Stress and its associated mental health issues are on the rise among U.S. college students, a recent Gallup poll found—part of a wider increase among Americans of all ages during a stressful time in history, according to LaKeisha Gantt, a psychology professor at Georgia Gwinnett College and former counselor at the University of Georgia.
“I think it’s safe to say people and communities are stressed, so we’re going to see that in students,” said Gantt, who is also a board member and recent president of the Clarke County Board of Education.
Political polarization, safety fears, the high cost of housing, the uncertain economy—there’s a litany of worrisome things weighing down our psyches nowadays, and the pressures of college can simply add to those, Gantt said. Big things like grades bear down, but seemingly simple things can be big stressors, like transportation. “They may not have 30 minutes to wait at a bus stop,” she said. “Things like that seem little, but can be overwhelming.”
Students, especially new students, often struggle to find a balance between the time demands of work and school, and between those and family and social life. They’re having to juggle time and resources in ways they’ve never had to before, meeting new deadlines and coming up with the money to pay rent. They may be bringing family issues with them to campus. They’ve left behind friends and social networks, and must build new relationships. “So much of that adjustment is social,” Gantt said, “all of these things students juggle in addition to academics.”
For first-generation students and for minority students, isolation is an issue, and adjustment to a completely new environment can be especially difficult. “It’s a heavy burden to carry,” partly because professors are not likely to have had training in something like building an inclusive classroom culture “where people feel like they belong,” she said.
All that has meant a rising demand for mental health services on college campuses, though that’s partly because it’s become more acceptable nowadays to ask for help. Many colleges, including UGA, have walk-in and call-in services and have in recent years beefed up their programs to meet the increasing calls, including the availability of online help.
The pandemic has made counselors more comfortable in the online world, she said.
It’s still not nearly as much as it needs to be, according to Gantt. Mental health awareness should infiltrate throughout a school, including instruction, said Gantt, who has brought people into her classes from her college’s mental health services to make her students aware of what’s there. “In an ideal world, instructors are the first line, and [students’] peers,” she said.
Mary Roberts, a senior from Walton County at Georgia College and State University, is coming at stress in two different ways now. She’s studying it, and is interning this summer in Gantt’s private practice. And as a student, college stress is also personal for her. “Coming back to school is generally kind of nerve-wracking,” Roberts said—not just the academic demands, but with friendships, “coming back into rhythm with people” while meeting the pressure to keep up your grades, she said. Things tend to come to a head around the first of September. “That’s when things start coming at you,” she said.
“One thing I’d recommend to students is to put your phone down,” Roberts said. “Phones and social media are just taking over.” Among their bad effects is putting too much stress on comparing oneself to others, too much worry about how others see them. For some, that phone is kind of a shield from actually talking to others in times of stress, she said. “A lot of younger students, I feel like their whole lives are tied up in social media,” Roberts said.
“The most stress I’ve endured is dealing with friendships and schools, and trying to figure out who you are, and trying to balance family and school. It takes a lot of getting used to,” she said.
For the kind of stress and temporary burnout most students fall prey to, relatively simple strategies can help, Roberts said.
One is time budgeting, and with that working to find a balance between school, personal demands and personal needs. One friend builds a to-do list with timelines to help keep her on track. “Take time for yourself,” Roberts said. Make room for things you enjoy, be it walking in the woods—what the Japanese call “forest bathing”—exercise, reading, watching bad movies, getting your nails done. “Take breathing breaks,” pausing to exhale and inhale slowly, she said.
It’s important but surprisingly difficult to learn to recognize when you’re stressing out and what it’s doing to you. It can manifest in binge eating, a vicious cycle of procrastination, depression, irritability and headaches, among other things.
When people get overwhelmed, it may be wise to seek out counseling, but it can be difficult even to take small steps to work out of a dark place. Stress can immobilize people, Gantt said.
But one very small step can be a beginning. “Just do one thing,” Gantt said. “They have to be things you can do where you are.” That might mean just talking about it to a friend, calling an online counseling service or “just throw some water on my face,” Gantt said.
When we see signs that stress is taking a toll on someone in our orbits—a roommate, a friend, a student in an instructor’s class—our reaction is often to say nothing, including times when a person might even be having suicidal thoughts. Asking about it “plants a seed, much more than ignoring it,” she said. “If you don’t say anything, that is how the stigma lives.”
“Part of that is being responsible for each other in our community,” Gantt said. “A roommate, even an instructor, will see stress before a therapist will.”
Mental Health Resources
UGA offers a variety of online and in-person services for students and employees, including counseling, screening, crisis intervention, peer support and wellness classes. Call the UGA Health Center’s Counseling and Psychiatry Services at 706-542-2273 or visit caps.uga.edu.
Advantage Behavioral Health offers evaluation and treatment, and has a 24/7 crisis stabilization center. Call 706-389-6767.
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit, consisting of officers teamed up with social workers, can provide intervention and care during a mental health emergency. Call 911 and request the Behavioral Health Unit.
Local nonprofit Nuçi’s Space offers support groups, suicide prevention classes, referrals to counseling and other services, including financial assistance for treatment if needed. Call 706-227-1515 or visit nuci.org.
Suicide prevention hotlines include the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (1-800-715-4225), the Crisis Text Line (741-741) and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988).
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
