Mental Health Of College Students - 1017 Words

Mental Health of College Students The mental health of college students has declined in the last several decades. As some students enter college, their lives drastically changes. They go through many different difficulties in trying to live a college life without realizing what it can do for them. Everyone comes to college with an expectation of doing well in classes and enjoying what college has to offer. As the pressures builds for some people, their state of mind alters in a negative direction, where help from counseling services are needed. Nationally, 22% of collegians are seeking therapy or counseling each year (Marano 2015). That would be approximately 14,000 students at The Ohio State University, which is considered significantly†¦show more content†¦Julie Posselt found that students who reported that their classes were competitive had 70% chance of screening positive for anxiety and perceived competitiveness increased by 40% for depression (Marano 2015). That feeling of inadequacy can reduce your mo od lead to certain disorders. Competing with a student can lead to drastic downfalls in your health. The more we compete, the more we need to compete, much like developing a tolerance to a drug. Competition between classmates creates envy for winners, disrespect for losers, and hostility towards everyone. With an overactive HPA axis and the increased amounts of cortisol from the adrenal glands. Once a student starts to see another student as competition, they start to develop a different perspective and feel negative emotions. Personal story; I was a good student in high school. When I came to OSU, I was surrounded by a bunch of smart people and professors who seemed intimidating. I started to feel insecure about myself and compared myself to other people. I felt stressed day after day. I worried so much about other students that I began to do poorly in some of my classes. College is about bringing together smart people from each school and seeing what they can offer together. But I did not grasp that concept unt il later on. A little competition is good, but a prolonged competition can lead to anxiety and depression. There are many ways to reduce the effects of competition.