Students seeking mental health services spike at University of Windsor
CBC News | Posted: September 26, 2016 11:14 PM | Last Updated: September 26, 2016
Depression, anxiety, relationship problems and stress common for students
The University of Windsor isn't immune to a mental health crisis on Ontario's college and university campuses, mental health counsellors at the school say.
"There has definitely been an exponential increase in the numbers we're seeing," said Dr. Mohsan Beg, the director of the school's student counselling centre. "When we first opened our doors we had a little more than 300 students, last year there were 830 students."
Beg says depression, anxiety, relationship problems and stress are the most common problems students face.
"Students today are under an incredible amount of pressure and stress," he said. "Many of them are working part-time jobs while they're taking a full course load. They're trying to juggle all this and that can contribute to increased stress."
The Ontario University and College Health Association published the results from a survey of more than 25,000 students attending Ontario colleges and universities this spring. The survey suggests rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as suicide attempts are up compared to its first survey in 2013.
Among the major findings of the OUCHA survey:
- 65 per cent of students reported experiencing overwhelming anxiety in the previous year (up from 57 per cent in 2013).
- 46 per cent reported feeling so depressed in the previous year it was difficult to function (up from 40 per cent in 2013).
- 13 per cent had seriously considered suicide in the previous year (up from 10 per cent in 2013).
- 2.2 per cent reported attempting suicide in the last year (up from 1.5 per cent in 2013).
- Nine per cent reported attempting suicide sometime in the past (not restricted to last year).
"It often feels like we're in a M.A.S.H unit, an emergency room where you are dealing with the flood of people coming through the door," Beg said. "We're saying how do we meet these needs? How do we stabilize them and move forward?"
CBC Ottawa's Amanda Pfeffer took a comprehensive look the situation across the province. You can find it by following this link.