mental health on students essay

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Essay on Mental Health

According to WHO, there is no single 'official' definition of mental health. Mental health refers to a person's psychological, emotional, and social well-being; it influences what they feel and how they think, and behave. The state of cognitive and behavioural well-being is referred to as mental health. The term 'mental health' is also used to refer to the absence of mental disease. 

Mental health means keeping our minds healthy. Mankind generally is more focused on keeping their physical body healthy. People tend to ignore the state of their minds. Human superiority over other animals lies in his superior mind. Man has been able to control life due to his highly developed brain. So, it becomes very important for a man to keep both his body and mind fit and healthy. Both physical and mental health are equally important for better performance and results.

Importance of Mental Health 

An emotionally fit and stable person always feels vibrant and truly alive and can easily manage emotionally difficult situations. To be emotionally strong, one has to be physically fit too. Although mental health is a personal issue, what affects one person may or may not affect another; yet, several key elements lead to mental health issues.

Many emotional factors have a significant effect on our fitness level like depression, aggression, negative thinking, frustration, and fear, etc. A physically fit person is always in a good mood and can easily cope up with situations of distress and depression resulting in regular training contributing to a good physical fitness standard. 

Mental fitness implies a state of psychological well-being. It denotes having a positive sense of how we feel, think, and act, which improves one’s ability to enjoy life. It contributes to one’s inner ability to be self-determined. It is a proactive, positive term and forsakes negative thoughts that may come to mind. The term mental fitness is increasingly being used by psychologists, mental health practitioners, schools, organisations, and the general population to denote logical thinking, clear comprehension, and reasoning ability.

 Negative Impact of Mental Health

The way we physically fall sick, we can also fall sick mentally. Mental illness is the instability of one’s health, which includes changes in emotion, thinking, and behaviour. Mental illness can be caused due to stress or reaction to a certain incident. It could also arise due to genetic factors, biochemical imbalances, child abuse or trauma, social disadvantage, poor physical health condition, etc. Mental illness is curable. One can seek help from the experts in this particular area or can overcome this illness by positive thinking and changing their lifestyle.

Regular fitness exercises like morning walks, yoga, and meditation have proved to be great medicine for curing mental health. Besides this, it is imperative to have a good diet and enough sleep. A person needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night on average. When someone is tired yet still can't sleep, it's a symptom that their mental health is unstable. Overworking oneself can sometimes result in not just physical tiredness but also significant mental exhaustion. As a result, people get insomnia (the inability to fall asleep). Anxiety is another indicator. 

There are many symptoms of mental health issues that differ from person to person and among the different kinds of issues as well. For instance, panic attacks and racing thoughts are common side effects. As a result of this mental strain, a person may experience chest aches and breathing difficulties. Another sign of poor mental health is a lack of focus. It occurs when you have too much going on in your life at once, and you begin to make thoughtless mistakes, resulting in a loss of capacity to focus effectively. Another element is being on edge all of the time.

It's noticeable when you're quickly irritated by minor events or statements, become offended, and argue with your family, friends, or co-workers. It occurs as a result of a build-up of internal irritation. A sense of alienation from your loved ones might have a negative influence on your mental health. It makes you feel lonely and might even put you in a state of despair. You can prevent mental illness by taking care of yourself like calming your mind by listening to soft music, being more social, setting realistic goals for yourself, and taking care of your body. 

Surround yourself with individuals who understand your circumstances and respect you as the unique individual that you are. This practice will assist you in dealing with the sickness successfully.  Improve your mental health knowledge to receive the help you need to deal with the problem. To gain emotional support, connect with other people, family, and friends.  Always remember to be grateful in life.  Pursue a hobby or any other creative activity that you enjoy.

What does Experts say

Many health experts have stated that mental, social, and emotional health is an important part of overall fitness. Physical fitness is a combination of physical, emotional, and mental fitness. Emotional fitness has been recognized as the state in which the mind is capable of staying away from negative thoughts and can focus on creative and constructive tasks. 

He should not overreact to situations. He should not get upset or disturbed by setbacks, which are parts of life. Those who do so are not emotionally fit though they may be physically strong and healthy. There are no gyms to set this right but yoga, meditation, and reading books, which tell us how to be emotionally strong, help to acquire emotional fitness. 

Stress and depression can lead to a variety of serious health problems, including suicide in extreme situations. Being mentally healthy extends your life by allowing you to experience more joy and happiness. Mental health also improves our ability to think clearly and boosts our self-esteem. We may also connect spiritually with ourselves and serve as role models for others. We'd also be able to serve people without being a mental drain on them. 

Mental sickness is becoming a growing issue in the 21st century. Not everyone receives the help that they need. Even though mental illness is common these days and can affect anyone, there is still a stigma attached to it. People are still reluctant to accept the illness of mind because of this stigma. They feel shame to acknowledge it and seek help from the doctors. It's important to remember that "mental health" and "mental sickness" are not interchangeable.

Mental health and mental illness are inextricably linked. Individuals with good mental health can develop mental illness, while those with no mental disease can have poor mental health. Mental illness does not imply that someone is insane, and it is not anything to be embarrassed by. Our society's perception of mental disease or disorder must shift. Mental health cannot be separated from physical health. They both are equally important for a person. 

Our society needs to change its perception of mental illness or disorder. People have to remove the stigma attached to this illness and educate themselves about it. Only about 20% of adolescents and children with diagnosable mental health issues receive the therapy they need. 

According to research conducted on adults, mental illness affects 19% of the adult population. Nearly one in every five children and adolescents on the globe has a mental illness. Depression, which affects 246 million people worldwide, is one of the leading causes of disability. If  mental illness is not treated at the correct time then the consequences can be grave.

One of the essential roles of school and education is to protect boys’ and girls' mental health as teenagers are at a high risk of mental health issues. It can also impair the proper growth and development of various emotional and social skills in teenagers. Many factors can cause such problems in children. Feelings of inferiority and insecurity are the two key factors that have the greatest impact. As a result, they lose their independence and confidence, which can be avoided by encouraging the children to believe in themselves at all times. 

To make people more aware of mental health, 10th October is observed as World Mental Health. The object of this day is to spread awareness about mental health issues around the world and make all efforts in the support of mental health.

The mind is one of the most powerful organs in the body, regulating the functioning of all other organs. When our minds are unstable, they affect the whole functioning of our bodies. Being both physically and emotionally fit is the key to success in all aspects of life. People should be aware of the consequences of mental illness and must give utmost importance to keeping the mind healthy like the way the physical body is kept healthy. Mental and physical health cannot be separated from each other. And only when both are balanced can we call a person perfectly healthy and well. So, it is crucial for everyone to work towards achieving a balance between mental and physical wellbeing and get the necessary help when either of them falters.

Students Get Real About Mental Health—and What They Need from Educators

Explore more.

• Perspectives
• Student Support

M ental health issues among college students have skyrocketed . From 2013 to 2021, the number of students who reported feelings of depression increased 135 percent, and the number of those with one or more mental health problems doubled. Simply put, the well-being of our students is in jeopardy.

