“Colleges from Ohio State to Central Florida devise more programs to triage students; determining who needs therapy and who may be fine with some peer counseling” …
http://www.wsj.com/articles/students-flood-college-mental-health-centers-1476120902
That is so sad. Personally I think it goes deeper…back into early childhood. These days play-dates with selected kids, lack of recess that is physical, an inability of teachers to exert control over classrooms without fear…all those things contribute to children growing up lacking the ability to learn how to stand up for themselves, make decisions that might have negative, but not overly harmful consequences, and all those sorts things. Self esteem has as much to do with I think being rewarded as it does with learning problem solving…and problem solving can begin before kindergarten. One of my kids was home this summer and happened to drive by their former elementary school (K-4) where there is basically no playground anymore and definitely no apparatuses. He laughed and said “oh that is sad” and he paused and said chuckling, “the stuff that used to happen here everyday.” You can’t “pad” kids way through life or they end up hitting college campuses with little ability to “fend for themself.” That coupled with kids that now go to college who might not have decades ago with mental issues just is a contributing aspect of the volume numbers.
Peer counseling sounds like a good idea and something that might be able to be implemented in elementary and high schools before these kids hit the campuses. I know my oldest was part of a type of peer counseling program in 4th and 5th grade over 15 years ago. They got permission from Peace Frogs company to use their logo in the program. They matched up kids on the team with kids that were struggling with social relationships, lunchroom dynamics, bullying etc. It was a pretty neat program. I think the more you keep parents out of this, and let students work things out themselves the more resilient kids become.
@Dave_Berry Could you do a copy and paste of this article for the benefit of those of us who do not have a WSJ subscription?
My 18-year-old daughter was diagnosed with anxiety last year (in her case, it was due to the chaos inherent in having a mentally ill young man in our family). She’s been for weekly counseling that entire time. In August, she said to me, “Mom, I’m so glad I’ve been to my counselor and have worked through all my ‘stuff,’ because almost all of my friends are struggling and now they’re going off to college without help.” I thought that was sad, but as she described some of their situations, I had to agree with her. My daughter thinks that every high school kid should be required to see a counselor for a certain amount of time!
I don’t think that today’s kids are less resilient. I think today’s environment is more supportive therefore kids who need help can get the help. Which is a good thing. Previously these kids would never ask for help, never receive help, and become college dropouts.
That would violate CC terms of service, not to mention copyright.
Usually, Googling sufficient text to find the article bypasses the paywall.
ETA: Ixnay on that advice; it seems the WSJ paywall holds firm.
Something to also keep in mind is that just a few decades ago, many who had psychological issues or learning disabilities and didn’t fly under the radar in this respect/deliberately kept those issues hidden* were precluded from higher education altogether as many adcoms and HS teachers/GCs/admins would have regarded those issues as proof they “weren’t college material”.
- With all the associated negative personal toll on their mental health and well-being.
Even kindergartens became more stressful right around when this generation of students attended, and in the majority of cases, both parents were working, meaning an extended day for everyone. I remember thinking, almost 20 years ago, that we might see consequences to the changes in childhood: less freeplay, more structured, adult-organized activities, and almost no real down time, at home or elsewhere.
Our local high school had a school committee focused on mental health in which the parents were implicitly blamed. I raised the issue of stress caused by public schools, with early academics, emphasis on testing, longtime loss of freeplay for young kids and creative and physical outlets for everyone. And pressure about college, for all the wrong reasons. Emphasis on external goals versus internal motivation hurts everyone too.
I have been told that social media is the main culprit in all this, but I think the crisis in mental health has many complicated factors.
ps I have read that the focus on “getting in” to colleges can result in depression once in, because the focus was on getting in, not on actually being there, and once accomplished, life feels empty to some, until they find the next external goal to motivate them
I work at a grad school, and we have been experiencing a steadily rising number of requests for counseling in the past few years. I am not going to pretend I know why this is happening, but I can assure you it is the case. Not only are students asking for help more often, but we are being made aware (from faculty and peers) of more students in crisis as the years go by. It is one more issue for higher ed to figure out how to handle (and believe me, it is one of MANY that are taxing our resources) - but it is one we cannot ignore. (And we do not have a mental health center on campus, so there is that … )
Compmom, I agree with what you are saying. As far as late teen years, I’ve often remarked that getting “in” to a particular college is not the brass-ring…it’s graduating from a college. I, too, wonder if kids are so focused on getting into college when they get there it’s a stresser because the students have never thought past the getting in part.
My older D (26) says that her generation and the kids in college now see nothing wrong with “getting a tuneup” frim a mental health professional if they are having a hard time. She had a very stressful situation at work last year with a problem employee that dragged on for months; I didn’t know the extent of it until quite recently – I can’t give details, but as a seasoned professional, I would have been hard pressed to handle it. She said she saw someone and got some coping tools/mechanisms that really helped her. I think it is a good trend that young people ask for help when they need it. Having lost a sibling to a mental health issue, I wish it had been easier and more acceptable for our generation to admit that they needed help.
