October 3, 2014 - 14:03
Though the ACHA survey results in terms of mental health were unfortunate, they were unsurprising. Significant percentages of college students, had, at least once in the last twelve months, felt that things were hopeless, felt overwhelmed by all they had to do, felt exhausted mentally, felt very lonely, experienced anxiety, and felt overwhelming anger. Almost half of the population surveyed expressed feeling that their lack of sleep was at least a small problem, and the most commonly treated mental health issues were anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
The Kroger text, with its inclusion of five significant adolescent and development identity theorists, shed some light on this matter. I would attribute these high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness to the line many college students straddle between different stages of development.
Erikson outlines two different stages of development for 12-18 year-olds and 19-40 years-olds: Identity vs. Role Confusion, and Intimacy vs. Isolation. The former is centered around the formation of an individual identity (which Blos reiterates in his notion of the second individuation process, that he argues occurs in adolescence). Individuals are successful in this stage if they are able to stay true to themselves and their newfound identities. However, around age 19, an individual’s goal is different. At this point, young adults need to learn to form intimate and loving relationships with others; if they don’t, they are lonely and isolated. A similar shift between the self as an individual and one’s role in a group/relationship is found in Kegan’s 2nd and 3rd Order stages. In moving from the 2nd to the 3rd, an individual shifts from focusing on one’s own needs and interests to a focus on interpersonal relationships, and how these affect one’s needs and desires. Additionally, Loevinger argues that adolescents generally land in either/both the Conformist and/or Self-Aware stages of ego development, whereby they move from simply conforming to having a clearer awareness of their actions as an individual.
I would argue that much of the stress and hopelessness experienced by college students is a product of the bubble they live in—one that primarily includes those between the ages of 18 and 22. It is at this critical junction that adolescents learn both to define themselves as individuals and to find their place in meaningful relationships with others. On top of all the stress created by heavy workloads and worries about the future, college students face the nearly impossible challenge of entirely defining themselves apart from everyone else, while at the same time finding groups of peers with whom to identify. This creates a significant internal conflict that reasonably manifests itself in forms of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks—explaining why these are the mental health issues most treated by college health professionals.