Category: mental health

  • student-mental-wellbeing-college-life-crisisThe Cengage Blog

    student-mental-wellbeing-college-life-crisisThe Cengage Blog

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    May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to elevate conversations around mental wellbeing and reduce the stigma that surrounds it. In recognition, we’re sharing stories directly from students who are navigating the pressures and facing the challenges of higher ed life today.

    One of those students is Ruby Adamowicz, a sophomore at Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Here’s Ruby’s perspective, in her own words.

    The right direction

    I’m nearing the end of my sophomore year of college, and I can still confidently say that I have absolutely no idea where I’ll end up after graduation. I see my peers landing internship offers and studying abroad — even my own roommate has a full-time job offer set for her once she graduates.

    Now, I’m not saying that I’m coasting through college. Trust me, I have put in the work. But I’ve also realized that success does not look the same for everyone. We’re all moving through life at our own pace. I always remind myself that some people find themselves as undergrads, some as post-grads and many are simply still trying to figure out who they are, which is normal and okay.

    This brings me to the question that’s almost always in every student’s head: “Am I headed in the right direction?”

    Second-guessing first-year decisions

    For me, I have always struggled with finding my passion and figuring out what jobs align with my major. It’s like a mental battle. I’m constantly asking myself: “Am I doing this because I genuinely love it, or is it just what makes the most sense?”

    I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was a freshman while both of my sisters were seniors at the same school. In all honesty, they were the ones who encouraged me to major in marketing. In my high school mind, following in their footsteps was what made the most sense. I figured I would know what classes to take, how to find an internship and have some overall guidance during my first year. And it seemed like the smart choice. Business is so broad and allows you to be creative. But, two years in, I still second-guess whether this is my “passion.”

    Figuring things out – one day at a time

    There are days when I feel inspired and even motivated to work on social media projects and brainstorm my entrepreneurial ideas. Other days, I feel like I’m going through the motions — just checking off my tasks for the day. Sometimes, I’m inspired to plan out my goals, update my resume and have a strong sense of where I want to be post-grad. There are also times when I feel like I’m stuck, almost like a fish out of water. And that’s okay. I’ve learned that “figuring it out” doesn’t mean that your life will fall into place that same day. It means taking small steps, such as talking to your professors, stepping out of your comfort zone, joining clubs, being social and challenging yourself.

    Follow your own path

    What I’ve come to learn during my time at college is that nobody has it all figured out — even your classmate who has 500+ connections on LinkedIn and is posting about their summer internship.

    We’re all experiencing college for the first time and trying to figure out what to do to be happy. There are ups and downs, but you can take it one day at a time. If you’re reading this and are feeling lost, confused, behind or even stuck, I’m here to remind you that it is so normal. It’s a feeling that comes from comparing yourself to people who are on a different path than you. As the saying goes, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

    What now

    Honestly, this is a great question that I try to answer each day.

    Life is not one straight line. It’s everyone’s first time living, trying to navigate what the world has to offer. But the more you show up and put yourself out there, you’ll find what life has for you. College is not a race to be employed. It’s a chance to figure out what makes you feel happy.

    Apply for the internship you feel underqualified for, make friends with new people and take advantage of all the opportunities possible.

    So, I will leave you with this. If you’re feeling lost and keep asking yourself, “Am I doing enough?” — you are not alone.

    Take it one day at a time.

    Written by Ruby Adamowicz, sophomore marketing major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Cengage Student Ambassador

    Do you see some students struggling with their mental health? Let them know they’re not alone. Share this article and explore additional articles about student mental wellbeing.

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  • The State of Student Mental Health at HBCUs

    The State of Student Mental Health at HBCUs

    Title: Flourishing: Bolstering the Mental Health of Students at HBCUs and PBIs

    Source: United Negro College Fund (UNCF)

    Student mental health is often a chief concern for university administrations and faculty alike, with institutions working to develop strong mental health resources for students. Mental health concerns, however, can vary drastically from student to student, requiring dynamic responses to support the ever-changing challenges students face.

