Though the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health concerns among students, it is not the only factor, according to education and health officials.Ĭollege students face unique challenges, said Eleanor Lott, a 20-year-old N.C. Some 15 percent of students said they thought about suicide, 6 percent said they made a plan and 2 percent attempted to end their lives. The web-based Healthy Minds Study showed that 44 percent of college students surveyed in the 2021-22 school year experienced depression and 37 percent experienced anxiety. Credit: Jennifer Fernandez/NC Health News The latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which reflects 2021 data, shows that mental health remains an ongoing issue among high school students, which means colleges and universities will also continue to grapple with these issues in the coming years.
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Then, the pandemic exacerbated issues for those who had been struggling with socialization skills and for those who lost out on key time learning how to connect with peers due to the isolating effects of lockdowns and masking, college health officials said. Mental health concerns among youth were rising before COVID-19. “Every student, faculty, and staff member should take the time to realize their feelings are valid.” A rising concern “Mental health is more important than ever here on campus,” Morris said Friday in an email. Morris said it is important for students to honor Yan’s life, while also taking time for themselves to heal. Graduate student Tailei Qi has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of associate professor Zijie Yan. The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper, dedicated its front page to some of the frantic and explicit text messages between parents and their children - sent while students sheltered in place for three hours as police searched for an active shooter.
Faculty are calling for a mental health task force to be formed. The fatal shooting of a UNC Chapel Hill faculty member on campus the first day of classes last week just added to the mental health load for students there. Officials have not released a cause of death. State students returned over the Labor Day weekend to learn that a student was found dead Monday outside of a dorm on campus. State University students died by suicide, prompting the school to launch a task force to examine how it could better support struggling students.Ī year earlier, UNC Chapel Hill responded to a spate of student suicides there by giving students time off with “wellness days,” bringing therapy dogs to campus and making other efforts to support students emotionally.īoth colleges started the new academic year with a death on campus. program, colleges are offering everything from therapy dogs and meditation spaces to peer counseling and happiness classes. “If we can help them develop coping strategies and (put) those public health pieces into play, you end up creating people that are not just sensitive but resilient … and that resilience builds on itself,” he said.Īlong with student efforts like the Walk. 24 town hall on mental health at the school. Providing young people with the mental health resources they need is crucial, said Dan Marlowe, associate dean and chair of Behavioral Health at Campbell University, during an Aug.
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She is not alone in wanting students to have more information and more support while at college.Īs students return to their dorms and to full class loads this fall, North Carolina universities, health officials and legislators are continuing efforts to address mental health concerns on campus. “Nobody really talks about things like that.” “I had never really heard about, especially being from a smaller town,” Morris said. share information on mental health awareness during an event on campus at UNC Chapel Hill during the 2022-23 school year.
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