To deepen our understanding of this crisis, we asked 10 students to speak candidly about their mental health. We learned that the issues they face are uniquely theirs and yet collectively ours. We hope these responses will inform your teaching and encourage you to create safe classroom spaces where students feel seen and supported.

Students Share Their Mental Health Struggles—and What Support They Need

We asked these students and recent graduates, In what ways has your mental health affected your college experience, and how can professors better support you? Here’s what they had to say.

Elizabeth Ndungu, graduate student in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, United States: My mental health has affected me deeply, and I have sought therapy (which is a big thing for me, as I was born and raised in Africa and therapy is a “Western” concept). I’m a caregiver, so unexpected medical emergencies happen a lot, which mentally stresses me out. However, my professors have given me the time I need to perform my best. They’ve listened.

In general, I think professors can better support students by

Observing and reaching out to students if they notice a pattern of behavior.

Being kind. Giving a student a second chance may very well change their life for the better.

Being supportive. Remember students’ names, learn one unique thing about them that’s positive, or connect with them on LinkedIn or other social media platforms and show them that they have a mentor.

I think schools can better support students by

Admitting diverse students. Don’t just say it—do it. Seek out ways to make the school population more DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility) friendly, especially at historically white colleges. Inclusivity should be everywhere.

Making DEIA initiatives a priority. If you are educating organizations’ next leaders, make sure DEIA initiatives are in each program and cohort. Each of our classes should be tied to knowledge, strategy, and DEIA and its impact.

Raising awareness around mental health. Provide onsite and remote resources for mental assistance, automate low complexity tasks that will cause stress to students, invest in your staff and resources, and ensure that they are happy. Because dealing with unhappy staff will make unhappy students.

Pritish Dakhole, sophomore studying engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India: Mental health is still stigmatized in India. We do not have easy access to therapy sessions, and it is a difficult topic to talk about with family. Thankfully, the scenario is changing.

I have been affected both positively and negatively by my mental health. Positively, because I have become more open-minded and perceptive. Negatively, because it has drained my will to continue, made me tired from all the overthinking, and made me turn to harmful addictions to distract myself from the pain.

Professors and schools could provide better support through

Webinars and meetings that make students aware of the issues they face and how to tackle them.

Group sessions—preferably anonymous—to remove fear.

Feedback systems so that the college is made aware of the problems that lead to a bad mental state.

Flexible education systems that allow students to take breaks during periods of excessive burnout.

Ocean Ronquillo-Morgan, Class of ’21, studied computer science and business administration at the University of Southern California, United States: In February 2021, I called 911 twice in the span of two weeks. I thought I was dying. I felt confused, felt like my body was about to give way, then I called the paramedics. They hooked me up to an EKG and checked my pulse. It was the first time in my life that I experienced panic attacks.

I don’t think anything else could have been done at the classroom level besides extending deadlines in extenuating circumstances. That’s the unfortunate nature of post-education institutions—you still need to make it “fair” for all students.

Alberto Briones, Class of ’22, studied operations and information management at Northern Illinois University, United States: Mental health can be a touchy subject. I have experienced depression and anxiety, but just thinking about all the things I could miss in life if I gave up is what gave me the strength to keep going.

Something professors can do to support students’ mental health is give students time to study between tests. Sometimes professors schedule tests on the same day, and suddenly students must study for three or four exams, all in the same day. It becomes overwhelming and they have to prioritize what tests they need to study more for.

Anjali Bathra Ravikumar, sophomore studying management information systems at The University of Texas at Austin, United States: It is stressful to be an international student at a competitive university in a competitive major. I often find myself having breakdowns and calling my parents in a panic about my future. The relatively restricted job opportunities because of my visa status and uncertainty about whether I’ll be able to forge the career that I want are major reasons behind this.

I have noticed that a lot of my international-student friends are constantly hustling as well, since we feel that we always need to be 10 steps ahead and cannot afford to slow down.

The best thing that a professor can do for me is provide as much guidance as possible in their respective field. Most of my professors have done that. This helps weed out some of the doubts that I have about potential career paths and gives me better clarity about the future. I feel that I cannot ask for more since I don’t expect everyone to be informed of what life is like for an international student.

Schools, on the other hand, can do a lot for us, such as tailor career management resources, offer international student group counseling (I attended one session and it was very liberating), provide financial relief (this is the absolute best thing that can be done for us) during rough times such as COVID-19. For example, when millions of international students had to take online classes during the pandemic, schools could have offered reduced tuition rates.

Something else that can seem small but goes a long way is using inclusive language in university announcements and communication. Most of the emails that we receive from the university feel more tailored to or are directly addressing in-state students (especially when major changes were happening at the beginning of the pandemic), and it is natural for us to feel left out. It might be a simple thing, but a couple of lines at the end of each email announcement with links addressing our specific concerns would make a lot of difference to us since we wouldn’t have to do our own research to figure out what it means for us.

EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFORE DIVING INTO MENTAL HEALTH TALKS

Starting a mental health conversation with students before we are prepared can be harmful. Here’s some advice from “ It’s Time We Talk About Mental Health in Business Classrooms ” by Bahia El Oddi, founder of Human Sustainability Inside Out, and Carin-Isabel Knoop, executive director of the Case Research and Writing Group at Harvard Business School, on how to get ready for these critical conversations.

Learn to talk about mental health. Enhance your mental health literacy through free resources such as the Learn Mental Health Literacy course (specifically for educators), the World Health Organization , and the National Institute of Mental Health . Consult the CDC for language about mental and behavioral health and the American Psychiatry Association for ways to describe individuals presenting with potential mental health disorders .

Reflect on your own biases. Consider how your own story—being raised by a parent with a mental health disorder, for example—may influence how you react and relate to others. Determine your level of openness to discussing the struggles you or your loved ones face or have faced. While it is possible to discuss mental health in the classroom without these anecdotes or personal connections, the courage to be open about your own past can have a transformative effect on classroom discussion.

Understand students may need extra support. Make yourself accessible and approachable to your students from the start so you can establish trust early. Advise them to seek professional help when necessary.

Nick Neral, Class of ’18, studied marketing management at the University of Akron, United States: At the end of my first year of college, I decided to stop participating in Division I athletics and my mental health plummeted. After calling our campus counseling center and waiting six weeks for my first intake appointment, I was told I couldn’t start therapy for two more months, but I could get medication within a couple of days.

After getting prescriptions for an SSRI and Xanax, I never heard from another clinician at my school again. They had no clue if I got the meds, if I took them, how I was doing, and whether I was on campus every day.

When my mental health was at its poorest, I was very disconnected from my classes. I went to, I think, five or six out of 30 finance classes I had during the semester.

I think professors are in this mindset that 20 percent of the class will naturally excel, a majority will do well enough, and a small chunk probably can’t be saved. Sometimes we don’t need saving in the classroom, we just need professors looking out for our well-being. There’s more to the story when a kid doesn’t show up to 80 percent of their classes.

My experience—and seeing others go through similar events—led me to create a platform where therapists can create content and free resources at forhaley.com . Anyone can filter through the content based on how they’re feeling and what’s going on in their life without paying anything or creating an account.

