“The Wall Street Journal reported that Ohio State has seen a 43 percent jump in the past five years in students seeking mental-health counseling.” – Mona Cheren, National Review
National Review recently published an article entitled “The Kids Are Not All Right”. The lead question is: “Why are so many American adolescents experiencing mental-health problems?”.
The changes taking place among college students are real and complex. There is not one single factor that is causing the issue of an increase in students seeking mental-health counseling. One can make the case that students experience a perfect storm of experiences and habits that move them down a path towards depression and anxiety. On the one hand is the dark-side of social media that reinforces narcism and somewhat ironically, relational isolation. On the other hand, college students do not show up on campus with a clean emotional slate. An increasing number of students arrive on campus after an adolescence in which their home life was less than ideal. Often students come to campus after years without much emotional connection and relational support from the most important people in their childhood, their parents. These issues are just the beginning of experiences that are detrimental to mental health during such influential years; it seems no one has a firm grasp on all the factors.
We see the effects firsthand on campus. Many of the brightest and gifted students seem to be debilitated by dark thoughts and anxious fears. It’s not like issues with mental-health are entirely a new issue for college students, but from my vantage point it does seem to be an increasing problem.
I’m glad to be connected with trained Christian counselors in Columbus that are already having an impact among select students in great need of their help. At times the most important thing we can do is identify when a student needs help beyond what we can offer. But what we also know is that more than professional help, often students need friends and mentors who listen to them, support them, and care for them. As much as a university like OSU might embrace an ideology that might conflict with the beliefs of the historic Christian faith, a ministry like ours is offering a community of support to hundreds of students every school year. One might argue there has never been a more important time for campus ministries like Cru to do what we do best: love students and offer them hope through the story of Jesus Christ.
