Measles outbreaks across the United States have put a spotlight on student health, which already has taken on a heightened sense of urgency on college campuses worldwide as schools address increasing mental health issues and related problems among degree-seekers.
From stress and anxiety to depression and drug abuse, student mental health issues are fueling a rise in suicides and diminished well-being that affect academic performance and quality of life. And while many schools are responding with increased services aimed at prevention, more needs to be done, experts say.
In the U.S. and abroad, colleges and universities struggle most with student mental health issues and related physical ailments, according to the International Association of Student Affairs and Services (IASAS), a nonprofit student-advocacy organization that spans more than 180 countries.
“We are seeing more issues in higher education than ever before because the high schools are managing to support students with challenges, and then these students complete high school successfully and are then joining higher education,” said IASAS president Achim Meyer auf der Heyde.
Multiple stressors affect student health, he explained, including “academic pressure to succeed in minimal time and financial stressors when students study without additional financial support and are also expected to support their families, which is often the case in developing countries.”
And that’s not all.
Similar to in the United States – where health problems related to financial struggle disproportionately plague low-income, first-generation and minority college students – “the current zeitgeist of combative political climate, aggravated social context, fragmented familial fabric and immense pressures from hyper-critical and evaluative-comparative social media create unique stresses for students,” auf der Heyde observed.