    Over the course of two semesters in 2023, over 2,500 students at 16 HBCUs and two Predominantly Black Institutions were administered the Health Minds Survey (HMS) to determine the unique mental health challenges and provide insights into the college experience for Black students. A report by UNCF, in partnership with the Healthy Minds Network and The Steve Fund, found that Black students at HBCUs demonstrate more positive mental health outcomes compared to students overall. The report also highlights potential areas for schools to further support students. The key takeaways are listed below:

    • HBCU students are flourishing: 45 percent of HBCU students report flourishing mental health, in comparison to the national HMS sample of students (36 percent) and Black students at small predominantly white institutions (PWIs) (38 percent). These figures were determined by students agreeing with statements such as “I am a good person and live a good life” and “I am confident and capable in the activities that are important to me.”
    • HBCU students report a greater sense of belonging (83 percent) and lower levels of high loneliness (56 percent) than their peers when compared to Black students at PWIs, of whom 72 percent report feeling a sense of belonging and 58 percent report high loneliness.
    • HBCU students report less anxiety, less substance use, and being less at-risk for developing an eating disorder than both the national HMS sample of students and the sample of Black students at PWIs.
    • Financial stress plays a significant role in mental health for students at HBCUs, with 52 percent of students reporting that their financial situation is “always” or “often” stressful.
    • More than half of students at HBCUs report unmet mental health needs (54 percent), which can be defined as “exhibiting moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression and reporting no mental health treatment within the past year.” Findings indicate that this may stem in part from HBCU students reporting stigmas around seeking out mental health services. 52 percent of HBCU students reported experiencing these stigmas, compared to 41 percent of the national HMS sample.
    • Nearly 80 percent of HBCU students agree that student mental health is a top priority for their school, and 55 percent of students report feeling that their campus supports open discussions regarding mental health.

    In response to the survey findings, the report supplies several recommendations to further support and increase research on HBCU mental health resources. UNCF states that producing longitudinal studies regarding mental health at HBCUs and exploring the intersecting factors that impact mental health may allow institutions to better react to the ever-changing mental health needs of their students. Further data support would provide means to measure outcomes for mental health programs and resources, allowing institutions to fine-tune their services to best support student flourishing.

    To read more, click here to access the full report.

    —Julia Napier

    If you have any questions or comments about this blog post, please contact us.

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  • ShareWell Offers Free Mental Health Support to University Students Nationwide

    ShareWell Offers Free Mental Health Support to University Students Nationwide

    ShareWell—the first peer-to-peer mental health support platform—is now offering free, unlimited memberships to all university students across the U.S.

    With 70% of college students reporting mental health challenges, ShareWell aims to fill critical gaps in care by providing live, virtual peer-led support groups on topics like anxiety, depression, academic pressure, and life transitions. Students can join as many sessions as they want—completely free—by signing up with their university email at www.sharewellnow.com.

    It’s a simple way to access community support during what can be some of the most overwhelming years of life.

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  • When musicians get the blues

    When musicians get the blues

    Music is known to boost cognitive and emotional wellbeing, yet those who pursue it professionally experience greater levels of psychological distress compared to the general population.

    Psychological distress among professional musicians is a global phenomenon, shown in studies from Norway, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Korea. More than two-thirds of professional musicians in the UK suffer from depression, according to a 2016 study involving over 2,000 musicians. In Canada, as many as one in five professional musicians experience suicidal ideation.

    Now, musicians are calling on the industry for change. In February, Grammy-winning artist Chappell Roan used her Best New Artist acceptance speech to advocate for healthcare and a living wage for developing artists.

    “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy, and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists,” Roan said.

    Major record labels have now provided commitments to the mental health of their artists. Universal Music Group recently partnered with Music Health Alliance to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, which provides a new suite of outpatient mental health support for musicians.

    A lack of support systems

    Musicians’ mental health suffers from a paucity of institutional protections for freelancers, irregular work schedules and profound financial instability. This is often exacerbated by high instances of performance anxiety and perfectionism among professional musicians, said Dr. George Musgrave, senior lecturer in cultural sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.

