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According to a 2008 survey of college students conducted by the Center for Student Health and Life, more than 25 percent of college students say that they are doing either "poor" or "very poor" in managing stress.
• The latest Fall 2007 American College Health Association's assessment of college students revealed that the biggest life issue that students report affects their studies is ... stress.
Letter to Campus Calm:
Hi Maria,
I have been dealing with anxiety and depression for four years now and have found this year to be especially difficult with the transition into my freshman year of college. My mom heard about your website and thought that she would pass it along to me. When I first looked at it, I thought it was an interesting concept and signed up for the mailing list. I didn't really think much more about it after that. Probably a week later I was having a really rough day, i was homesick, stressed and down in the dumps when your newsletter popped up in my mailbox. It was one of the most encouraging sights just to know that there are people out there who are going through the same thing as me and who are struggling as well. Your newsletter always comes at the perfect time, when I need it the most. Thanks for all your hard work in bringing awareness to stress and anxiety issues. Keep up the good work!
~Joy A.
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In 2005, the American Psychiatric Association appointed a Presidential
Task Force on Mental Health on College Campuses and reported that
more students enter college already taking psychiatric medications,
that more colleges are reporting increases in severe psychopathology
in students, that campus mental health centers were prescribing more
medications, and that suicide was the second leading cause of death
among students.
• A 2004 survey of almost 50,000 college
students found that 45 percent of students had felt so depressed it was
difficult to function, and 63 percent had felt hopeless at times. In
1996 anxiety surpassed relationship problems as the issue most often
mentioned by college students who visited campus mental health services.
~As reported in The
Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins.
 College
females are STRESSED. Here's why:
• 73 percent of college-aged
women feel stressed
• 30 percent say grades cause them
stress
• 17 percent say money causes them
stress
• 23 percent of college-aged women
exercise when stressed
~Statistics courtesy of Youth Intelligence.
Why do so many students think that A's are the
only good grades?
• According to a recent survey
of high school students in Palo Alto, California, 49 percent of students
say a "B" is a bad grade.
• According to the 2005-2006 "State
of Our Nation's Youth" report findings that were released by
the Horatio Alger Association, 41 percent of high school students said
that the pressure to get good grades was a major concern. These numbers
have increased by 15 percent since 2001.
• In 1968, 17.6 percent of college
freshmen said that they had an A average in high school - that number
had jumped to 46.6 percent by 2003.
~ As reported in Boston Globe Magazine, January 2005.
• A 1999 survey of high-achieving high
school students found that almost a quarter of them had considered killing
themselves, and 42 percent knew someone their age who had attempted suicide.
Behind only general depression, the second most popular reason for these
top students to consider suicide was school pressure.
~As reported in The
Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins.
Students' support system:
• Students are most likely to turn
to friends should they experience a serious emotional problem while at
school. Sixty-two percent of students reported that they would turn to
a friend, 46 percent would access a parent, and 30 percent would go to
a campus counseling center.
~ Statistics based on a 2004 study conducted by the National
Alliance on Mental Health and Abbott Laboratories.
High school students can determine academic success
with or without the SAT:
• The
National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest) lists over 730
four-year colleges in the United States that no longer require the SAT
I or ACT for bachelor degree applicants. That's right, over 730 colleges!
Students aren't getting enough sleep:
• When polled about their sleeping
habits over the course of one week, a mere 13 percent
of college students responded that they had been able to get enough sleep
to make them feel rested in the morning. 46 percent
polled said they had slept enough on 3-5 days, 29
percent felt well rested on 1-2 days and 12
percent said that they didn't get an adequate amount of sleep once
in the past week.
~ Statistics based on a 2005 survey of nearly 17,000 college students,
courtesy of the American
College Health Association.
Loved ones are cited as students' greatest role
models:
• According to a 2005-2006 national
survey of high school students, 51 percent of students say that a family
member is their greatest role model. Among those students, 41 percent
say that their mothers serve as role models, while 25 percent think Dad
knows best.
~ Statistics courtesy of "The
State of Our Nation's Youth" - released by the Horatio Alger
Association.
Is life colliding with your studies? You're not
alone:
• According to the American
College Health Association's 2006 study of college students, the biggest
life issues that affect students' studies include stress; sleep difficulties
and the cold/flu, followed by relationship/family difficulties, depression
and anxiety. For all you procrastinators, Internet use/computer games
also topped the list.
Being wired is great but do you ever get sick of
being accessible 24/7?
• Some 96 percent of students
own a cell phone, via which nearly 70 percent have Internet access.
~ Statistics courtesy of Marketing
Vox: The voice of online marketing.
Where are the boys?
• According to a 2004 study
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, the average
graduation rate for U.S. college women was 60 percent - 6 percentage points
higher than that of men. The study also found that as the number of low-income
students increased, this gap widened.
~ Statistics courtesy of the U.S. Department of Education's National
Center for Education Statistics.
Facts & Stats below are courtesy of the National Mental Health Association
(now known as Mental
Health America):
• Depression affects over 19 million
American adults annually, including college students. At colleges nationwide,
large percentages of college students are feeling overwhelmed, sad, hopeless
and so depressed that they are unable to function. According
to a recent national college health survey, 10% of college students have
been diagnosed with depression and including 13% of college women.
• Anxiety disorders affect over
19 million American adults every year, and anxiety levels among college
students have been rising since the 1950s. In 2000,
almost seven percent of college students reported experiencing anxiety
disorders within the previous year. Women are five times as likely to
have anxiety disorders.
• Eating disorders affect 5-10
million women and 1 million men, with the highest rates occurring in college-aged
women.
• Suicide was the eighth leading cause
of death for all Americans, the third leading cause of death for those
aged 15-24, and the second leading killer in the
college population in 1998.
• College students are feeling more
overwhelmed and stressed than twenty years ago, according to a recent
UCLA survey of college freshman. More than 30%
of college freshman report feeling overwhelmed a great deal of the time.
About 38% of college women report feeling frequently overwhelmed.
Diet & exercise habits:
• When polled about their diet/exercise
habits over the span of one month, 42 percent of college males and 59
percent of college females exercised to lose weight and 20 percent of
males and 40 percent of females dieted to lose weight. Two percent of
males polled said that they took diet pills to lose weight; for females,
the number jumped to almost five percent. 3.3 percent of college-aged
women also admitted to vomiting or taking laxatives to lose weight.
~ Statistics courtesy of the American
College Health Association.
C'mon ladies! Feel beautiful from the inside out:
• According to a recent study
of 3,000 women across 10 countries, only 2 percent
of women describe themselves as beautiful. However, 62 percent of American
women said they feel beautiful when they're doing something spiritual.
~ Statistics courtesy of "The
Real Truth about Beauty: A Global Report" sponsored by Dove.
Do you have an interesting fact or statistic about students?
Share it with Campus Calm!
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