It’s a Thursday afternoon. You just got out of your last class in which you received a 67 on a test that you spent nine hours studying for the night prior. You check Instagram during your walk back to your dorm to distract yourself, just to see a model bless your feed. 

Knowing you will never look like an Instagram model, you call your mother for comfort and realize she is at home hours away and you are at college. You could reach out to your college’s mental health services to try and deal with some of your feelings, but that would mean you are admitting to having a problem, and who wants to do that?

Parents of college attendees, university faculty, and students say the rise in mental health problems at college campuses across the country needs to be addressed. Many students say they feel they must embrace the grind associated with school work, get phenomenal grades, leave behind their family, meet societal beauty standards and manage a social life.

College campuses, including St. Lawrence University, are evaluating if the efforts they are putting into mental wellness are being utilized by students. Students reportedly are working toward receiving help more than ever before. The Center for Collegiate Mental Health reported the number of students who visit campus counseling centers had increased by over 30 percent in 2015, while college enrollment climbed just 5 percent. With this data in mind, is it safe to say that SLU students are following suit? As a small private liberal arts college in northern New York, SLU had an enrollment of 2,441 in 2019. SLU has a counseling center to attempt to combat mental health issues.

Tara Tent, Associate Director of Counseling Services, said they generally see “17-20% of the student population for counseling appointments over the course of the academic calendar.”

These percentages may seem decent, but a 2016 study reported to Healthline that 39 percent of college students were struggling with at least one mental illness. If these percentages apply to SLU as well, are some students abstaining from reaching out?

SLU attempts to reach further out to the student body through their mental wellness committee and a new club called Active Minds that is being created with intentions to promote wellness through student-run activities. A few events that have been held by SLU’s mental wellness committee aim to help students fight the onslaught of anxiety and depression. The most recent mental wellness event included crafts, writing letters of gratitude, and Reiki therapy. This event was advertised through tabling at the student center, flyers, and on social media.

A sophomore and member of the women’s basketball team, Ava McCann of Binghamton, New York, took an afternoon off the court to attend a mental wellness event.

“I found the event on a flyer and was like, ‘Oh, I feel this could help because I’m feeling a little stressed,’” McCann said. “I attended the event and felt like it was pretty beneficial but was disappointed because there wasn’t a great turn out and I think it could’ve really helped others.”

Some students reported appreciating the event, but a large percentage of SLU students chose not to attend. Exact attendance was unknown, but one estimate put the total attendance at 120.

Mark Piterski, a junior from Urals, Russia, expressed he didn’t attend the mental wellness event but would consider going in the future if it worked with his schedule. As a member of SLU’s Pre-Health club, a General Biology Teaching Assistant and a Mail Center Employee, Piterski has been exposed to the pressures of college and acknowledges how being a college student can impact someone’s mental health and stress.

In 2018, The American Institute of Stress reported that eight in 10 college students experience frequent stress.

Piterski said, “College definitely challenges your mental health, just in the way that you have to handle all that pressure.”

Living on a college campus away from home and attending difficult classes may be causing students to struggle with their mental health. Some students may not be using existing resources such as mental wellness events.

SLU Sophomore, Matt Shadick of Suffern, New York, said, “Let’s be honest, though. People get those emails but do people actually go to those things?”

As an athlete on the men’s varsity crew team and a member of Habitat for Humanity, Shadick’s time on campus is often spent doing homework, being at practice and contributing to the community. 

Being overwhelmed can trigger mental health implications in a prominent way and he says that it’s often apparent when the people around you are struggling.

“It’s hard enough for people to admit what they are going through, so it’s even harder to force people to go out of their comfort zone,” Shadick said.

Resources like mental wellness days and the health center exist here at SLU. However, if they aren’t being used, it’s difficult to assess if students are refraining from using them because they don’t need to or if they are uncomfortable reaching out.

“They promote it to the best of their ability that they can,” Shadick said. “People are aware that there are resources but at the end of the day it’s up to the person to make the decision if they want to go or not. I think it should be a norm, like it’s okay.”

Normalizing events could greatly influence the number of students that attend. Reducing the stigma surrounding mental health could make it possible for students to feel more comfortable with attending events that are centered on helping.

Lilly Hoffman, a SLU sophomore from Hockenington, New Hampshire, comments on this saying that some students just deal with things in their own way.

“I’ll do some crafty thing in my room and listen to music because that is what calms me down,” Hoffman said. “I think people have different coping mechanisms that they’ve found for themselves and sometimes it’s hard to branch out of them.”

Hoffman has used the counseling services on campus and even complimented their helpfulness. But she went on to say, “I think we can always do better when it comes to mental health.”

She continued with, “People that have a serious need for these types of resources might not realize they do and I think it’s kind of like, yes, you can be provided with the resources, but to get yourself to go you have to realize it on your own.”

No matter how accessible a resource is, it is up to students to make the ultimate decision to use or not to use them.

“There’s really only so much that the school can do to get people to go but I think the school does a good job of allowing people to know that there are places to go when they are ready to go to them,” Hoffman said.

Students feel SLU has the resources available to make a difference, but we must put our pride aside and realize that there is nothing wrong with getting help.