Balancing academics, extracurricular activities, social life and the recession, college freshman have reported the lowest levels of mental health in 25 years, according to an annual survey.
The number of students reporting above-average mental health dropped to 52 percent as well, according to “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010.” The survey, one of the largest in the nation, interviewed more than 200,000 incoming freshmen entering four-year colleges.
Anxiety is at the front of college students’ emotional health concerns as they strive to overachieve. Of the freshman interviewed, 76 percent rated their desire to achieve above the average student.
The drive to achieve could also result from worries over money, as students are concerned about finding a job and paying off student debt after college.
“Students know their generation is likely to be less successful than their parents’, so they feel more pressure to succeed than in the past,” said Jason Ebbeling, director of residential education at Southern Oregon University, in an interview with the New York Times.
“These days, students worry that even with a college degree they won’t find a job that pays more than minimum wage, so even at 15 or 16 they’re thinking they’ll need to get into an M.B.A. program or Ph.D. program,” Ebbeling said.
In addition, the gap between women and men’s levels of emotional health is the widest, with women likely to have lower levels of emotional health than men. Studies show that only 18 percent of men are overwhelmed versus 39 percent of women.
“One aspect of it is how women and men spent their leisure time,” said Linda Sax, a professor of education at UCLA in an interview The New York Times.
“Men tend to find more time for leisure and activities that relieve stress, like exercise and sports, while women tend to take on more responsibilities, like volunteer work and helping out with their family, that don’t relieve stress,” she said.
Students who have low levels of emotional health are not more likely to seek help than their peers, according to the survey. Only 11 percent of students with low mental health said they would need guidance in college, compared to 8 percent of students with high levels of emotional health.
However, for some students, lack of independence may be the problem.
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