Have you heard that today’s college students have the same amount of anxiety as child psychiatric patients in the 1950s? The fact, still shared on social media, was originally coined by Dr. Jean M. Twenge in 2000.

When individuals are physically sick, taking time off to recover and rest is accepted. Why isn’t the same notion for mental health normalized in the U.S.? Some argue that mental health days are just “an excuse to be lazy,” however, they are beneficial. Time off to prioritize mental health allows students to come back stronger and prepared to combat day-to-day challenges.

Mental health challenges and stress are not exclusive to the college experience. Many people are aware of the toll mental health challenges take, even if they haven’t experienced it firsthand. In a given year, over a quarter of Americans over 18 have a diagnosable mental illness, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

With the stigma around mental health, many people do not explicitly share what they’re going through even if many of their close friends and family can relate. Nevertheless, people recognize how mental health affects others through its manifestation in ways such as addiction, unhealthy relationships, mood stability and prolonged physical illness. The statistic from Johns Hopkins displays the importance of checking in on the people you surround yourself with.

Mental health challenges can affect anyone anywhere, making it virtually impossible to deny its effect on students at Syracuse University. Using the previously mentioned statistic from Johns Hopkins University, there are about six students in an average class at Syracuse, or about 5,330 in the student body, with a diagnosable mental illness.

In fact, about 35% of SU’s student population meet the qualifications for depression, an official from the Barnes Center at The Arch said last November. On top of the challenges that mental health can present, most college students face stress academically along with the other stressors such as being away from home.

In an op-ed, Kevin Frazier pointed out the shared experience that, “most students simply thought it was normal to feel overwhelmed, undernourished and frequently anxious.” As if being a student wasn’t hard enough, there is also the unrealistic social expectation in place at SU to “work hard, party hard.” SU students, myself included, stretch themselves thin to keep up with the incredulous expectations of our peers, family and the university.

College is stressful during any given year, but because of the pandemic, it has only gotten more difficult. The pandemic has only exacerbated the effects and rise of mental health challenges and stress across the world. When reviewing multiple studies, evidence showed a correlation between COVID-19 exposure or infection and an increase in anxiety, depression and substance abuse within the U.S.

This increase in mental health challenges also promoted a platform for mental health advocacy. Social isolation and its subsequent mental effects that most students have faced raised awareness about mental health and allowed for open discussion. Public figures, like Prince Harry and Simone Biles, set an example for others experiencing mental health challenges.

When we become advocates for mental health, we should not only seek the help we need but encourage others to do the same. The pandemic’s reliance on online schooling also created new challenges for students. Parents, communities and schools began seeing the toll that social isolation put on developing brains. People are not designed for prolonged isolation, yet many students experienced much more than they were used to once they were taken away from the social environment college offers.

College is a place to make new friends, but it is incredibly difficult to make friends solely through interactions over Zoom, Snapchat and Instagram. Many students felt the blow of the pandemic and had to grieve the time and formative experiences we lost because of it.

The pandemic is still not over and many students are impacted by its effects. Grief comes in many forms and lasts for varying amounts of time, which is why now more than ever students should be able to take consequence-free mental health days. SU strives to promote mental well-being, therefore the university should allow students to take days off to prioritize their mental health without consequence. There has never been a better time to open up the door and foster difficult conversations.

Tell your story and be an advocate for what you need. Check in on your friends and family. Let them know you care, and never forget the value in telling someone they’re loved. By talking about your mental health we are all one step closer to eliminating its stigma so that mental health will be respected in the same regard as physical health.

Amber Kopf-Miles, Syracuse University class of 2025

Published on January 26, 2022 at 10:54 pm