The Student Pressure Test
Mental health is often overlooked, but some schools are beginning to open up the conversation.
Background and Statistics
While students can form study groups when preparing for an exam, finding a community of people willing to engage in a conversation about mental health is seen as a challenge. Mental health has been a growing topic as it seems more and more people are starting to be affected by it. Young adults between the ages of 14-25 are the most affected demographic as 50% of mental health issues start at age 14 and 75% begin at age 24. This makes college students very vulnerable to mental health struggles.
Active Minds is a nonprofit organization focused on supporting mental health awareness and education since 2003. Bradley University has its own chapter of Active Minds which organizes different events around campus focused on mental health and alleviating stress. Since 39% of college students will experience a significant mental health issue, the chapter recently held an event on March 9th, 2022, and brought in guest speaker David Romano to discuss the topic.
Romano is a therapist and Active Minds partner who focuses on mental health and stigma reduction. Romano spoke about his own struggles with mental health starting from a young age and how it has continued to affect his life. He explained how he previously viewed mental health as any other illness or broken bone saying “I thought it was like a cold, you have a cold you take some medicine and eventually it will go away and you get better”. He continued to explain that finding the right way to treat it can take time and finding the right therapist and medication often takes some searching and must be continual after finding what is right for each individual.
After his talk, the audience was encouraged to engage and ask him questions. Most of the audience seemed to like being able to continue the conversation of mental health with him. One member of the audience who was willing to share their experience said “I wanted to go to this event because, after events that happened in my life, I struggled with mental health. I never really believed people wanted to talk about mental health but now I know there is a big enough support system around campus”
Available Services
Bradley University has multiple resources available for students to use such as counseling services located in the basement of Markin Family Student Recreation Center. Appointments for counseling can be made through email or by phone with available after-hour services. Additionally, free and confidential mental health screenings are available for students through this link. For relieving stress, Active Minds holds different events throughout the year to help students such as their upcoming Pot Painting event which will be held on March 25th, 2022, and all are encouraged to attend.