraduate students.
In addition, the health counseling center has all kinds of brochure except for mental health problem. When I went to the health counseling center, I could find how to prevent alcohol, how to prevent flu and other preventions except for mental health problem or things that are related to mental health problem. Therefore, if the health counseling center can provide the brochure of mental health problems on campus, it will be better to let students know more about this serious disease. For instance, some students are having mental health problem and they are reluctant to talk with people. People love their bodies, and they just need some leads. Students will feel more comfortable if they see these brochures everywhere on campus. The brochures of flu are not enough, and schools should pay more attention on mental health problems.
Finally, DU’s quarter system will cause more stress on students, especially graduate students. Though there are some shortcomings at some aspects comparing to other universities, I think the treatment at health counseling center in DU is good and essential. In addition to make up for this problem, my suggestion to this problem is that DU can consider providing semester system to all of the graduate students. In university of Denver, both undergraduate and graduate students are having quarter system except for law school. Students need to have three quarters as an academic year. It is much easier for undergraduate students because they can choose the class according to their interests and easiness of the courses. However, as graduate students, they have limited courses or credits, and all of the courses are difficult because they are advanced courses. According Dr. Kent (2013), quarter system is providing much more stress than semester system, and students should keep work-life balance. Therefore, I think DU can change some policy to graduate schools. I think one of the reasons that law school has semester system because they have much pressure, and they do not want their students stress out. If DU can change policy to graduate school, it will be better to graduate students. They can balance their study and relaxed life. They do not have to keep their lives between exams and classes. In brief, I think providing semester system to all of the graduate students is also a good idea. To sum up, mental health problems have been an increasing serious issue among college students. Even though the treatments are similar between undergraduate and graduate students, universities should still have different preventative treatments for them. At the University of Denver, the health counseling center does a great job on treatment, but there are still some shortcomings of dealing with mental health problem, like prevent treatment, mental health problem brochure, and a lack of some activities to graduate and undergraduate students. University should make some changes in order to improve the problem and provide a better campus to all the students. For instance, I suggest that university can provide some fun activities to graduate students and a chatting class to undergraduate students, provide brochure of mental health problems, and it can also change quarter system to semester system for the graduate students. In brief, mental health problems are a serious disease, and college campuses should focus on this, and help their students prevent mental health problems.
References
Duval, S.(2008). A mental makeover for the graduate student. IEEE Potentials, 27(4), 11-14.
Gabriel, T. (2011, Spring). College mental health needs rising. Leadership [Carol Stream, IL], 32(2), 54.
Increasing mental health problems seen in students on college campuses (2012). Brain World Magazine.
Wyatt, T. , & Oswalt, S. B. (2013). Comparing mental health issues among undergraduate and graduate students. American Journal of Health Education, 44(2), 96.
Comparison of Mental Health Problems between
Undergraduate Students and Graduate Students
Xinghang Lu
University of Denver
Last month, a girl who was only 20 committed suicide in my previous university in China. This girl used to live next to my dorm, and it was hard to believe such sad news happened around you. The reason why she committed suicide is that she had mental health problem. She had left school for one year because of mental health problem. How would such …show more content…
a young girl give up her life? What were the causes of her mental health problem? What were her treatments? How will the university treat students’ mental health problem since such a serious problem has happened? There are numerous questions around people’s heart. However, the primary questions are what mental health problems are and why they increase among college students.
With the development of our society, many things have changed, so does the mental health problem on campus. In early 90s, mental health problem was related to the schoolwork or relationship with family issues, but today it is more about depression, anxiety, or other serious medical concerns (“Increasing mental health problems seen in students on college campuses,” 2012). In other words, the type of mental health problem has changed, and in past years, they were some simple reasons, which could be solved easily. However, nowadays, the reasons are often more complicated and related to medical concerns. Also, the amount of college students who have mental health problem has increased a lot. According to Gabriel (2011), a 2010 survey has showed that approximately a third of all college students who are not only those seeking counseling have reported that in the last 12 months they 've been so depressed that it 's difficult to function. In other words, numerous college students are suffering mental health problems in the United States. Mental health problems that are related to psychological disorders are hard to be cured. Not only do they need the medicine that can exactly control their emotions, but also they need the right counseling and get rid of negative mood. Usually, universities provide a counseling center to all the students, but in the universities the course of treatment and how counselors distinguish the treatment since there are both undergraduate students and graduate students are different.