    “When people talk about music being good for health and wellbeing, they’re not talking about working musicians,” Musgrave said. “Those who are doing it for leisure or creation are not anxious and depressed in the same way that those who do it for their job are.”

    Unpredictability also characterizes the career trajectories of many professional musicians, said Noah Fralick, artist manager at Huxley Management.

    “You don’t really go to school, get training, then work your way into the workforce and slowly build up,” Fralick said. “There’s no linear path. You might go from total obscurity to huge amounts of popularity quite quickly.”

    Emotional labour is also inherent in this line of work, which can put musicians at risk for mental health pressures, said Dr. Sally Anne Gross, principal lecturer at the University of Westminster.

    “There’s an interrelatedness to sport, where the body’s running so fast and in doing that, you would expect it to get injured,” Gross said. “If you’re working with your emotions in your working environment … you can expect that you might have emotional injuries.”

    The strains of a music career

    The traditional trope of the “tortured artist” — the idea that an artist must suffer pain to generate authentic creative output — has taken on new significance in the digital age.

    “The digital world is desperate for real things,” Gross said. “The artist now has to be larger than life …  in this atmosphere, at this point in time, if you are a young emerging artist or a current artist, you have to engage in a way that is seen to be authentic and there’s nothing more authentic than pain.”

    Mass democratization of music creation has made it easier than ever for musicians to enter the industry, but with no guarantee that their music will find an audience. Musicians feel pressure to show vulnerability as a way to stand out in a market flooded with options.

    “About 100,000 new songs are uploaded to Spotify every day,” Fralick said. “Streaming has sort of eliminated the barrier to access the music industry, but diluted the potential for any one [musician] to be successful.”

    This creates an environment in which consumers fall back to familiar tunes and artists, as deciding between a multitude of new options can feel overwhelming. As a result, it’s a rare artist who becomes a star. But these success stories become well-known, and the dramatic publicization of those who succeed can explain part of the allure of the music business, Fralick said.

    “I always use this analogy of a lottery winner, and the way that lotteries are set up, we see the winner,” Fralick said. “We think ‘I’m going to buy a ticket because that could be me,’ because your brain is only seeing the success story.”

    Pressure to succeed

    Musgrave said that this mindset can be detrimental for musicians. “Many of them are afflicted with what I’ve referred to as cruel optimism. The optimism is cruel because it’s keeping them tethered to an unrealizable ideal,” he said.

    Aside from emotional investment, launching a professional music career can also entail hefty financial costs. These costs could include paying distributors, shooting music videos, receiving coaching and joining premium memberships.

    The opportunity cost can also be significant. “You give up a lot of earning potential in order to invest in this craft,” Musgrave said. 

    For female musicians, age can be a critical stressor and determining factor of success. As the marketability of their music often hinges upon maintaining a youthful image, it can place additional pressures to find success faster.

    Many female musicians see the age of 30 as a hard cut-off, Musgrave said. “Age is a spectre that haunts women’s musical lives in a way that doesn’t haunt men’s,” he said. 

    Getting help to those who need it

    The last 10 years has seen a sea of change regarding mental health interventions for musicians. 

    In the UK, all three major record labels — Universal Music Group, Warner Music and Sony — have mental health support offerings either in-house or through outsourcing. But in-house mental health counselling could present potentially challenging scenarios for conflict of interest, Musgrave said.

    Currently, the biggest source of musicians’ mental health support is the charitable sector. Organizations such as MusiCares, Music Minds Matter, Music Support and the Man Down Programme provide various offerings such as weekly support groups, 24/7 crisis support lines and training packages for music industry workers.

    Gross said that while poor mental health among professional musicians is an urgent concern, that shouldn’t stop schools from providing music education. Instead, the occupational health hazards of professional music careers should be clearly communicated, so that young people can make informed decisions.

    “I think we have to reassess and re-evaluate the ways in which creative industry jobs have been sold to the next generation,” Gross said. “We have to really think about what’s happening in the educational space … and it’s absolutely essential that we deal with the issues and challenges of the working environment for all professionals.”  

