Citation

Eisenberg D. J. Adolesc. Health 2019; 65(5): 573-574.

Affiliation

University of Michigan School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.08.003

PMID

31648753

Abstract

Duffy et al. [1] present the most compelling and thorough evidence to date that mental health problems are rising substantially in college student populations. Specifically, their analysis indicates that mental health symptoms and risk have nearly doubled over the past 5–10 years. This basic conclusion holds across two national data sources (the National College Health Assessment and the Healthy Minds Study) and several indicators of distress. The steepest increases occurred during the previous 5 years, starting around 2014.

This upward trend is not entirely surprising in light of other recent studies: mental health problems are rising among adolescents in the general population, and mental health service use (along with depressive symptoms and suicide risk) are rising in college populations [2, 3]. These new findings, however, are striking in two respects: the rapid pace of the increase in symptoms and risk since 2014 and the consistency of the increase across multiple data sources and several aspects of mental health (depression, anxiety, suicide risk, self-injury, lack of flourishing, and feelings of anger).

Whereas previously one could question whether the relentless rise in service use simply reflected an increase in help-seeking and access to care, now it seems clear that an increase in population-level distress is also taking place. This conclusion raises two interrelated questions that researchers, policymakers, and practitioners need to answer as soon as possible. First, what explains this rapid increase in mental health problems in college populations, and second, what can be done to counter it?

Language: en