Approximately 16% of undergraduate and 13% of graduate students suffer from depression and anxiety according to a study (Wyatt & Oswalt, 1994).
In other words, both undergraduate and graduate students are facing the problem of mental health. However, there are numerous reasons of having mental health problems, and the causes of undergraduate students and graduate students are a little different. Most undergraduate students have mental health problems because of the peer pressure, anxiety, depression, busy lifestyle, and other things that are related to campus life. However, the graduate students are often suffering from mental health problems because they struggle to find a job in the slow economy and begin to establish their careers but they are not ready (“Increasing mental health problems seen in students on college campuses,” 2012). In other words, the causes of mental health problems between undergraduate students and graduate students are different. The treatment should be different, but it is normally same among all the universities. They all have a health counseling center and provide counseling to all the students. Mental health problem is a serious problem to deal with on campus, and there are some different treatments among different universities. It is meaningful to investigate this serious problem on campuses and evaluate the universities’ solution. Therefore, this paper explores the mental health problem among college students in the United States, and it …show more content…
specifically focuses on the mental health problems at University of Denver (DU), whether the solutions are effective or not and some recommendations on the solutions.
At University of Denver, mental health problems are also very serious. According to Dr. Kent (Interview, 2013) who is an executive director and psychologist in the health counseling center at University of Denver, there are nearly 6000 students who come to health counseling center every year, and 1000 of them are coming for counseling. It is a big number, and nearly 17% of the patients are suffering mental health problems. However, the level of each student is different, some of them come to the health counseling center only because they have quarrel with their boyfriends or parents, and others may really have some serious problems, like depression and anxiety. Some students at DU who have mental health problems committed suicide, which was very sad news. Among the 1000 students, half of them are graduate students, and half of them are undergraduate students which is interesting because there are more undergraduate students at University of Denver, but there are still many graduate students seeking help because of mental health problems. In other words, both undergraduate and graduate students have mental health problem at University of Denver. Dr. Kent (Personal Interview) also states that most graduate students are more stressed because they are not only facing the problem of study, but they are also facing the problem of job and family.
Except for letting the problem become worse, DU takes several actions to prevent students from suffering mental health problems. At first, students will get a therapy called talk therapy that means students talking with counselors about their problems and worries. Also, if students come to the health counseling center for counseling very seriously, they provide crisis counselor. There are many psychologists and psychiatrists in health counseling center. According to the website, it shows that there are more than 20 psychologists in the counseling center. Furthermore, if a student has serious problem with mental health, which cannot easily be treated by the talk therapy, health counseling center will provide them medicines. The medicine is provided by the professional doctors who have license for medicine instead of psychologists. What’s more, though according to the privacy laws in the United States, psychologists cannot tell anybody about their patients’ information, at University of Denver, there are three exceptions that the psychologists can tell authorities, if the patients tell psychologists they will kill somebody, they will kill themselves, or they have child abuse behavior. However, except for these three exceptions the psychologists will keep the information of their patients as a secret, or they will lose their licenses. Finally, there are no different treatments between undergraduate students and graduate students.
In addition to the information of health counseling center, students at University of Denver can also find some sources at DU’s website. For instance, there is some information in University of Denver Magazine. If students search this information online, they could know that mental health problem is not an embarrassing problem. They should find someone to talk or some treatment to prevent them. Also, in health counseling center’s website, there are some other professional hospitals or counseling places that can help students who have more serious problems.
Every coin has two sides, so does DU’s solutions for mental health problem. I think DU’s solution is common, and it is essential to the students. Counseling center has talk therapy and medicine therapy. However, there are three things that I think DU does not focus much on or ignores.
First of all, DU has the preventative treatment on undergraduate and graduate students, but they should distinguish between them.