     

    Three questions to consider:

    1. What unique pressures do professional musicians face?

    2. What is meant by the term “cruel optimism”?

    3. Why do so many people dream of becoming famous performers?

     

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  • Too much of what’s healthy can be harmful

    Too much of what’s healthy can be harmful

    Some TikTok videos about health and fitness are hard to resist. People describe how they lost weight by eating only raw fruits and vegetables for a month or by substituting protein powder in place of flour or sugar. How many people take these recommendations to heart? What happens if they do?

    Jason Wood was one of them. “I would sprinkle [protein powder] on top of a peanut butter sandwich or a yogurt just to make what I was eating seem healthier,” he said.

    But Wood’s practice of adding protein powder to make his foods healthier wasn’t healthy. Eventually, Wood was diagnosed with orthorexia, an obsession with nutrition. Orthorexia is an eating disorder that differs significantly from better-known eating disorders like bulimia — bingeing and vomiting the food afterwards — and anorexia — not eating at all.

    Wood now works with the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders and speaks to audiences about eating disorders. 

    Studies in Australia, Turkey and the United States have found that the viewership of TikTok lifestyle influencers has led to an increase in orthorexia symptoms, which are not well understood by popular culture and are not explicitly defined in psychiatric textbooks. 

    Avoiding what’s bad isn’t always good.

    Rachel Hogg, psychologist and researcher at Charles Sturt University School of Psychology in Australia, defines orthorexia as “the avoidance of foods that are unhealthy or impure.” 

    The term was first coined in 1996 by California doctor Steven Bratman after he decided to eat only clean, nutritious foods. Eventually his research led him to narrow his food options so much that he cut out entire food groups which caused him physical suffering.

    Wood recalls being freezing cold in the middle of summer with his whole body hurting and frequent dizzy spells. Because it’s an outgrowth of healthy eating, the condition is difficult to identify, says Hogg, who calls it “the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

    Experts feel it is time people paid attention to the risk of developing orthorexia when exposed to high amounts of TikTok content. 

    Todd Minor Sr. lost his youngest son Matthew in 2019 to the TikTok “Blackout Challenge”; people who took the “challenge” would have themselves choked till they blacked out. In a January 2025 edition of Tech Policy Press, Minor called for social media warning labels as a public health tool. “These labels have a proven track record of raising awareness about the risks of dangerous products, especially among young people,” he wrote. 

    People don’t know what’s bad for them.

    Warning labels inform the consumer of the potential risk of product use and advise limiting dangerous exposure to vulnerable groups of people to avoid premature death or disability. According to orthorexia experts, all of these needs exist when it comes to TikTok. 

    Hadassah Johanna Hazan, a licensed clinical social worker in Jerusalem, knows firsthand how the public is painfully unaware of the dangers of orthorexia from talking to her patients. She describes how over the last 10 years ideal beauty has increasingly been defined as a fit and toned physique for both men and women. 

    This has led people to normalize eating patterns that Hazan describes as “very limiting at best and very harmful and unhealthy at worst.” She said constant and regular avoidance of food groups such as carbs or regularly substituting protein powders for ingredients such as sugar become addictions that her patients do not know how to stop. 

    Even those who teach healthy eating can fall into the orthorexia trap. Research published in the June 2021 supplement of American Society of Nutrition by a group of researchers in the U.S. state of Washington indicated that knowledge of orthorexia was low both in the general public sample group and in the sample group of nutrition students.  

    In fairness to TikTok, the social media giant has established an eating disorder safety page but the term orthorexia is never mentioned and there is no mention of content on TikTok being linked to eating disorders. 

    A balanced diet is best.

    Another group of people who seem ignorant of the risk is the group of TikTok health and fitness influencers who are the ones putting out #WIEIAD (What I Eat In A Day) video diaries and other similar content. 

    Elaina Efird, registered dietician nutritionist and TikTok body positivity influencer, said that influencers don’t realize how much they are entrenched in the problem. What motivates these influencers, she said, is that they either truly believe what they are advertising is healthy or they are so distressed by the alternative of being in a larger body that they overlook the harm in what they promote.

