College can be an epic journey, but sometimes it feels more like a rollercoaster, right? Between cramming for exams and taking all nighters, it’s easy to forget about taking care of our minds and mental health.
Understanding Mental Health:
Mental health is just as important as physical health. It’s all about how we think, feel, and handle stress. For us students, it’s like having an invisible backpack we carry around, sometimes it’s light, but other times it’s packed with worries about grades, relationships, or our future. According to a resource from “How To Not Stress About School: Maintaining Your Mental Health Inside and Outside of the Classroom,” it emphasizes the important it is to take care of our mental health, especially when we’re dealing with school stress. Understanding how to manage stress effectively is important for our overall health and academic success.
Valuing Different Points of View:
The usual ways of helping college students with their mental health involve clinical psychology or counseling. But now, we’re seeing the need for different approaches. Subjects like sociology, anthropology, and technology offer unique viewpoints on mental health for college students. Sociology helps understand social pressures, anthropology sheds light on cultural influences, (What are sociology and anthropology? 2024), and technology provides tools for support. Bringing these together helps create better mental health approaches for students
Anthropology:
Anthropology helps us see how different cultures understand and deal with mental distress, and how social factors like poverty and community support impact mental health. The research by Eileen P. Anderson-Fye and Jerry Floersch focused on “understanding the experiences of college students who are taking psychiatric medications and using mental health services.” Additionally, the researchers propose using “psychological anthropology methods to study this.” They conducted a “small study with college students living on campus” to support their argument. Finally, the study suggests that “using psychological anthropology can help improve mental health services on college campuses.” The study shows that using psychological anthropology can help improve mental health services on college campuses.
Using anthropology in my project can help me understand how culture, social factors, and traditional healing methods impact students’ well-being. By considering these influences, I can create interventions that are more effective and culturally relevant for supporting students’ mental health.
Sociology:
The textbook The Sociology of Mental Health and Illness by Allen Furr – Chapter 1, looks at mental health from a social perspective. Instead of just focusing on individual problems, it looks at how society influences mental well being. Researchers study things like how different cultures view mental illness and how getting mental health treatment can change how people see themselves. It’s basically about understanding mental health in the context of society as a whole.
Sociology studies how society affects people’s mental health. In college, things like friends, campus life, and stigma can impact the students well being.
For my project on college students mental health, sociology helps understand:
- How social stuff (like friends and campus life) affects college students mental health.
- Why some students might not seek help because of stigma.
- How easy it is for students to get mental health support.
- What we can do to make things better for students’ mental health, like having more support options on campus.
So, sociology helps figure out why mental health is a big deal for college students and what can be done to help students feel better mentally.
Technology:
Technology is changing the game when it comes to supporting college students’ mental health. With apps, online counseling services, and digital wellness tools available, technology makes it easier for students to access resources and support whenever they need it. Whether it’s finding a therapist through a smartphone app or joining a virtual support group, technology offers convenient solutions for managing stress and improving well being. According to Torous and Roberts (2017), “The number of mental health apps continues to rise. Estimates suggest that over 10,000 mental health apps are now available to the public” (p. 437).
By using technology to prioritize mental health, colleges can make it easier for students to take care of themselves and thrive in their studies.
Works Cited:
“SuperSummary.” SuperSummary, https://www.supersummary.com/how-to-not-stress-about-school/#causes-of-stress-in-students. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
Bruun, Mikkel Kenni. “Mental Health.” Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Apr. 2023. www.anthroencyclopedia.com,https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/mental-health.
What Are Sociology and Anthropology? | Academics. https://gustavus.edu/academics/departments/sociology-and-anthropology/sociologyandanthropology.php#:~:text=By%20studying%20persons%20from%20a,education%2C%20healthcare%2C%20and%20business. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
“The Sociology of Mental Health and Illness.” SAGE Publications Inc, 10 Feb. 2024, https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sociology-of-mental-health-and-illness/book273534.
Lattie, Emily G., et al. “Technology and College Student Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 10, Apr. 2019, p. 246. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00246.
Torous, John, and Laura Weiss Roberts. “Needed Innovation in Digital Health and Smartphone Applications for Mental Health: Transparency and Trust.” JAMA psychiatry vol. 74,5 (2017): 437-438. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0262
