Higher learning institutions are expected to churn out knowledge and cater to the mental well-being of their students. Overwhelming evidence suggests that while students attend studies, exposure to stressors interferes with their academic abilities, social adaptability, and mental health. The study analyzed published studies on mental health issues and student stressors together with adjusting strategies to address mental health in higher learning institutions. By adopting the conceptual analysis framework, the results revealed that students face various stressors: academics, relational, anxiety, depression, substance use, economic stressors, mobile phone usage, sexual orientation, and eating disorders in the institutions. The study recommends that higher learning institutions set up wellness and counseling centers equipped with mental health professionals to negate the effect of various stressors on the mental health of first-year university students. The study also recommends emphasis on positive psychology and psychoeducation to change students' perceptions of mental health.
TopIntroduction
Mental health or well-being consists of patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that cause distress or impairment in the social lives, academic lives, and health, occupational, or other areas of functioning of first–year students. It reflects one’s way of thinking and behavior. Mental health advocacy by WHO began at an international health conference held in 1946 (Bartolome, 2008). Initially, mental health was described as mental hygiene, whose aim was to increase educational attainment, improve social connections, increase productivity, improve relationships, and improve quality of life (Connell, O'Cathain, & Brazier, 2014). It became associated with good health, emotional stability, and an improved life for the afflicted later (Bartolome, 2008).
Why Mental Health in Higher Learning Institutions?
Higher education institutions are an abode for students in search of education. Students in foreign countries cite challenges from different cultures, language barriers, and environments as key to mental health. Many first-year students are at risk of mental health conditions due to their living conditions, stigma, discrimination or exclusion, or lack of access to quality support and services. New environments too stress students and lead to anxiety, and other mental health issues, which can jeopardize their overall well-being due to academic pressures, separation from their families, and feelings of social alienation. This transition often coincides with newfound independence, which may entail forming relationships and taking on familial responsibilities in addition to meeting academic expectations. Since 2007, there has been a tremendous increase in students seeking help with mental health challenges at American universities (Eisenberg et al., 2013). Rickers (2020) reported increased cases of distress and psychological problems among first-year university students in America. Pedrelli et al. (2015) reported cases of depressive symptoms among first-year students at a Belgian university. A third of the first-year students exhibited depressive symptoms in a sample size of 4921 freshmen college students. According to Adlaf, Demers, and Gliksman (2005), in a survey carried out at a Canadian university, 42% of the students were reported to experience mental distress in comparison to the non-student population. In another study carried out in 2011, suicide cases because of mental illness accounted for 24% of all deaths among 15–24-year-olds, amounting to 4,000 youths (Statistics Canada, 2011). The impact of mental health problems among first-year undergraduate students has serious implications for the student body, the college community, and their families. Stress, anxiety, and depression can threaten human existence and cause severe disruptions in the daily routines of students (Ahan et al., 2016). These pressures worsen mental health problems.
Expectations require that students adapt to the new life on campus without much challenge. Homesickness and elevated stress levels expose students to mental and physical health deterioration (American Psychological Association, 2020) because of new environments. In lieu of these stressors, mental health is very important to the daily functioning of a student. Challenges in mental health interfere with the normal functioning of a student.