    As a TikTok influencer, Efird creates a space where all body sizes are valued and she wants viewership of her positive message to grow. But as a provider of healthcare to eating disorder patients, she also recognizes her moral responsibility.

    “I tell my clients that if they’re struggling, don’t be on TikTok,” she said. This insight comes from an understanding that certain groups of people are at a higher risk of being triggered by TikTok videos than others. 

    Hogg shares this understanding and even used it when co-designing a research study with fellow researcher Madison R. Blackburn that was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One in August 2024. 

    Each participant was screened to make sure they did not have past or present eating disorders before being asked to watch up to eight minutes of TikTok content, which is the equivalent of just over 50 videos. 

    Algorithms don’t know what’s best for us.

    Hogg said that the sad truth is that an eating disorder patient in remission might search for a body positive video but then suggestions pop up on the TikTok homepage, which is called #ForYou, that might tout orthorexia.  She called the algorithm of TikTok a “blunt instrument.”

    Another vulnerable population with strong connections to TikTok are teens and pre-teens. According to a Statistica 2022 survey, 68% of pre-teens were using social media applications and 47% of respondents ages 11–12 were using TikTok in particular.  As Hogg put it, TikTok is powered by “young people creating content for young people.” 

    The disturbing reality known by psychiatrists is that pre-teens are at the highest risk of developing eating disorders because symptoms manifest typically during adolescence. 

    But what scares the public most about any disease is its lethality. According to an article published in February 2021 by the American Society of Nutrition, some 10,200 people die each year in the United States from eating disorders. 

    Even when death is avoided, an obsession with nutrition can lead to nutritional deficiencies, compromised bone mass, extreme weight loss and malnourishment, including brain starvation, even if that seems counterintuitive. And none of that even touches on the effects on mental or emotional wellbeing. 

    Now that Wood is in remission he wants the label “healthy” to be redefined to indicate support of mental, emotional, social and spiritual health and not just support of physical health. 

    Individuals, he said, should stick to positive reasons for engaging with social media such as community building and avoid using it to make harmful comparisons. 


    Questions to consider:

    1.  How do psychologists define orthorexia?
    2. How does orthorexia differ from anorexia or bulimia?
    3. Has social media influenced what you eat? 

     



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  • Arizona Republicans Want Chaplains to be in Public Schools – The 74

    Arizona Republicans Want Chaplains to be in Public Schools – The 74


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    Republican politicians who accuse public school teachers of indoctrinating students with a “woke agenda” are pushing to bring religious chaplains into the same schools to provide counseling to students.

    “I think Jesus is a lot better than a psychologist,” Rep. David Marshall, R-Snowflake, said during a March 11 meeting of the Arizona House of Representatives’ Education Committee.

    Marshall said that he’s been a chaplain who provides counseling for 26 years.

    Senate Bill 1269, sponsored by Flagstaff Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers, was modeled after similar legislation passed in recent years in Texas and Florida.

    The proposal would give school districts the option of allowing volunteer religious chaplains to provide counseling and programs to public school students. Districts that decide to allow chaplains would be required to provide to parents a list of the volunteer chaplains at each school and their religious affiliation, and parents would be required to give permission for their child to receive support from a chaplain.

    Despite ample concerns that the proposal violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and that it would open up schools to legal liability for any bad mental health advice a chaplain might provide, the bill has already passed through the Senate on a party-line vote. The House Education Committee also approved it along party lines.

    Rogers told the Education Committee that the existence of any requirement for the separation of church and state in U.S. law “was a myth,” adding that she sees no harm in bringing religion into public schools.

    Rogers, a far-right extremist, has embraced white nationalism, and in 2022 spoke at a white nationalist conference, calling the attendees “patriots” and advocating for the murder of her political enemies.

    She has also said she is “honored” to be endorsed by a prominent antisemitic Christian nationalist and regularly trafficks in antisemitic tropes. And Rogers has advocated racist theories, appeared on antisemitic news programs and aligned herself with violent anti-government extremists.

    Democrats on the committee raised the alarm that Rogers’ bill would violate the Establishment Clause by allowing chaplains with religious affiliations to counsel students, while not providing the same kinds of services to students who don’t follow a religion or who follow a less-common religion with no chaplains available to the school.

