Concern About Mental Health Issues of Students

By Wanda Kidd, CBFNC collegiate engagement coordinator

My daughter gathers data for a large computer company newsletter. Their topic recently was mental health issues. As we were talking, she said they were going to have to put an asterisk by the Generation Z data because the amount of reported depression was skewing the overall picture.

As students have just arrived back to school, this is a wake-up moment. While it is important for all students 23 and younger, I want to raise the issue of students who are on college campuses and away from their family and community systems.

The prospect of a large group of students who have not had a traditional transition from high school to college for over three years gathering in one place is something that needs to be addressed by the schools, the communities that surround them and by those who advocate for young adults.

While herculean efforts were made to help these students continue with schooling in this pandemic era, there has been no authentic way for them to fully socialize with each other. Isolation is an important factor in depression.

Those who are juniors this year had their freshman year interrupted just as they were preparing for their summer internships, vacations and jobs with their hopes and dreams of adventure in full fantasy mode. All of those plans came to a screeching halt and they had to go home in late spring of 2020 and figure out how to live in a very close family unit. The hope that this would be over soon was a sustaining mantra, until the fall when they realized they were going to live with fits and starts as everyone tried to figure out how to navigate this uncharted landscape of how to continue to get an education in the midst of a pandemic. This up and down, creating significant highs and lows, is another contributing factor to depression.

This year’s sophomores are a major concern for me. The very term means, “wise fools.” Sophomore year tends to lead to a high experience of depression in just a run-of-the-mill year. But this year’s sophomores are the group who did not have the traditional high school graduation, had to stay home the summer they graduated and had a tumultuous freshman year in college.

There was no being dropped off and discovering how to live on their own, make new friends and learn to live in new environments. They experienced more unknown, more fear and less hope than any group of freshmen with which I have ever worked.

Now they are ready to start a new school year without being afforded the traditional freshman experience. Yet another thing they cannot get back.

Then there are the actual freshmen. They closed out high school learning online and living with the ambiguity and struggle to make choices about an unknown future. They arrived on campus after 18 months of isolation and not having to share cultural space. They have had more free time than any other group of graduating seniors, with flexible work schedules and the ability to bend social norms, like getting dressed, phone use and in-person interaction.

Someone pointed out the other day that they were going to have to retrain their face to be socially acceptable after a year of masking and zooming. That is just a tip of the things we will have to relearn. Add to all of the personal issues that students bring with them to school, the reality of social turmoil that has gripped the country while they have been isolated and you have a cauldron of concern.

What to do? I wish I knew, but it is important to acknowledge the issues and begin to work on strategies that will address these concerns. There is no college or university that has the bandwidth to do this on its own.

Campus Minister Tierney Boss and students at Appalachian State during Bible study last semester.

Now is the time for colleges and universities to gather trusted people who could help them carry this load. Organize a list of trusted people who would be willing to mentor or listen to students and have them available as needed. Start with your campus ministers, then local ministers and people who are trained as coaches. Write guidelines and mobilize a strategy to navigate this season.

The number one thing to do is talk and listen...listen and talk. Talk to your students about what they are feeling and experiencing, THEN LISTEN.

This means parents, grandparents, youth ministers, ministers and any person who has a connection with a young adult.

Talk to them when they get to campus. Talk to those who are not leaving home. Talk to them, THEN LISTEN. Do not lecture them, shame them or guilt them. DO NOT make this about you.

Talk to them and THEN LISTEN. Listen to what they are saying and what they are not saying.

Do not be deterred when they tell you they are fine. Ask specific questions. Fine is not an answer. Things like:

•How was breakfast? Listen

• How is it going with your roommate? Listen

• Tell me about your classes. Listen

• Have you joined a study group? Listen

• What are you learning? Listen

The things you need to check on:

1. Are they eating?

2. Are they making contact with other students?

3. Are they going to class?

Do not call multiple times a day, but call every day for the first month or even until fall break, letting them know that they can call you ANY TIME.

If you live close enough, go to see them a couple of weeks after school has started. Take them out for a meal and see if they will bring a friend to go to with you (your treat of course). The shared context is helpful in making friends.

If you are worried, encourage them to seek counseling on campus. Check back with them to see if they have done it and if need be, call someone on campus or a local pastor who might recommend a counselor.