Shreyas Gavit, Class of ’20 in the MBA program at Oakland University, United States: Mental health has affected me because I’ve been depressed and feel trapped; I can’t just go to my home country and come back to the United States whenever I need to. Instead, I have to wait on visa dates, which are a total mess.

Schools and professors could provide more guidance in understanding how immigration has been affected due to COVID-19.

Nigel Hammett, Class of ’19, studied industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, United States: Throughout college I faced mental stress—not only from school, like everyone, but also from many constant family issues going on back home that required my energy. At times, I learned how to push through my feelings and submerge myself in my schoolwork, although I should have unpacked my trauma and handled it in a more mature way.

Students need an environment that encourages inclusive, candid dialogue around how we are feeling. There’s a correlation between social and mental health to overall success in our respective careers.

Alek Nybro, Class of ’21, studied marketing at St. Edward’s University, United States: Anxiety shows up differently for every person. I consider myself to be high functioning. This means when the going gets tough, I dig down and keep pushing, but often to extents that aren’t physically, emotionally, or mentally healthy.

In school, I didn’t know when to step back and take a break. That’s probably my biggest regret about my college years.

Professors could help students by making everything iterative. There shouldn’t be a final grade for assignments or projects. If you want to go back and revise something for a better grade, you should be able to do so.

Patrick Mandiraatmadja, first-year graduate student studying technology management at Columbia University, United States: There are times when I have felt overwhelmed by the number of deadlines and exams crammed into a specific week or few days. I always want to put in my best effort to study, which can lead to less sleep and more anxiety. Then college becomes more about getting through assignments and exams just for the sake of it and less about the learning.

Because of the amount of work or busy work, I have less opportunity to go out and do the things that make me feel alive and excited about life—whether it’s being with friends, exploring my city, exercising, involving myself with professional and social networks outside of school, or simply taking a walk and enjoying my day.

Students want to know that our professors and schools care. Part of that is providing an environment where we can talk about our personal struggles. I also think professors and schools should update the policies on homework, assignments, and exams. Sometimes we may push through and neglect our mental health, not taking the time to care for ourselves, just to get through that homework or finish that exam. The added pressure causes us increased anxiety; it’s no wonder today’s young people are some of the most anxious and unmotivated compared to previous generations.

What We Learned from These Students

These students and young alumni offer an honest glimpse into how mental health struggles have affected their college experiences. Although every student faces their own unique—and sometimes complicated—challenges, we are learning that sometimes the best response is the simplest one.

We must show our students that we care. So lend an empathetic ear, offer that deadline extension, and turn your classroom into a safe haven for open discussion. Your students need it.

Special thanks to Justin Nguyen , founder of Declassified Media , for connecting HBP to these students and young alumni who volunteered to share their experiences.

Help shape our coverage: These students spoke candidly; now it’s your turn. What are the biggest challenges you face in addressing student mental health in and out of the classroom? What experiences have stood out to you? Let us know .

Elizabeth Ndungu is a graduate student in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University.

Pritish Dakhole is a sophomore studying engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India.

Ocean Ronquillo-Morgan is a member of the University of Southern California’s Class of ’21.

Alberto Briones is a member of Northern Illinois University’s Class of ’22.

Anjali Bathra Ravikumar is a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin.

Nick Neral studied marketing management at the University of Akron and is a member of the Class of ’18.

Shreyas Gavit studied in the MBA program at Oakland University and graduated as a member of the Class of ’20.

Nigel Hammett studied industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina A&T State University and graduated as a member of Class of ’19.

Alek Nybro studied marketing at St. Edward’s University and graduated as a member of the Class of ’21.

Patrick Mandiraatmadja is a first-year graduate student studying technology management at Columbia University.

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Mental Health and Well-Being of University Students: A Bibliometric Mapping of the Literature

Daniel hernández-torrano.

1 Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Laura Ibrayeva

Jason sparks, natalya lim.

2 Nazarbayev University School of Medicine, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Alessandra Clementi

Ainur almukhambetova, yerden nurtayev.

3 Psychological Counseling Center, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Ainur Muratkyzy

Associated data.

The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.

The purpose of this study is to map the literature on mental health and well-being of university students using metadata extracted from 5,561 journal articles indexed in the Web of Science database for the period 1975–2020. More specifically, this study uses bibliometric procedures to describe and visually represent the available literature on mental health and well-being in university students in terms of the growth trajectory, productivity, social structure, intellectual structure, and conceptual structure of the field over 45 years. Key findings of the study are that research on mental health and well-being in university students: (a) has experienced a steady growth over the last decades, especially since 2010; (b) is disseminated in a wide range of journals, mainly in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and education research; (c) is published by scholars with diverse geographical background, although more than half of the publications are produced in the United States; (d) lies on a fragmented research community composed by multiple research groups with little interactions between them; (e) is relatively interdisciplinary and emerges from the convergence of research conducted in the behavioral and biomedical sciences; (f) tends to emphasize pathogenic approaches to mental health (i.e., mental illness); and (g) has mainly addressed seven research topics over the last 45 years: positive mental health, mental disorders, substance abuse, counseling, stigma, stress, and mental health measurement. The findings are discussed, and the implications for the future development of the field are highlighted.

Introduction

The entrance to the university marks a period of transition for young people. Through this transition, students face new challenges, such as making independent decisions about their lives and studies, adjusting to the academic demands of an ill-structured learning environment, and interacting with a diverse range of new people. In addition, many students must, often for the first time, leave their homes and distance themselves from their support networks ( Cleary et al., 2011 ). These challenges can affect the mental health and well-being of higher education students. Indeed, there is evidence that a strain on mental health is placed on students once they start at the university, and although it decreases throughout their studies ( Macaskill, 2013 ; Mey and Yin, 2015 ), it does not return to pre-university levels ( Cooke et al., 2006 ; Bewick et al., 2010 ). Also, the probabilities of experiencing common psychological problems, such as depression, anxiety, and stress, increase throughout adolescence and reach a peak in early adulthood around age 25 ( Kessler et al., 2007 ) which makes university students a particularly vulnerable population.

The interest in mental health and well-being in university students has grown exponentially in the last decades. This is likely due to three interrelated challenges. First, although university students report levels of mental health similar to their non-university counterparts ( Blanco et al., 2008 ), recent studies suggest an increase and severity of mental problems and help-seeking behaviors in university students around the world in the last decade ( Wong et al., 2006 ; Hunt and Eisenberg, 2010 ; Verger et al., 2010 ; Auerbach et al., 2018 ; Lipson et al., 2019 ). Some researchers refer to these trends as an emerging “mental health crisis” in higher education ( Kadison and DiGeronimo, 2004 ; Evans et al., 2018 ). Second, psychological distress in early adulthood is associated with adverse short-term outcomes, such as poor college attendance, performance, engagement, and completion (e.g., King et al., 2006 ; Antaramian, 2015 ), and others in the long term, such as dysfunctional relationship ( Kerr and Capaldi, 2011 ), recurrent mental health problems, university dropout, lower rates of employment, and reduced personal income ( Fergusson et al., 2007 ). Third, there is a widespread agreement that higher education institutions offer unique opportunities to promote the mental health and well-being of young adults as they provide a single integrated setting that encompasses academic, professional, and social activities, along with health services and other support services ( Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Hunt and Eisenberg, 2010 ). However, the majority of university students experiencing mental health problems and low levels of well-being are not receiving treatment ( Blanco et al., 2008 ; Eisenberg et al., 2011 ; Lipson et al., 2019 ) and, while universities continue to expand, there is a growing concern that the services available to provide support to students are not developing at an equivalent rate ( Davy et al., 2012 ).