I don’t doubt the numbers seeking help are increasing dramatically. I just don’t necessarily think it is because they are less resilient. I struggled with panic attacks and anxiety all through college 30 years ago; I didn’t know it was “a thing” I could get help for … nobody talked about stuff like that … I just muddled through. Now kids know, and they may be quicker to reach out for help than maybe they “need” to be, but is that really a bad thing? So maybe they catch trends early, when they can be handled by more informal settings like peer counseling, etc… I do think college is perhaps more stressful now than it used to be, just because the competition and the cost is so much higher … screw it up, and your chances of a do-over are limited …or at least it seems so. I do wonder, though, whether part of what is happening is that the kids (as a large group) haven’t learned how to build the close interpersonal connections that are the glue that holds people together through stressful times, because so much of their interaction is at a distance, via text/snap/etc… Peer counseling = a person willing to sit down and talk and listen to you. That used to be a friend or just someone on your hall; as much as kids may overshare via electronic means, I wonder if they really just feel uncomfortable being vulnerable with people they know in real life … so going to counseling is easier than being willing to admit to your friend that you’re struggling…
@kelsmom “I work at a grad school, and we have been experiencing a steadily rising number of requests for counseling in the PAST FEW YEARS” (all caps mine for emphasis).
I am curious as to what has changed in the past few years. Perhaps the proliferation of social media is a partial cause of the increase. The challenge with social media is that everyone can choose which aspect of their lives to present to the public. You are exposed to a far greater group of people than you would have been even 5 years ago. Facebook etc. would make you believe that everyone is going vacationing to exotic locales, or eating at the finest restaurants or exercising regularly etc… It can make it seem like life should be all fun and others are in control of their lives and that if your life does not measure up then the problem must lie with you.
I am sure there are other reasons. Testing, competitiveness, costs, expectations created by family or the media etc. can all contribute to the need to seek help.
Hopefully the increase in students seeking help means that the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues is lessening.
I tend to agree with @compmom’s post . . . I also think it’s more socially acceptable to ask for help and talk about your feelings than it used to be which is generally a good thing.
At Preview for UF, the staff told the parents that this incoming generation is one of the most “attached” to their parents generation that they have ever seen. That has certainly held true for our children and friends of theirs that we’ve known.
My decidedly non-professional opinion: There are many factors influencing the increase. I think that almost all can be tied into the fact that we live in a 24/7 nonstop plugged in world. Everything is in our faces at all times. Stressors are magnified. Couple that with a generation that is more apt to ask for help, and I think it just results in the perfect storm environment for mental health issues coming to the forefront.
I confess that I am often glad I grew up when I did. I feel it was a less stressful time, overall. I hold onto my dinosaur ways to protect myself. When I got a new boss recently, I quickly realized that she is a 24/7 sort of person, looking at her phone every few seconds. I told her that I do not have a smartphone, and the reason for that is because I have no intention of being connected to work at all times. I told her that she is free to call me if there is an emergency, but otherwise, I will answer emails when I am at work (which is more than I should be, as it is!). My coworker did not set similar boundaries, and the boss expects her to respond in the evening, on the weekend, when she is on vacation … She is going nuts and wishes she had done what I did!
Another non-professional opinion: I think it begins at birth with the constant over-stimulation of babies and toddlers and only gets worse with each year that passes. Children aren’t equipped with the tools to relax or self-pacify. Have you seen the new “exercisors” that took place of the old-age walkers? So bright and filled with gadgets. Cradles that rock themselves, crib mattresses that vibrate. As they get older, their days are filled with scheduled activities. There is little free play. We read on these boards how high school kids aren’t getting the sleep they need to be mentally and physically alert in classes day after day, sometimes less than 4 or 5 hours, because they are so “involved”. Honestly, I’m anxious just writing about it lol.
Post 15–“At Preview for UF, the staff told the parents that this incoming generation is one of the most “attached” to their parents generation that they have ever seen. That has certainly held true for our children and friends of theirs that we’ve known.”
Shortly after we got our son a cell phone (about age 10? I can’t remember but he was very young), he had forgotten it for the umpteenth time. I was upset and “lecturing” him on responsibility.
He was very calm. After my short rant, he says… “Mom, what did you do BEFORE cell phones?”
Good question.
I think about that often actually. “Back in my day” (this is the eye roll opportunity for my kids) we weren’t tethered to a phone. The cell phone is an invisible “apron string” that is very powerful.
And I don’t think it’s kids wanting to stay attached to parents, it’s parents wanting to stay attached to kids.
I think new technology is great (especially in emergency situations) but the constant 24/7 barrage of information and stimulation is mind stressing. The constant media noise isn’t good.
Just like babies need to learn to “self-soothe” so do teens and adults. And some of the “coping skills” aren’t being learned along the way. I think “down time” (real by-yourself time to gather thoughts and plan life, not another EC) is regarded by many as “lazy” these days. Not good.
That said, I think the kids are as “resilient” as past generations. You learn pretty quick in hard situations,
“ps I have read that the focus on “getting in” to colleges can result in depression once in, because the focus was on getting in, not on actually being there, and once accomplished, life feels empty to some, until they find the next external goal to motivate them”
That’s why we have grad schools. And the first job. And the next higher paying job. And the first startup. First ownership. First big deal. First failure. First bounceback. The possibilities are endless!