What’s the best way to support the mental health of college students?
Alexis Redding, faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, says the reality is complicated.
Alexis Redding is a developmental psychologist with more than twenty-five years of experience supporting young adults in college and the transition to the workforce. She is a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she co-leads the higher education program and directs a professional program on college student mental health. She is editor of a newly-released book from Harvard Education Press, Mental Health in College: What Research Tells Us About Supporting Students.
For decades, we have talked about the college mental health crisis. Each year, new data alert us to troubling rates of student distress and result in renewed calls for more resources. That framing has helped focus attention and investment in student support, but it has also had an unintended consequence: it has created a context in which we assume every student struggle is a crisis.
The reality is more complicated. Most students experience stress, loneliness, academic anxiety, and imposter syndrome at some point during college. These are typical developmental challenges that I have documented in my archival research dating back to the 1940s. These are real struggles that need real support, but they are not unexpected—and they are not a crisis.
The difficulty lies in distinguishing between these expected struggles from moments that do require clinical intervention.
If every time a student says things are having a hard time we direct them to the counseling center, we risk pathologizing normal experiences and creating barriers for those who need that clinical care.
Finding the right balance matters. While we do not want to overreact to a student who is struggling, we also do not want to underreact – the stakes are too high.
My research points to a better approach. When typical struggles are normalized, students are more likely to seek support early and persist through challenges. So, how do we start? By making discussions about the expected challenges part of our dialogue about college. And sharing our own struggles too, so that students know that what they are going through is not unique and that they are not doing anything wrong.
By normalizing what it typical, we can also better spot when a student is in crisis and ensure they do get the timely care they need.
That is the work of creating a truly caring campus.
Read More:
[Harvard Education Press] - Mental Health in College
