Mental health is a concept that is extremely misunderstood, particularly within college campuses. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students and one in five adults has a diagnosable mental illness. Because this issue is so prevalent among our community, it needs to be understood. Colleges need to be able to help their students and provide adequate care. The rise in suicides among college students has left schools struggling, even more, to understand how to address this issue.
Like most issues, intersectionality has a large role in this problem. Students of color are much less likely to seek treatment than white students, according to research. It is believed that mental illnesses among students of color hold a strong stigma, and they fear counselors will not understand the cultural contexts of their issue. Students who face the struggles themselves, like me, understand the issue and how it affects people just as well as the experts.
Often times, older generations do not understand mental health as well as younger ones understand it because the amount of stressors has only increased over the years. I know that with my grandparents and with other older people that I have spoken to, they think of anxiety as a light feeling of stress that everyone experiences every once and a while. They do not understand how significant and constant it can be for people with anxiety disorders. They also think of depression as a slight feeling of sadness, not a constant feeling of hopelessness. They also do not understand the severity and complexity of other mental illnesses. Obviously not all older people think of mental illnesses this way, but the fact that some people do shows that there is still a change in perspective and thinking that needs to occur. This ignorant thinking occurs in many groups of people besides just older generations. Because older adults are usually the ones holding influential job titles on college campuses, they need to fully understand what their students are experiencing. Since no one can understand the experiences as well as those who actually experience them, it is important for all students to make their experiences known. When we all understand each other in a community, it allows for a supportive system that all students feel included; this is why it is important to bring awareness to the community. We all need to be aware of how to help one another and be positive influences in each other’s lives, rather than another stressor.
Photograph by Melina Nuttall
In order to help one another, we need to be aware and accepting of all members of our community and their experiences and the complexity of these experiences. Communities consist of people of different backgrounds, cultures, religious affiliations, gender identities, sexual orientations, and many other identities. Another large issue of intersectionality in the area of mental health awareness is how LGTBQ+ people are affected. The discrimination, prejudice, denial of civil and human rights, and rejection that the LGBTQ+ community can face has a huge toll on their mental well-being. They face stigmas around their identity as well as stigmas around their mental health which makes them more susceptible to suicidal thoughts or actions. They are actually five times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual individuals and 48 percent of transgender adults admit to having attempted suicide in the past.
Photograph by Melina Nuttall
Mental health awareness needs to occur in order to save lives and better the lives of all people in all communities. In college campuses particularly, this epidemic needs to be addressed and solved. By providing more resources and demonstrating student activism, we can take strides in solving this issue and bettering the lives of all humans worldwide.