Though both undergraduate and graduate students are college students, they have different needs and situation. According to Wyatt and Oswalt (2013), graduate students have a higher risk of mental health problems due to stress, while undergraduate students have a higher risk of mental health problems because of feelings. Though the treatments for undergraduate and graduate students of mental health problems are the same, the prevention should be different. My suggestions is to provide some fun activities to graduate students who have more stress than undergraduate students and provide an open conversation class to undergraduate students. According to Duval (2008), graduate students are often with low motivation, a lack of sleep at the expense of extracurricular activities or a social life. In other words, graduate students are under big stress, and they do not have ways to relieve this stress. In DU, there are numerous associations and fraternities, but few or almost none of them are welcome to graduate students. Graduate students also need breaks. They cannot focus on both academics and jobs or only academics all the time. They should get involved in some activities, and they should be motivated. The graduate students used to have many motivations. However, one of the problems that has happened to graduate students recently is that they do not
have any extra motivation except their study life, and they should let themselves have a break (Duval 2008). In other words, if school can provide some fun activities that can let graduate students get involved and force them to get involved, like sports competitions or some organizations, they will relax graduate students’ bodies and reduce the pressure. Also, for undergraduate students, their causes are often related to feelings. According to Wyatt and Oswalt (2013), undergraduate students are more likely influenced by low grades and some other poor academic reports. These are all feelings of undergraduate students. Therefore, if university can provide a class that is similar to fist year seminar, but it is only an open conversation course once a week, it will be better to let undergraduate students to adjust the environment and feelings. Professors who are psychologists teaching this course do not need to give the students grades but 2 credits. Students are all willing to have a class which does not need to worry about the grades, but they still can get credits. Also, undergraduate students maybe care more about the embarrassment, but if they learn how to get rid of that and are used to talking about their feelings, they might prevent mental health problems. In this class, the professor likes a leader who leads the first-year students speaking out their feelings. If students can share their feelings, they will get better soon. Therefore, I think DU could consider providing some fun activities to graduate students and an open conversation class to undergraduate students.
In addition, the health counseling center has all kinds of brochure except for mental health problem. When I went to the health counseling center, I could find how to prevent alcohol, how to prevent flu and other preventions except for mental health problem or things that are related to mental health problem. Therefore, if the health counseling center can provide the brochure of mental health problems on campus, it will be better to let students know more about this serious disease. For instance, some students are having mental health problem and they are reluctant to talk with people. People love their bodies, and they just need some leads. Students will feel more comfortable if they see these brochures everywhere on campus. The brochures of flu are not enough, and schools should pay more attention on mental health problems.
Finally, DU’s quarter system will cause more stress on students, especially graduate students. Though there are some shortcomings at some aspects comparing to other universities, I think the treatment at health counseling center in DU is good and essential. In addition to make up for this problem, my suggestion to this problem is that DU can consider providing semester system to all of the graduate students. In university of Denver, both undergraduate and graduate students are having quarter system except for law school. Students need to have three quarters as an academic year. It is much easier for undergraduate students because they can choose the class according to their interests and easiness of the courses. However, as graduate students, they have limited courses or credits, and all of the courses are difficult because they are advanced courses. According Dr. Kent (2013), quarter system is providing much more stress than semester system, and students should keep work-life balance. Therefore, I think DU can change some policy to graduate schools. I think one of the reasons that law school has semester system because they have much pressure, and they do not want their students stress out. If DU can change policy to graduate school, it will be better to graduate students. They can balance their study and relaxed life. They do not have to keep their lives between exams and classes. In brief, I think providing semester system to all of the graduate students is also a good idea. To sum up, mental health problems have been an increasing serious issue among college students. Even though the treatments are similar between undergraduate and graduate students, universities should still have different preventative treatments for them. At the University of Denver, the health counseling center does a great job on treatment, but there are still some shortcomings of dealing with mental health problem, like prevent treatment, mental health problem brochure, and a lack of some activities to graduate and undergraduate students. University should make some changes in order to improve the problem and provide a better campus to all the students. For instance, I suggest that university can provide some fun activities to graduate students and a chatting class to undergraduate students, provide brochure of mental health problems, and it can also change quarter system to semester system for the graduate students. In brief, mental health problems are a serious disease, and college campuses should focus on this, and help their students prevent mental health problems.
References
Duval, S.(2008). A mental makeover for the graduate student. IEEE Potentials, 27(4), 11-14.
Gabriel, T. (2011, Spring). College mental health needs rising. Leadership [Carol Stream, IL], 32(2), 54.
Increasing mental health problems seen in students on college campuses (2012). Brain World Magazine.
Wyatt, T. , & Oswalt, S. B. (2013). Comparing mental health issues among undergraduate and graduate students. American Journal of Health Education, 44(2), 96.