Obstacles Facing Students When Seeking Mental Health Counseling

Having graduated with a PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Father Jay Fostner now works as the vice president of mission and student affairs at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. Father Jay Fostner has worked at St. Norbert since 1997 and has helped hundreds of students over the years.

Mental health issues can be difficult for students to address effectively, in part due to some persistent barriers to seeking help. In a study published in the journal Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, researchers found that the three top barriers to help-seeking were denial, embarrassment, and a perception that the help-seeker would be labeled crazy.

This is consistent with barriers to help-seeking in the general population, and seems to show that stigmas associated with mental health continue to prevail upon students.

Students who are in denial that they need mental health treatment may not have the proper guidance to understand what constitutes a condition that needs treatment. In these cases, simple education initiatives can be extremely beneficial. To deal with the embarrassment and generalized stigma of mental disorders, however, much broader programs would likely be necessary.

Most Prevalent Mental Health Issues Affecting Students

Father Jay Fostner is a mental health professional and the vice president of mission and student affairs at St. Norbert College. Previously, Father Jay Fostner worked with the Berkley Police Department as a mobile crisis therapist helping and assessing clients with numerous mental disorders or recent exposure to traumatic events.

College students are susceptible to many psychological issues. Depression is often cited as the most common of those issues, with one in five students reporting feeling so depressed as to have difficulty functioning, according to research from the American College Health Association.

Stress and anxiety are close seconds, with one in five students receiving treatment for anxiety in the previous 12 months (from data in 2018). College years are a stressful time for most people trying to deal with demanding coursework and a quickly evolving personal life.

Addiction is also a big problem for college students. Many people are first introduced to addictive substances in college and have trouble dealing with the consequences of experimentation. More than 20 percent of students reported taking part in binge drinking, according to research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Common Issues That College Students Face

The vice president of mission and student affairs at St. Norbert College, Father Jay Fostner is an award-winning academic leader. In addition to having written a small chapter about handling student death on a college campus, Father Jay Fostner often handles matters relating to student development.

For many, college life is an exciting journey filled with self-discovery and self-reliance. Unfortunately, this new experience is also rife with potential issues. These can include:

Trouble Sleeping
It’s rare for college students to get a full 8 hours of sleep every night. Because of this, sleeping issues are one of the more common challenges facing college students. To manage sleeping habits, students must keep consistent sleep routines, avoid naps that can mess up the body’s internal clock, and adopt the same sleep routine each night as they prepare for bed.

Homesickness
Students who attend colleges located at least 3 hours away from where they grew up often experience homesickness. These feelings get better the closer students are to home, but most individuals still experience homesickness at some point. Maintaining contact with people from home can help with homesickness, as can professional help.

Social Challenges
At college, many students find that the social scene provokes anxiety, leading them to avoid social situations and isolate themselves. This makes meeting new people and making new friends difficult, and can prevent students from feeling as if they fit in. Getting involved in activities they enjoy helps students overcome this anxiety and maintain a good social life.