    An amendment to the bill, proposed by committee Chairman Matt Gress, a Phoenix Republican, requires that the chaplains be authorized to conduct religious activities by a religious group that believes in a supernatural being. The amendment would also allow a volunteer chaplain to be denied from the list if the school’s principal believes their counsel would be contrary to the school’s teachings.

    Both of these changes would allow districts to exclude chaplains from The Satanic Temple of Arizona, a group that doesn’t believe in a higher power but promotes empathy and has chapters across the country that challenge the intertwining of Christianity and government.

    Oliver Spires, a minister with The Satanic Temple of Arizona, voiced his opposition to Rogers’ bill during a Feb. 5 Senate Education Committee meeting.

    The legislation, Spires said, would disproportionately impact students from minority religions who see Christian chaplains providing support to their peers while no chaplains representing their religion are available.

    “If a district listed a Satanist on their chaplain list, would they have your support?” he asked the committee members.

    Gress’s amendment would preclude that.

    Gaelle Esposito, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, told committee members on Tuesday that school counselors are required to undergo specialized training to prepare them to help students — requirements that religious chaplains wouldn’t have to meet, even though they’d be providing similar services.

    “They will simply not be equipped to support students dealing with serious matters like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self harm or suicidal ideation,” Esposito said. “Religious training is not a substitute for academic and professional training in counseling, health care or mental health… Even with the best intentions, chaplains may provide inappropriate responses or interventions that could harm students.”

    But as Democrats on the House Education Committee argued that Arizona should provide more funding for trained counselors and social workers to help students with mental health issues, the Republicans on the panel said that students are actually struggling with mental health issues because they don’t have enough religion in their lives.

    “I’ve heard that there is a mental health crisis afflicting kids,” Gress, a former school board member, said. “Now, I don’t necessarily think in many of these cases that something is medically wrong with these kids. I think, perhaps, there is a spiritual deficit that needs to be addressed.”

    Rep. Justin Olson, R-Mesa, said he’s been frustrated by the federal courts’ interpretation of the First Amendment to require the separation of church and state, claiming it has made the government hostile to religion instead of protecting it.

    “I heard comments here today that this is going to harm kids — harm kids by being exposed to religion? That is absolutely the opposite of what is happening here today in our society,” Olson said. “We have become a secular society, and that is damaging our society. We need to have opportunities for people to look to a higher power, and what better way than what is described here in this bill?”

    Democratic Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, of Tucson, called SB1269 “outrageous” and “incredibly inappropriate.”

    And Rep. Stephanie Simacek, of Phoenix, pointed out that the courts have repeatedly ruled against allowing religious leaders to be invited to share their faith with public school students. She described Rogers’ bill as indoctrination that gives preferential treatment to students who have religious beliefs over those who don’t

    “No one is saying that you may not go and celebrate your God, however you see fit,” Simacek, a former teacher and school board member, said. “But this is not the place, in public education, where our students go to learn math, reading and writing and history.”

    Florida’s school chaplain law, which went into effect last July and is similar to Rogers’ proposal, has received ample pushback from First Amendment advocacy groups, as well as some church groups who said that allowing untrained chaplains to provide mental health support to students would have unintended negative consequences.

    The option to bring chaplains into schools in Florida has not been particularly popular, with several large school districts deciding not to implement a program allowing them.

    Proposed legislation similar to SB 1269 has been introduced in red states across the country this year, including in Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana and North Dakota.

    The bill will next be considered by the full House of Representatives. If it passes the chamber, it will return to the Senate for a final vote before heading to Gov. Katie Hobbs.

    Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: [email protected].


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  • Student mental health difficulties are on the rise, and so are inequalities

    Student mental health difficulties are on the rise, and so are inequalities

    As current discussions around higher education understandably focus on the challenges (especially around funding) that the sector faces, the experience of the nearly three million students attending our universities and colleges can often be overlooked.

    Current students generally benefit from and enjoy their time in higher education, but the national conversation too often ignores the challenges students face and the inequalities that many students experience.

    One area that deserves greater attention is student mental health.