In response to the increasing volume of research on the mental health and well-being of university students, there have been several attempts to synthesize the accumulating knowledge in the field and to provide an illustration of the theoretical core and structure of the field using traditional content analysis of the literature (e.g., Kessler et al., 2007 ; Gulliver et al., 2010 ; Hunt and Eisenberg, 2010 ; Sharp and Theiler, 2018 ). This study aims to extend the understanding of mental health in university students by providing a bird’s eye view of the research conducted in this field in recent decades using a bibliometric approach. Bibliometric overviews provide an objective and systematic approach to discover knowledge flows and patterns in the structure of a field ( Van Raan, 2014 ) reveal its scientific roots, identify emerging thematic areas and gaps in the literature ( Skute et al., 2019 ) and, ultimately, contribute to moving the field forward. Accordingly, this study employs several bibliometric indicators to explore the evolution of the field based on publication and citation trends, key actors and venues contributing to the advancement of research on mental health and well-being of university students, and the structure of the field in terms of patterns of scientific collaborations, disciplines underlying the foundations of the field, and recurrent research themes explored in the literature. This is important because, despite significant advances in the field, research on mental health and well-being remains a diverse and fragmented body of knowledge ( Pellmar and Eisenberg, 2000 ; Bailey, 2012 ; Wittchen et al., 2014a ). Indeed, mental health and well-being are nebulous concepts and their history and development are quite intricate, with a multitude of perspectives and contributions emerging from various disciplines and contexts (see section “Conceptualization of Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Well-Being: An Overview”). Therefore, mapping research on mental health and well-being in university students is essential to identify contributions and challenges to the development of the field, to help guide policy, research, and practice toward areas, domains, populations, and contexts that should be further explored, and to provide better care of students at higher education institutions ( Naveed et al., 2017 ).

Conceptualization of Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Well-Being: An Overview

This section provides an overview of the different perspectives adopted in the literature to conceptualize mental health, well-being, and other relevant constructs in order to identify the glossary of key terms that will be used in the search strategy to create a comprehensive corpus of documents on mental health and well-being in university students for this bibliometric review.

Perspectives on Mental Health and Mental Illness

There is no general agreement on the definition of mental health. For a long time, the term mental health has been used as a euphemism for mental illness ( Manwell et al., 2015 ). However, mental health and mental illness are regarded as distinct constructs nowadays and two main perspectives differentiating between mental health and illness are available in the literature. The continuum approach considers that mental health and mental illness are the two opposite poles of a continuum. Thus, there are various degrees of health and illness between these poles, with most of us falling somewhere in between. The categorical approach, on the other hand, represents mental health and illness as a dichotomy. People who manifest mental illness symptoms would belong to that category and labeled correspondingly, while those absent of these symptoms can be considered as mentally healthy ( Scheid and Brown, 2010 ).

Disciplinary Approaches to the Conceptualization of Mental Health/Illness

Conceptualizations of mental health/illness are largely dependent on the theoretical and paradigmatic foundations of the disciplines from which they emerge. In this context, the field has progressively evolved through the accumulation of knowledge generated in a diverse range of disciplines in the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences. Biomedical disciplines are grounded in the medical paradigm focused on disease and (ab)normality and often emphasize dichotomous conceptions of mental health/illness ( Scheid and Brown, 2010 ). Research on mental health and well-being in this domain has been traditionally conducted from a psychiatric perspective, which aims to understand the dysfunctionality in the brain that leads to psychiatric symptoms and to also offer a pharmacological treatment to correct neuronal dysfunctions. Consequently, psychiatrists have historically considered mental health as a disease of the brain (e.g., depression), similar to any other physical disease, caused by genetic, biological, or neurological factors ( Schwartz and Corcoran, 2010 ). While the prevalence of psychiatric approaches to mental health is currently incontestable, the development of other biomedical disciplines has tremendously contributed to the progression of the field in recent decades. For example, Insel and Wang (2010) argue that insights gained from genetics and neuroscience contribute to the reconceptualization of “the disorders of the mind as disorders of the brain and thereby transform the practice of psychiatry.” (1979). In addition to that, other disciplines such as behavioral medicine have made important contributions to the field, although it has recently argued that mental health and behavioral medicine should be as two separate fields ( Dekker et al., 2017 ).

Within the behavioral sciences, the study of mental health focuses on the distinct psychological processes and mechanisms that prompt thoughts, feelings, and behaviors ( Peterson, 2010 ). Clinical psychology has the longest tradition in the psychological study of mental health and tends to focus on the assessment and treatment of mental illness and disorders that can alleviate psychological distress or promote positive states of being ( Haslam and Lusher, 2011 ). However, significant contributions to the field have also emerged from other branches of psychology less focused on psychopathology, including personality and social psychology, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, and cognitive psychology ( Peterson, 2010 ). Despite the diversity of theories, principles, and methodological approaches to understanding mental health within the behavioral sciences, these disciplines acknowledge that mental health have a biological basis and reside in the social context, and tend to prioritize continuum approaches to mental health ( Scheid and Brown, 2010 ).

Perspectives from the social sciences complement the biomedical and behavioral approaches by considering the influence of social and cultural environments in mental health/illness ( Horwitz, 2010 ). For example, sociologists are interested in how social circumstances (e.g., level of support available) affect levels of mental health/illness and how social structures shape the understanding and response to mental health issues [see Compton and Shim (2015) for an overview of the social determinants of mental health]. Similarly, medical anthropologists attend to the mental health beliefs and practices that form the cultural repertory within and across populations ( Foster, 1975 ). Beyond sociology and anthropology, social researchers in the fields of business and economics, family and ethnic studies, and educational research have also played a key role in advancing research on mental health in different directions.

The Importance of the Context in Mental Health

Certainly, most notions of mental health/illness in the literature derive from prevailing psychiatric and psychological traditions developed in Western countries ( Gopalkrishnan, 2018 ). However, cultural values and traditions do shape how mental health and mental illness are conceptualized across contexts ( Vaillant, 2012 ). In this regard, Eshun and Gurung (2009) pointed out that “culture influences how individuals manifest symptoms, communicate their symptoms, cope with psychological challenges, and their willingness to seek treatment.” (4). Fernando (2019) argued that issues related to the ‘mind’ developed and are often interpreted very differently in non-Western and Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). For example, cultures explain the manifestation of certain feelings and behaviors based on a range of motives including biological, psychological, social, religious, spiritual, supernatural, and cosmic. Failure to acknowledge alternative non-Western approaches to mental health and mental illness has resulted in imbalances of knowledge exchange and the permeation of dominating Western narratives into LMICs (i.e., so-called medical imperialism) ( Timimi, 2010 ; Summerfield, 2013 ). To address this issue, scholars have advocated for a greater willingness to embrace pluralism in the conceptualization of mental health and illness, which might help people to engage with particular forms of support that they deem to be appropriate for them, and to explore how knowledge and practices developed in LMICs can benefit those living in higher-income countries (i.e., knowledge “counterflow”) (see White et al., 2014 ).

