People currently live in a society that considers admiration, social networking, and success as the ultimate result of belongingness and happiness. However, when people do achieve these desires, some people tend to experience some effects of mental illness. The post-secondary student crisis is a primary source of mental illness as a result of the lack of access to mental health resources. Students have little-to-no source of support in this environment. In addition to the post-secondary student crisis, various upbringings with respect to cultural backgrounds can influence mental illness too. With all of the mental effects post secondary institutions and cultural influences have on an individual, would you sacrifice your mental health to guise your portrayal?

 

Mental illness arises at a rapid rate in post secondary institutions as competition increases. Students experience greater levels of stress and psychopathology compared to any other data in history. According to research conducted in 2004 by the Mental Health Task Force on graduate students at the University of California Berkeley, research discovered that 45 percent of students surveyed had experienced an emotional or stress related problem within the past 12 months. These complications had an overall effect on the participants well-being and/or academic performance.

 

As students begin to transition from high school to postsecondary, 30 percent of first year undergraduate students have reported feeling overwhelmed with the new challenges (such as balancing their workload, or becoming independent emerging adults). Evidently, in this given situation, not many students would consider being emotionally healthy. Comparison across generations is difficult. However, analysis of longitudinal studies suggest exponential growth in stress, depression, and anxiety since the 1980s. One of the dangers of depression is the potential result of suicide. According to Statistics Canada (2017), since 2009, 202 individuals aged 15 to 19 committed suicide; this represents 23 percent of all deaths. The increase of deaths since 1974 had grew 9 percent. Suicide is currently the second most common cause of death among college students.

 

It is not only the fact that educational institutions lack mental health resources, but cultural variations can bear whether people would seek general help, what types of help they seek, methods of coping styles, the social support they have, and how much stigma they attach to mental illness.

 

In this context, culture refers to a group of shared set of beliefs, norms and values. Cultures can shape the interaction with the patient through diagnosis, and treatment. One method in which culture affects mental illness is through how individuals describe their symptoms. Cultures vary with respect to the meaning of how they convey to the illness (that is, the meaning of illness refers to the attitude and beliefs a culture holds about whether an illusion is “real” or “imagined”). For example, only 8.6 percent of Asian-Americans who seek mental health assistance compared with 17.9 percent of the general population is due to the heavily implied stigma in willingness to access to proper care (American Psychiatric Association, 2018). The Asian community are viewed as collectivists. Knowing that, their source of support would be people of close proximity (peers, relatives, etc).  

 

Cultural meanings of illness have real consequences that determine whether people are motivated to seek treatment, how they cope with their symptoms, how supportive their families and communities are, and the pathways they take to get to services. Consequences can be grave – extreme distress, disability, and possibly suicide – when people do not receive treatment.

 

Even with good access to mental health resources, people still continue to struggle. Is our desired final result what we want if we have to sacrifice our own well-being? Why not just stop for a minute. Self care involves knowing your limits. During high levels of stress and emotional distress, you deserve some time for yourself. Care for your body and mind. Get the rest and energy your body needs in order to function at its best. Wanting to finish all of your assignments and readings in one night has no meaning especially if the work is not completed with care. In addition to having quality work completed, feed your body with nutritious foods. Although fast food may be the option you crave, it would not give you the energy you want or the good “gut feeling”. To fulfill belongingness and happiness, you need to begin with caring for yourself.

 

References:

Henriques, G. (2014). The College Student Mental Health Crisis. Psychology Today. Retrieved on November 25, 2018. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/theory-knowledge/201402/the-college-student-mental-health-crisis>
Office of the Surgeon General (US). (2001). Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity: A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. “Chapter 2 Culture Counts: The Influence of Culture and Society on Mental Health”. Current neurology and neuroscience reports. Retrieved on November 25, 2018. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44249/>
Statistics Canada. (2017). Health at a Glance. Women and Paid Work. Retrieved on: November 25th, 2018. <https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-624-x/2012001/article/11696-eng.htm>
American Psychiatric Association. (2018). Working with Asian American Patients. Warning Signs of Mental Illness. Retrieved on November 25, 2018. <https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/cultural-competency/treating-diverse-patient-populations/working-with-asian-american-patients>