Student Mental Health

by Shaneka Williams

Despite all the research and efforts to raise awareness about mental health issues, as many as 173,000 young people in Canada will try to take their own lives per year. Although most of them will survive, it’s clear that many young Canadians are troubled.

Amanda Willis (name change to protect privacy), a fourth year film student from Carleton University says she experienced the difficulties in dealing with postsecondary stress.

“I had taken on too much, not knowing my own limits,” said Willis.

The difficulties started in her second year. Willis was in school full-time, a residential advisor in residence and working a part-time job.

“I took on way too big of a workload,” said Willis. “I think I had what a lot of university students tend to have. It’s that falling out of interest in your courses because you’re overwhelmed and forget what it’s all about,” she said.

Depression is not just a change in moods. It’s a medical condition experienced by adolescents and teenagers in alarming numbers. At least one in five Canadians are affected.

Amanda said after feeling overwhelmed, anxious and stressed she stopped reaching out to family and friends.

“I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, because I was so busy and I wasn’t cluing into the reasons why I was feeling the anxiety and depression. It also came with a lot of fear. I found myself afraid to be alone, afraid of being awake at night, but yet I couldn’t sleep. I think I was afraid of all the responsibility,” said Willis.

Between the ages of 15-24 there are many dramatic changes a young person experiences. Some may feel pressure to succeed at school, at home, or in social groups. Sometimes the pressure and stress leads them to feel like suicide is the only answer. Suicide is the second most common cause of death between the ages of 15-24, and that’s based only on what is reported.

In a survey of 15,000 Grade 7-12 students in British Columbia, 34 per cent knew of someone who had attempted or died by suicide, and 16 per cent had seriously considered suicide themselves. Many people are often reluctant to discuss it because they believe there is a negative stigma attached, and they may feel guilt or shame. But eight out of 10 people who die by suicide gave some or even many indications of their intentions.

After multiple sleepless nights, and being so afraid, she said it was time to seek some help from a counselor. Willis’s first step was speaking to the residence counselors, since she was an RA she was able to speak to someone fairly quickly. More problems began when she moved out of the dorm that April and no longer had access to the residence counselors.

“Going into my third year, I started to have some of the same feelings. I tried to go to the campus counseling services, but the wait list was two to three months,” said Willis. “When I finally got to see a counselor my symptoms had progressed,” she said.

Willis was unhappy with the approach they were taking and didn’t feel she was being treated as an individual.

“They weren’t listening to me, they would listen to one half of my sentence and then jump to a conclusion,” she said.

“It’s important to get a counselor that you agree with, one that is ready to listen to all aspects of what you have to say,” said Willis. “It was hard because even though I didn’t necessarily like my counselor I couldn’t switch,” she said.

Willis decided the next best thing to do was to try the local family services. Originally she was put on a one-year wait list, but was then transferred to Jewish Family Services where she was put on a wait list of two months. Eventually she was able to speak to a counselor for about three to four months. The problem she found with this service was once you were out of the system you had to start the process all over again. Finally Willis was able to successfully speak to a family service counselor for six months.

“It was really helpful and I know that I can go back to speak to them with a much shorter wait list,” said Willis.

Communication is essential in assisting at-risk youth. Good2Talk, created for post-secondary students living in Ontario, is a new anonymous hotline where students can speak to a live advisor 24/7 about anything.

“Good2Talk was an initiative from the Ministry of Training University and Colleges. We wanted to have more support available to post-secondary students throughout Ontario,” said Duane, a Good2Talk representative.

Good2Talk is there to help students get through situation where they feel alone or don’t have anyone to speak to.

“A lot of times people underestimate the value of expressing themselves, and sharing their feelings. We encourage people to speak up, to people they can trust, but if you ever felt like you didn’t have anyone you could trust, or just didn’t want to talk to the people in your life about it Good2Talk offers you the chance to express yourself,” said Duane.

Wills says even though it may be difficult, students need to remember they are not alone, and there is always someone to talk to, you just have to be patient, and don’t give up.

“You have depression, don’t let depression have you,” said Willis.

Tips to positive mental health are widely available online. Here are four of them.

1. Stay connected

Have at least one person you can talk to that you feel comfortable with.

1. Know the difference between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism

Practice does make perfect, but too much of something is never a good thing.

1. Avoid overreaction

It is okay to make mistakes. Know you are not perfect. Everything is a learning process.

1. Take time to enjoy simple things

Take a break and do something you love, whether it’s going to the gym or reading a good book.