with mental illness (Mahmoud et al. 151). This research suggests that student involvement with their surroundings and resources is crucial in combatting mental health problems because the students who do not actively engage with the people, places, and services that a college can provide are more likely to have issues with mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.
Mental illness can also have a prevalent impact in the way in which college students behave surrounding the social experience of college (Lo et al. 40). In a study conducted by Celia C. Lo, et al, the findings suggest that there is a correlation between mental illness, alcohol abuse, and prescription drug use among college students, stating that the students who were affected by mental illness were at a “much greater risk of exhibiting alcohol abuse/dependence and/or non-medical use of prescription drug than were students with no mental illness” (43). From this study, we can see how mental illness hurts a student, showing how increasing drug and alcohol consumption can often work to silence the issues that derive from mental health complications. Thus, the research analyzed shows how mental illness can contribute to a negative college experience, academically, socially, and behaviorally without proper
treatment.