    Correlation

    In a report published today, we find that the proportion of students reporting mental health difficulties has reached 18 per cent, tripling in just seven years. This implies that around 300,000 of the UK’s undergraduate student population is affected by mental health difficulties, a number that has been rising over recent years.

    And the rise in reported mental health difficulties is greater for some student groups than others. Notably, twice as many women as men report mental health difficulties, while rates for LGBTQ+ students are particularly high, rising to nearly one in three for lesbian (30 per cent) and bisexual (29 per cent) students. Higher still are the rates for trans students (around 40 per cent report mental health difficulties) and nonbinary students (over half report mental health difficulties). While sample sizes make it harder to compare trends over time for these groups, the rates of mental health difficulties are shocking, and require action from higher education providers.

    There is an association between socio-economic status and mental health difficulties. Mental health difficulties are directly correlated with higher participation rates: for every POLAR region of higher education participation, the lower the rate of higher education participation, the higher the proportion of people reporting mental health difficulties. Similarly, state educated pupils are more likely to report difficulties than privately educated pupils, indicating a need for greater support for children’s mental health services too.

    Better reporting

    There are some possible explanations for the sharp rise in student mental health difficulties. First, it is important to note that these figures reflect respondents’ self-reported mental health. Compared to a decade ago, there is less social stigma around disclosing and discussing mental health difficulties, and this may mean that previous reporting underestimated the numbers facing difficulties. There has also been a wider rise in mental health difficulties among all younger people, sometimes linked to the cost of living, concerns about the climate crisis or negative experiences on social media and smartphones. Our findings do not allow us to conclude which (if any) of these explanations is driving the rise in mental health difficulties, but given the rate of increase over the last seven years, it is unlikely to be caused by one explanation alone.

    There is one positive finding in the study, namely that over the course of their studies, LGBTQ+ students experience a relative increase in wellbeing. It is important to note that these students still have higher rates of mental health difficulties compared to their peers, but it’s also worth reflecting on the beneficial role that attending higher education can bring. Particularly for younger LGBTQ+ students, higher education may allow them to navigate and affirm their identity in a new way, and find like-minded friends and peers for the first time. Indeed, there may be learning for other organisations and institutions, particularly employers, in thinking about how they enable wellbeing among their recent and future graduate employees.

    Public health

    What, then, can be done to better address student mental health? One important change would be to adopt a “public health” approach to student mental health, and mental health generally. Higher education providers could also ensure that they effectively signpost students to both wellbeing support services and to clinical health services where required. Significantly, given that some students are more likely to experience mental health difficulties than others, providers also need to ensure these services reach everyone, and may need to tailor their services to do so.

    A key recommendation regards students leaving their courses. In the survey, mental health difficulties was by far the most common reason cited for why students were considering dropping out of their course, mentioned almost five times more than the second most common reason (financial difficulties). Providers therefore need to ensure that their retention efforts address mental health while also measuring how wellbeing and mental health support impacts on the likelihood that students complete their courses.

    Providers need to ensure that they are effectively evaluating their wellbeing and mental health services. It is positive that mental health is now seen as an important area for university services, and that social stigma has declined. Tight financial circumstances are increasing pressure on universities, and we all recognise the challenges of meeting every student need. At the same time, foregrounding the interests of students and ensuring their success in higher education requires a more extensive, effect focus on student mental health, not least given the extent of mental health difficulties, and how inequalities both produce and amplify these difficulties, before, during and after students leave higher education.

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  • Lev Tolstoy And His Search For Truth (Wise Daily Reflections)

    Lev Tolstoy And His Search For Truth (Wise Daily Reflections)







    Higher Education Inquirer : The Philosopher Who Discovered The Meaning Of Life: Lev Tolstoy And His Search For Truth (Wise Daily Reflections)




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  • Oklahoma Bills Would Restrict Student Cellphone Use, Social Media, Sex Ed – The 74

    Oklahoma Bills Would Restrict Student Cellphone Use, Social Media, Sex Ed – The 74


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    OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma lawmakers filed hundreds of bills affecting education for the next legislative session.