Prioritizing Positive Mental Health: The Science of Well-Being

Despite the diversity of disciplinary and contextual approaches to mental health, current definitions of mental health have two things in common. First, mental health is considered from a biopsychosocial point of view that incorporates biological, psychological, and social factors. Second, mental health implies something beyond the absence of mental illness (e.g., Bhugra et al., 2013 ; Galderisi et al., 2015 ). An example is the definition by the World Health Organization which refers to mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” ( World Health Organization, 2004 ). This definition contributed to substantial progress in research and practice in the field as it expanded the notion of mental health beyond the absence of mental illness and integrated the presence of positive features ( Galderisi et al., 2015 ).

Research on positive mental health is relatively new but has grown rapidly in the last decades fueled by advocates of positive medicine and psychology, who have argued for a change of paradigm from medical and psychopathological-oriented models of mental health that focus on disorders and illness toward more strength-based approaches, which pay more attention to what is right about people and positive attributes and assets ( Kobau et al., 2011 ). In this regard, the term mental well-being has been progressively incorporated into the study of mental health to account for the positive aspects of mental health beyond the absence of negative factors. While there is not a universally accepted definition of well-being, two perspectives have dominated the discourses on well-being in the literature: subjective well-being (SBW) and psychological well-being (PWB). SWB is based on hedonic perspectives of pleasure and represents “people’s beliefs and feelings that they are living a desirable and rewarding life” ( Diener, 2012 ). SBW is strongly linked with the idea of happiness and is typically understood as the personal experience of high levels of positive affect, low levels of negative affect, and high satisfaction with one’s life ( Deci and Ryan, 2008 ). PWB is grounded in Aristotelian ideas about eudaimonia, i.e., self-realization, with the ultimate aim in life being to strive to realize one’s true potential ( Ryff and Singer, 2008 ). PWB has been broadly defined as a state of positive psychological functioning and encompasses six dimensions: purpose in life (i.e., the extent to which respondents felt their lives had meaning, purpose, and direction); autonomy (i.e., whether they viewed themselves as living in accord with their own convictions); personal growth (i.e., the extent to which they were making use of their personal talents and potential); environmental mastery (i.e., how well they were managing their life situations); positive relationships (i.e., the depth of connection they had in ties with significant others); and self-acceptance (i.e., the knowledge and acceptance they had of themselves, including awareness of personal limitations) ( Ryff, 1989 ).

Integrating Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Well-Being

The contribution of positive mental health frameworks to the advancement of the field has been undeniable. However, definitions that overemphasize positive emotions and productive functioning as key indicators of mental health have been recently challenged because of the potential they have to discriminate against individuals and groups that, for example, might not be able to work productively or function within the environment because of individual physical characteristics or contextual constraints ( Galderisi et al., 2015 ). To address these issues, Keyes has successfully integrated the notions of mental illness, mental health, well-being, and other related terms in the literature into a conceptual framework that allows for a more comprehensive understanding of mental health ( Keyes, 2005 , 2007 ; Keyes and Michalec, 2010 ). The model argues that neither pathogenic approaches focusing on the negative (e.g., mental illness) nor salutogenic approaches focusing on the positive (e.g., well-being) can alone accurately describe the mental health of a person ( Keyes and Michalec, 2010 ). Instead, the model proposes that mental illness and well-being represent two correlated but differentiated latent continua in defining mental health. More specifically, mental illness and well-being lie on two separate spectra, the first going from absent to present mental illness and the second running from low to high well-being ( Slade, 2010 ). The absence of mental illness, therefore, does not necessarily imply high levels of well-being. Correspondingly, low levels of well-being do not always indicate the presence of mental illness. Further, in this model, mental health is defined as not only the absence of mental illness, not the mere presence of high well-being. Complete mental health (i.e., flourishing) is a result of experiencing low mental illness and high levels of well-being. Incomplete mental health (i.e., languishing), on the other hand, refers to the absence of mental illness symptoms and low reported levels of well-being. Two other conditions are possible within this framework. Incomplete mental illness (i.e., struggling) refers to high levels of well-being accompanied by high mental illness symptoms. Lastly, complete mental illness (i.e., floundering) accounts for low levels of well-being and high mental illness symptoms ( Keyes and Lopez, 2002 ).

The Present Study

In light of the complexity of the constructs of mental health and well-being and the multiple theoretical, disciplinary, and contextual approaches to their conceptualization, this study seeks to map out the terrain of international research and scholarship on mental health and university students for the period 1975–2020. More specifically, this study aims to provide new insights into the development and current state of mental health research in university students by mapping and visually representing the literature on mental health and well-being of university students over the last 45 years in terms of the growth trajectory, productivity, and social, intellectual, and conceptual structure of the field. First, the study describes the development of research mental health and well-being in university students examining the trends in publication and citation data between 1975 and 2020 (i.e., growth trajectory). Second, the study identifies the core journals and the research areas contributing most to the development of the field, as well as the key authors and countries leading the generation and dissemination of research on mental health and well-being in university populations (i.e., productivity). Third, the study outlines the networks of scientific collaboration between authors, and countries (i.e., social structure). Fourth, the scientific disciplines underlying the intellectual foundations of research on mental health and well-being in university settings (i.e., intellectual structure) are uncovered. Fifth, the study elucidates the topical foci (i.e., conceptual structure) of the research on the mental health and well-being of university students over the last 45 years.

Materials and Methods

A bibliometric approach was used in this study to map the literature on mental health and well-being in university students over the last 45 years using metadata extracted from four indexes of the Web of Science (WoS): The Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-Expanded); the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI); the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI); and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). Several reasons justified the selection of the WoS database in this study. First, the WoS remains as the standard and most widely used for bibliometric analysis ( Meho and Yang, 2007 ). Second, the WoS is a multidisciplinary database and includes publications on mental health and well-being emerging from distinctive research areas and disciplines published in more than 20,000 journals ( McVeigh, 2009 ). Using specialized databases such as PubMed would introduce biases into the search strategy favoring biomedical research disciplines. Still, it is important to note that interdisciplinary databases such as WoS and Scopus discriminate against publications in the Social Sciences and Humanities and publications in languages other than the English language ( Mongeon and Paul-Hus, 2016 ), so the picture provided by WoS is still imperfect. Third, while other databases might provide wider coverage, WoS includes publication and citation information from 1900. For example, Scopus has complete citation information only from 1996 ( Li et al., 2010 ). Moreover, Google Scholar provides results of inconsistent accuracy in terms of citations, and citation analyses in PubMed are not available ( Falagas et al., 2008 ). Fourth, WoS has demonstrated better accuracy in its journal classification system compared to Scopus database ( Wang and Waltman, 2016 ).

