Mental health struggles driving students out of college
Sometimes students get depressed but fail to get anybody to talk to yet counsellors say talking can go a long way in helping one overcome painful circumstances.
What you need to know:
- Survey reveals that there is a significant number of growing college students who frequently experience emotional stress while attending school.
- Most of those who were interviewed said emotional stress and personal mental health was the reason they considered dropping out of college while others cited financial considerations and the difficulty of coursework.
Two out of five students consider dropping out of college because of mental health struggles, a survey has shown.
The survey revealed that there is a significant number of growing college students who frequently experience emotional stress while attending school.
The survey published by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, a private independent organisation in the United States, was conducted in 2022 and interviewed about 12,000 respondents who had a high school degree but had not yet completed an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
In the findings, more than 40 per cent of students enrolled in an undergraduate degree programme had considered dropping out in the past six months, up from 34 per cent in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic exhibiting mental symptoms.
Most of those who were interviewed said emotional stress and personal mental health was the reason they considered dropping out of college while others cited financial considerations and the difficulty of coursework.
Prof Sarah Lipson, an assistant professor at Boston University and principal investigator with the Healthy Minds Network, a research organisation focused on the mental health of adolescents and young adults, said about 75 per cent of lifetime mental health problems will onset by the mid-20s.
This means that young adults in colleges and universities are more vulnerable.
The survey was supported by Dr Silas Mwirigi, a researcher, author, and Principal of Kagumo High School, who agreed that many students of late are exhibiting mental health signs, with residing outside campus a trigger to mental health for some learners.
“Mental health issues among university students have reached alarming levels. Cases of suicide and dropping out are suggestive of inherent socio-economic battles that students struggle with besides their course demands.” Dr Mwirigi said.
While lauding some universities for rolling out contractual employment programmes for needy students, he said more needs to be done to stem this worrying trend.
“Interestingly, the joy that came with receiving university admission is quickly waning. A university admission letter is nowadays a ticket to avoiding the landlord due to absconded rent, buying street food, trekking for kilometres for early morning and late evening classes, as well as a streetwise survival in the risky world of sex predation,” said Dr Mwirigi.
He said relationship and course issues, which resulted in supplementary exams or course re-takes, led to mental health issues, with many learners resorting to alcoholism, drugs and promiscuity.
“Also student loans are no longer guaranteed and if offered, they take too long to be disbursed. A deliberate effort by the government to look into these challenges would go a long way in addressing the mental health challenges that are oppressing our university students,” he said.
Dr Monica Gitonga, a clinical psychologist, said cases of learners committing suicide and minors getting engaged in queer behaviour such as rape, sodomy and drug abuse is triggered by incidents at an early age that could be addressed through counselling.
“We should have professionals to deal with the mental health of our children from baby class because minor incidents such as bereavement at an early age affects one’s mental health, which blows up at teenagehood or when they join the university,” Dr Gitonga said.
“We invest a lot of resources deploying professionals to teach academic subjects but we don’t seem to care about the mental health of those being taught.