    Oklahoma Voice collected some of the top trends and topics that emerged in legislation related to students, teachers and schools. The state Legislature will begin considering bills once its 2025 session begins Feb. 3.

    Bills would restrict minors’ use of cellphones and social media

    A poster reads, “bell to bell, no cell” at the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center on Nov. 13. The school district prohibits student cellphone use during class periods. (Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoam Voice)

    As expected, lawmakers filed multiple bills to limit student cellphone use in public schools, an issue that leaders in both chambers of the Legislature have said is a top priority this year.

    The House and Senate each have a bill that would prohibit students from using cellphones during the entire school day. Some Oklahoma schools already made this a requirement while others allow cellphone access in between classes.

    After encouraging all districts to establish cellphone restrictions, Gov. Kevin Stitt visited multiple schools in November that have done so.

    Senate Bill 139 from Education Committee vice chair Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, would require all districts to ban students from accessing their cellphones from the morning bell until dismissal, and it would create a $2 million grant program to help schools enact phone-free policies.

    Legislation from a House leader on education funding, Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, would prohibit student cellphone use while on school premises.

    Multiple bills target children’s social media use. Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, aims to ban social media accounts for anyone under 16 with SB 838 and, with SB 839, to deem social media addictive and dangerous for youth mental health. 

    A bill from Seifried would outlaw social media companies from collecting data from and personalizing content for a minor’s account, which a child wouldn’t be allowed to have without parent consent

    SB 371 from Sen. Micheal Bergstron, R-Adair, would require districts to prohibit the use of social media on school computers or on school-issued devices while on campus. SB 932 from Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, would allow minors or their parents to sue a social media company over an “adverse mental health outcome arising, in whole or in part, from the minor’s excessive use of the social media platform’s algorithmically curated service.”

    School chaplain bill reemerges

    Multiple lawmakers have refiled a bill seeking to enable religious chaplains to counsel students in public schools. A version of the controversial bill passed the House last year but failed in the Senate.

    Its original author, Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, refiled it as House Bill 1232. Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, and Sen. Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa, filed similar school chaplain bills with SB 486 and SB 590.

    More restrictions suggested for sex education, gender expression

    Another unsuccessful bill returning this year is legislation that would have families opt into sex education for their children instead of opting out, which is the state’s current policy.

    Students wouldn’t be allowed to take any sex education course or hear a related presentation without written permission from their parents under SB 759 from Prieto, HB 1964 from Danny Williams, R-Seminole, and HB 1998 from Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta.

    Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, would have any reference to sex education and mental health removed from health education in schools with SB 702.

    Prieto’s bill also would exclude any instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity from sex education courses. It would require school employees to notify a child’s parents before referring to the student by a different name or pronouns.

    Other bills similarly would limit students’ ability to be called by a different name or set of pronouns at school if it doesn’t correspond to their biological sex.

    Deevers’ Free to Speak Act would bar teachers from calling students by pronouns other than what aligns with their biological sex or by any name other than their legal name without parent consent. Educators and fellow students could not be punished for calling a child by their legal name and biological pronouns.

    Rep. Gabe Woolley, R-Broken Arrow, filed a similar bill.

    No public school could compel an employee or volunteer to refer to a student by a name or pronoun other than what corresponds with their sex at birth under SB 847 from Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, nor could any printed or multimedia materials in a school refer to a student by another gender.

    Corporal punishment in schools

    Once again, Oklahoma lawmakers will consider whether to outlaw corporal punishment of students with disabilities. State law currently prohibits using physical pain as discipline on children with only the most significant cognitive disabilities.

    In 2020, the state Department of Education used its administrative rules to ban corporal punishment on any student with a disability, but similar bills have failed to pass the state Legislature, drawing frustration from child advocates.

    Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, was an author of last year’s bill to prohibit corporal punishment of students with any type of disability. He filed the bill again for consideration this session.

    HB 2244 from Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, would require schools to report to the Oklahoma State Department of Education the number of times they administer corporal punishment along with the age, race, gender and disability status of the students receiving it. The state Department of Education would then have to compile the information in a report to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

    Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: [email protected].


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