From the pandemic’s impact on college students’ mental health to seeking professional help, here are this week’s top college student insights.
Mental Health
The pandemic has taken a mental and emotional toll on young people, but students’ reports of negative mental health effects have begun to decrease. A new College Pulse survey of 500 undergraduates finds that nearly 6 in 10 (59%) say the pandemic is negatively affecting their mental health, compared to 68% in February. As our data has shown throughout the pandemic, female students are more likely than male students to report experiencing negative mental health effects related to COVID-19 (71% vs. 43%).
Almost one-third (31%) of students overall report seeking help from a mental health professional, such as a therapist, at some point during the pandemic. One in 10 (10%) students sought professional help for the first time, while 17% had done so before and 4% kept seeing a mental health professional they were seeing before the pandemic. Female students are also more likely than male students to say they sought help from a mental health professional during the past year and a half (37% vs. 20%).
Have you sought help from a mental health professional (such as a therapist) at any point during the pandemic?
Among the 1 in 6 (16%) students who say the pandemic has very negatively impacted their mental health, almost half (45%) have reached out for professional help. Two in 10 (20%) students who have experienced very negative mental health impacts sought help for the first time, compared to 21% who did so again and 4% who were already talking to a therapist or other professional.
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Methodology: All surveys were designed and conducted by College Pulse. Interviews were conducted among a sample of full-time and part-time students attending colleges or universities in the U.S. who are part of College Pulse’s American College Student Panel.