The methodological approach used in this study is presented in Figure 1 and further elaborated in the following paragraphs.

Methodological framework.

Search Strategy

To create a comprehensive corpus of documents on the mental health and well-being of university students, three parallel searches were performed, which accounted for the multiple approaches and perspectives that have been used in the field, as identified in the Section “Conceptualization of Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Well-Being: An Overview.” All the searches were conducted in the last week of January 2020. The first search aimed at capturing research on mental health broadly and included one single keyword in the topic field: [“mental health”]. The second search was implemented to capture research focusing on pathogenic approaches to mental health. Key terms used in the literature to refer to the negative side of mental health, as well as the most frequent mental health problems experienced by university students, were introduced in this search in the title field: [“mental illness,” “mental disorder ∗ ,” “mental distress,” “psychological distress,” “psychopathology,” “depression,” “anxiety,” “stress,” “suicide,” “eating disorder ∗ ,” “substance use”]. In the third search, keywords reflecting salutogenic approaches to mental health were input. These included terms related to mental health from a positive mental health perspective (i.e., well-being). These key terms were added in the title field and included the following: [“well-being,” “wellbeing,” “wellness,” “life satisfaction,” “happiness,” “positive affect,” “purpose in life,” “personal growth,” “self-determination”].

To retrieve research relevant only to higher education students, another set of keywords was imputed in all three searches in the title field. These included: [“university,” “college,” “higher education,” “tertiary education,” “post-secondary education,” “postsecondary education,” “undergrad ∗ student,” “grad ∗ student,” “master’s student,” “doctoral student,” “Ph.D. student”]. The Boolean operator OR was used between keywords in all the three searches to secure a higher number of relevant hits. Also, asterisks were used as wildcards to account for multiple variations in several keywords (e.g., disorder and disorder-s). All searches were limited to journal articles published between 1975 and 2020 (both inclusive). No restrictions on language were implemented in the search.

The search strategy retrieved a total of 6,356 hits ( n search 1 = 2782; n search 2 = 2814, n search 3 = 760). After the removal of duplicates, 5,561 research articles were finally selected and retained for the study. For each of the documents obtained in the search, the authors extracted metadata about the title of the paper, the year of publication, the journal, the number of citations, and the authors’ name, organization, and country. Also, the title, the abstract, the author’s keywords, and cited references were retrieved.

Data Analysis Procedures

The corpus of the literature was then analyzed using descriptive and bibliometric approaches to provide an overall picture of the evolution and current state of the research on mental health and wellbeing in university settings. Frequency counts of the number of publications and citations per year were obtained to describe the growth trajectory of research on the mental health and well-being of university students. Rank ordered tables were produced to describe the productivity of the field in terms of core journals and research areas, as well as leading scholars and countries contributing to the development of the field.

Bibliometric analyses in VOSViewer software were implemented to examine and visually represent the social, intellectual, and conceptual structure of the field. VOSViewer is a freely available computer software for viewing and constructing bibliometric maps 1 . In VOSViewer, the units of analysis are journals, publications, citations, authors, or countries, depending on the focus of the analysis. The units of analysis are represented in the maps as circular nodes. The size of the node accounts for volume (e.g., number of publications in the dataset by an author) and the position represents the similarity with other nodes in the map. Closer nodes are more alike than nodes far apart from each other. The lines connecting nodes represent the relationship between nodes and their thickness indicates the strength of that relationship. Finally, the color of the node denotes the cluster to which each node has been allocated. Nodes are clustered together based on relatedness ( Van Eck et al., 2010 ). The software uses a distance-based approach to constructing the bibliometric maps in three steps ( Van Eck and Waltman, 2014 ). In the first step, the software normalizes the differences between nodes. In the second step, the software builds a two-dimensional map where the distance between the nodes reflects the similarity between these nodes. In the third step, VOSViewer groups closely related nodes into clusters ( Van Eck and Waltman, 2014 ).

A series of co-authorship analyses were performed to examine the social structure of research on mental health and well-being in university students. In these analyses, the units of analysis were authors and countries/territories. Each node in the map represents an author or a country/territory and the lines connecting them reflect the relationship between nodes. Clusters represent networks of scientific collaboration, which might be interpreted as groups of authors or countries frequently publishing together (e.g., research groups in the case of authors).

Co-citation analysis of journals was implemented to explore the intellectual structure of the field. Here, the units of analysis were journals in the dataset and the map reflects co-citation relationships between journals. Two journals are co-cited if there is a third journal citing these two. The more times a pair of journals are cited by other journals, the stronger their co-citation relationship will be. Frequently co-cited journals are assumed to share theoretical and semantical grounds. Therefore, in our study, clusters of frequently co-cited journals can be interpreted as disciplines underlying the foundations of research on mental health and well-being in university students.

Finally, a co-occurrence analysis of keywords was used to uncover the conceptual structure of the field. The units of analysis, in this case, were the authors’ keywords. The more often two keywords appear in the same record, the stronger their co-occurrence relationship. Clusters of co-occurring keywords represent in this study the topical foci (i.e., knowledge base) that have been addressed in the literature in mental health and well-being in university students in the last 45 years.

Findings and Discussion

Growth trajectory: evolution of publications and citations in the field.

The developmental patterns of a particular field can be well demonstrated by trends in publications and citations. The 5,561 publications in the dataset have been cited 87,096 times, with an average of 15.6 citations per item. Figure 2 shows the growth trajectory of publication data of research on mental health and well-being in university students from 1975 to January 2020. Overall, the trends demonstrate a gradual increase in the scholarly interest in the mental health of university students over the last 45 years that can be organized in three stages: an emergence stage, in which publications rose slowly (1975–2000); a fermentation stage, with a notable increase in publications in the field (2000–2010); and a take-off stage, during which the number of records published per year in the field has almost risen 10 times (2010–2020). The steady increase of publications in the last 15 years coincides with the first calls for attention on the increase and severity of mental problems and help-seeking behaviors of college students ( Kadison and DiGeronimo, 2004 ; Evans et al., 2018 ), potentially indicating a growing interest in exploring the epidemiology of mental disorders and the role of universities in promoting the mental health and well-being of students. A similar pattern has also been observed in a recent bibliometric study examining global research on mental health both in absolute terms and as a proportion of all papers published in medicine and across disciplines, which certainly reflects an increase in the general interest in the field ( Larivière et al., 2013 ).

Growth of research on mental health and well-being of university students.

Productivity I: Core Journals and Research Areas

In total, 1,560 journals published the 5,561 records included in the dataset. Table 1 presents the ten core journals in the field. The Journal of American College stands out as the main publication venue in the field, accumulating around 5% of the publications in the dataset ( n = 270). Psychological Reports and Journal of College Student Development also stand out, publishing 119 and 102 studies, respectively. The Journal of Counseling Psychology ranks fourth in the list with 83 records. Despite being an interdisciplinary and relatively young journal, Plos One appears in the top five journal publishing research on mental health and well-being in university students.

