we started our research by looking into the topic of mental health as a broad category. We looked at the mental health for america website and compared that with information focused specifically on mental health in young people, found at Young Minds.
we created an online survey and distributed it amongst University of illinois students. the survey got more than 100 responses and a variety of results. the results indicate that almost half of the respondents suffer from a mental illness, whether self-diagnosed or diagnosed by a medical professional. The almost 20% gap between those who responded that they were affected by a mental illness and those who were diagnosed with one suggests that students on this campus are highly under-diagnosed. This also suggests that students are not seeking care for their mental illnesses. the survey shows that the most common mental illnesses on this campus are anxiety, depression and add/adhd. It also showed that ocd and eating disorders follow closely behind. It's important to note that many of these mental illnesses can occur because of, or be worsened by, stress. the most surprising statistic we encountered was that 86% of students do not seek on-campus counseling services due to mental illness stigma, a lack of time or finding that the services are limited or sub-par. our statistics are similar to those found by a usa today study. |