College can be a very stressful
time for many students; but if you have a mental illness, it can be a
nightmare. Many students’ grades and social life suffer because they can’t get
help or feel like it won’t make a difference. Some even drop out and in extreme
cases commit suicide.
When looking at mental illnesses,
most colleges consider depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, bipolar
disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, ADD, and ADHD to be the along the most reported
mental health cases in colleges and universities. According to the National
Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 4 students have a mental illness and that 40%
of students that have these ailments do not seek help.
Some students don’t disclose their
illnesses for fear that teachers and peers will judge them differently or think
that they’re faking it for an easier work load. Especially since most mental
illnesses are normally something that you can’t really prove to people right
away. Some people just don’t even know where to start. For others, it is a
struggle to get real documentation from a psychiatrist or doctor. And then
there are people like me who have a combination of all of these things and just
feel overwhelmed. When college students asked if they have disclosed their
information to the college or not, the answer was split 50/50.
One of the survey respondents in the
NAMI survey said that “I was concerned that the information would become part
of a permanent record that could be viewed negatively. I still feel that there
is a lot of stigma and the benefits of disclosing do not outweigh the risks.” (9)
One might ask “What risks? There isn’t
any risk in just telling someone” But for students who suffer from mental
illnesses, there is a list of reasons one might have. Including fear of their
information not being kept confidential or fear that other’s perceptions of
them will decrease once they know.
There is a lot to do on college
campuses to help mentally ill students not feel out-casted or demeaned for just
being themselves—even if being themselves might need a little help.
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