Core journals ranked by number of records.

The top research areas contributing to the publication of research on the mental health and well-being of university students are presented in Table 2 . Nearly half of the records in the dataset are published in psychology journals. Another influential research area in the field is psychiatry , which captures almost 20% of the publications. Journals on education and educational research also accumulate a considerable number of publications in the field (15%). Other relevant research areas in the field are connected with health and medicine, including public environmental occupational health , substance abuse , general internal medicine , neurosciences neurology , health care sciences services , and nursing . Finally, the field is also grounded, although to a lower extent, in the publications emerging from journals in the social sciences , family studies , and social work research.

Top research areas ranked by number of records.

All in all, the productivity analysis for journals and research areas showed that most research on mental health and well-being in university students is disseminated in journals in the “psy disciplines”’ (i.e., psychology and psychiatry) ( McAvoy, 2014 ), which is consistent with previous research on mental health in general populations (e.g., Haslam and Lusher, 2011 ). However, our findings demonstrated that the volume of research in psychology doubles that of research emerging from psychiatric journals. This contrasts with the findings by Haslam and Lusher (2011) , who demonstrated that psychiatry journals had a greater influence on mental health research compared to clinical psychology journals and that psychiatry journals accumulate a higher volume of research and citations on mental health research. This is probably because our study includes publications emerging from all branches of psychology, unlike the study by Haslam and Lusher, which included only journals in the field of clinical psychology. Additionally, mental health services in higher education are typically provided by counseling centers led and staffed by non-medical professionals (e.g., psychologists, social workers, counselors, and family therapists) who tend to adopt developmental models of practice grounded in the behavioral sciences and focused on adjustment issues, vocational training, employment, and other personal needs rather than diagnosis and symptom reduction, more common in the biomedical sciences (i.e., psychiatry) ( LeViness et al., 2018 ; Mitchell et al., 2019 ).

Productivity II: Leading Authors and Countries/Territories

The 5,561 publications in the dataset were published by a total of 16,161 authors from 119 countries worldwide. Table 3 shows the researchers with the highest number of publications in the field. D. Eisenberg appears as the most productive researcher, followed by K. Peltzer and S. Pengpid. Authors on the list come from diverse geographical backgrounds. Five of the authors work at three different American universities (University of Michigan, Harvard Medical School, and Boston University), two researchers work at KU Leuven University (Belgium), and two other authors are affiliated to the same two universities in Thailand and South Africa. Other prolific researchers are affiliated with higher education institutions in the Netherlands, Egypt, and Germany.

Leading authors ranked by number of records.

Countries and territories leading research on mental health and well-being of university students are presented in Table 4 . The United States is the indisputable leader in this field, publishing more than half of the records in the dataset. This is nearly 10 times the number of publications produced in China, which occupies the second position in the ranking and accounts for nearly 6% of the volume of research in the dataset. Three predominantly English speaking countries/territories complete the top five of the ranking: Canada (265 records), Australia (254), and England (243). The rest of the countries in the list are situated in Europe (Spain, Germany, Turkey), Western Asia (Iran), Africa (South Africa), and East Asia (Japan), which demonstrates that research on college students’ mental health and well-being is a matter of concern in different regions of the world, at least to some extent.

Leading countries/territories ranked by number of records.

Overall, the productivity analysis for authors and countries indicated that the research of mental health and well-being of university students occurs in a variety of locations around the world, especially in developed countries, and in a very prominent way, in the United States. This is not surprising since it is in those countries where better infrastructures and more abundant resources for research are available ( Wong et al., 2006 ), and a more lasting tradition in the study of mental health, in general, exists ( Gopalkrishnan, 2018 ). However, Larivière et al. (2013) found that the productivity of the United States on mental health research has dropped significantly and remained stable in other two English speaking countries (the United Kingdom and Canada) since 1980. On the contrary, the number of publications from European countries and the five major emerging national economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), has experienced remarkable growth, and collectively account nearly for half of the publications in the field. Still, the predominance of knowledge generated in the developed world today, which tends to be grounded on psychiatric and psychological perspectives, might be eclipsing non-traditional views on mental health and well-being that are popular in other regions of the world and, therefore, limiting the development of effective initiatives that align better with local norms, values, and needs in LMICs ( Timimi, 2010 ; Summerfield, 2013 ).

Social Structure: Networks of Scientific Collaboration

Research collaboration is regarded as an indicator of quality research and a means to improve research productivity and academic impact (i.e., citations) ( Kim, 2006 ; Abramo et al., 2009 ). In particular, international research collaboration is considered a key contributor to the social construction of science and the evolution of scientific disciplines ( Coccia and Wang, 2016 ). There is recent evidence that national and international research collaborations have been accelerating in recent years ( Gazni et al., 2012 ; Wagner et al., 2015 ), especially in applied fields such as medical and psychological disciplines ( Coccia and Bozeman, 2016 ). In this study, co-authorship analyses were performed to find out patterns in the scientific collaboration between researchers and countries/territories on the mental health and well-being of university students.

Figure 3 demonstrates collaborative ties among authors who published at least 5 articles in the dataset ( n = 179). The map shows the existence of multiple productive collaborative networks of five or more researchers contributing to the development of the field. The largest collaboration network (red cluster) represents an international research group composed of 15 scholars affiliated to universities in the United States, Belgium, and Netherlands. This cluster groups some of the leading scholars in the field, including R. P. Auerbach, R. Brauffaerts, R. C. Kressler, and P. Cuijpers. Moreover, researchers in this cluster lead The WHO World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) Initiative, a large scale international project aimed at promoting the mental health and well-being of college students around the world through generating epidemiological data of mental health issues in university students worldwide, designing web-based interventions for the prevention and promotion of mental health, and disseminating evidence-based interventions ( Cuijpers et al., 2019 ). The second biggest cluster (green) represents an intra-national research network that includes 10 researchers from eight different higher education institutions in the United States. The dark blue cluster represents an institutional collaborative network, including nine researchers from the School of Public Health, Puerto Rico. Other prominent clusters in the map represent collaborative research networks between eight (olive color) and seven researchers (turquoise, violet, orange, and mellow mauve). This contrasts, however, with the limited collaboration that exists between clusters. Only four of the clusters on the map demonstrate some kind of scientific collaboration in the field (light blue, pink, brown, and yellow).

Collaborative research networks between researchers. Only researchers with five or more publications were considered in the analysis ( n = 179).

Cross-country collaboration networks in mental health and well-being of university students study are presented in Figure 4 . Research collaborations between countries with 20 or more publications were considered in this analysis ( n = 45). The United States occupies the central position of the map and shares collaborative ties with all other countries/territories, forming a cluster together with China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Overall, the results suggest that international collaborations in the field are framed to a large extent by cultural, linguistic, and geographical proximity. For instance, the largest cluster (red) is formed by two European countries (Spain and Portugal) and other South American countries with whom they share historical and cultural backgrounds. Other European countries form the purple cluster. Similarly, the blue cluster clearly brings together predominantly English-speaking countries and territories, while the green cluster agglomerates a range of Asian countries.

