TU President Gerry Clancy traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of his involvement in a study of college students’ mental health and well-being.
Clancy, a psychiatrist, is on a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine performing the study and presented some national trend data on Monday. He said American universities are seeing more indicators of poor mental health among students.
"They’ve actually seen a significant increase in clinical depression over the past five years among students, almost a doubling of that, doubling of the number of students with anxiety conditions. Alcohol use has actually improved, but marijuana use has really gone up significantly. And then e-cigarettes have gone way up as well," Clancy said.
Finding students that need help is important not only because they’re up to three times more likely to drop out — a problem states short on qualified workers like Oklahoma can’t afford to ignore — but also because treatment now can help years later.
Depression, for example, can alter adolescent and young adult brains.
"It kind of resets the brain to be more susceptible to have depressions, but if you treat that first depression very well, your risk of additional depressions later on in life goes significantly down. So, we’re really doing a preventive service for these students as far as identifying them early," Clancy said.
TU trying early intervention approaches, like a student success center that offers counseling alongside services like academic advising and tutoring.
"It’s really working quite well. And then we put together a network of support services out and about on campus, particularly in our dorms, and mental health outreach. So, I feel like we’re ahead of the game a little bit," Clancy said.
Results of the National Academies study could be used to help guide government policies and funding.
Note: KWGS is licensed by the University of Tulsa.