Collaborative research networks between countries and territories. Only countries with 20 or more publications were considered in the analysis ( n = 45).

Collectively, the results of our study suggest that research collaboration in the field of mental health and well-being in university students remains relatively scarce and localized to date. The social structure of the field at the author level could be described as an archipelago formed by a large number of islands (research groups) of different composition and size but with few bridges connecting them, which suggests a relatively fragmented research community. Moreover, while the existence of international collaborative networks was evident in the analysis, they seem to be formed within national borders, between researchers in neighboring countries/territories, or between countries that share cultural, linguistic, and historical heritages. This may be due to the important role that cultural and traditional values play in the conceptualization of mental health and well-being across contexts ( Eshun and Gurung, 2009 ; Vaillant, 2012 ; Fernando, 2019 ). Also, language differences, divergent cross-national institutional and organizational traditions, and increased costs of extramural collaboration, have been found to complicate the formation and continuity of research partnerships in health research ( Hooper et al., 2005 ; Freshwater et al., 2006 ). Nevertheless, limited within- and between-country research collaboration arguably poses challenges to the development of a field in terms of lost opportunities to challenge assumptions taken for granted and move toward fresh perspectives, push boundaries in methods and techniques, meet diverse groups of people from differing cultures and get immersed in those cultures, share information, resources, and skills, and address common mental health problems through the pooling of resources ( Rolfe et al., 2004 ; Freshwater et al., 2006 ).

Intellectual Structure: Disciplines Underlying the Foundations of the Field

Interdisciplinarity is considered as a valuable approach to address the complex and multidimensional nature of health and well-being ( Mabry et al., 2008 ). Buckton (2015) argues that the integration of medical, psychological, and social sciences have contributed to generate “new insights into theory, practice, and research in mental health and development.” (3). To examine the disciplines underlying research on the mental health and well-being of university students, a journal co-citation analysis was performed. In this analysis, only journals with at least 50 citations were considered ( n = 593). The nodes on the map represent journals and their size reflects the number of co-citation relationships with other journals. Colors account for journal clusters, which agglutinate journals with higher co-citation relationships and stronger semantic connectedness. Clusters were interpreted and labeled accounting for the WoS categorization of the journals with the highest co-citation links within each cluster. For example, if the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , the Journal of Counseling Psychology , and Personality and Individual Differences clustered together, this group was interpreted as the personality, social, and counseling psychology cluster.

In general, the findings of this study suggest that research on mental health and well-being in university students is interdisciplinary, to a certain extent, and mainly emerges from the convergence of research conducted in the behavioral and biomedical sciences, as it has been suggested elsewhere ( Schumann et al., 2014 ; Wittchen et al., 2014b ). More specifically, the map shows that the research in the mental health and well-being of university students is constructed through the integration of knowledge generated in five interconnected disciplines (see Figure 5 ). To the left of the map, the red cluster integrates journals on personal, social, and counseling psychology . To the right, the blue cluster represents the contribution of psychiatric journals to research to the formation and development of the field. At the top, the yellow cluster groups journals on substance abuse and issues related to alcohol consumption, addiction, and interpersonal violence. At the bottom of the map, journals covering topics on eating behaviors, sleep, and other issues related to physical health converge on the green cluster. At the center of the map is the purple cluster, which includes journals in the area of clinical psychology and behavioral therapy .

Map of clustered network journals based on co-citation data. Only publications with 50 or more citations were considered in the analysis ( n = 593).

More broadly, the findings suggest that biomedical sciences contribute to a large extent to the composition of the field. Psychiatric research emerged in our study as an obvious building block in the study of university students’ mental health and well-being, which is not surprising considering the historical contributions of biomedical disciplines to mental health research ( Schwartz and Corcoran, 2010 ). Within the behavioral sciences, personality and social psychology, which explores processes and mechanisms through which social phenomena influence mental health and well-being ( Sánchez Moreno and Barrón López de Roda, 2003 ), appears as a key discipline underlying the foundations of the field. Surprisingly, clinical psychology journals occupy a central position in the map and demonstrate co-citation relationships with journals from all other clusters but make up the most dispersed network and account for a considerably lower volume of co-citation relationships in the field. This suggests that clinical psychology journals are more subordinate to journals in other disciplines in terms of citations flows, and ultimately, play a less unique role in research on the mental health and well-being of university students, as suggested by Haslam and Lusher (2011) . Interestingly, research arising from the social sciences (e.g., sociology and anthropology) does not seem to make a distinctive contribution to the intellectual structure of the field, which suggests that the influence of social contexts and cultures on university students’ mental health and well-being (e.g., inequality, social norms, public policies, cultural beliefs, and values) is an underexplored research area. Still, the density of co-citation network relationships within and between clusters is particularly noteworthy, considering the lack of common language between disciplines, the absence of a shared philosophy of practice on mental health, and the tensions between medical, psychological, and social explanations of mental distress ( Bailey, 2012 ).

Conceptual Structure: Topical Foci Addressed in the Literature Over the Last 45 Years

The topical foci of research on the mental health and well-being of university students during the 1975–January 2020 period are presented in Figure 6 . The map offers a visual representation of the co-occurrence analysis of author keywords of all the publications included in the dataset. Only the most frequently occurring keywords (25+ occurrences) were considered in the analysis ( n = 84). Items that were not related to others and do not belong to the existing clusters were excluded. The size of the nodes indicates the occurrence of author keywords in the dataset and the thickness of edges represents the co-occurrence strength between pairs of keywords.

Topical foci in mental health and well-being of university students research. Only keywords with 25 or more occurrences were considered in the analysis ( n = 84).

The most frequent keywords in the dataset, excluding students’ descriptors (e.g., college students and university students), refer to common mental health challenges experienced by university students such as depression ( n = 612), anxiety ( n = 353), and stress ( n = 341). Salutogenic-related keywords such as well-being and life satisfaction occurred less often ( n = 138, n = 113, respectively), suggesting that pathogenic approaches to the exploration of mental health issues in higher education are more widespread. More broadly, seven general themes seem to summarize the topical foci of interest in the field of mental health and well-being of university students over the last 45 years. First, there has been a general interest in positive mental health , as denoted by frequently co-occurring key terms such as well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, social support, emotional intelligence, and happiness (red cluster). Second, mental disorders stand as another theme widely addressed in the literature, with a special emphasis on depression, anxiety, and to a lesser extent, suicide and suicidal ideation (green cluster). A third topical area in this field has been substance abuse , most predominantly alcohol consumption (blue cluster). The fourth theme reflects college counseling for mental health , including interventions and protective factors such as mindfulness, stress management, spirituality, and help-seeking (yellow cluster). Other topics reflected in the map are mental illness stigma (purple), stress (e.g., psychological distress and coping) (light blue), and mental health measurement (orange).

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the research on university students’ mental health and well-being in the last 45 years using bibliometric indicators. In general, the results reveal interesting trends in the evolution of the field over the last four decades and promising scientific patterns toward a better understanding of the mental health and well-being of university students internationally. First, the interest in the mental health and well-being of university students has grown in the last decades and in a very significant way during the last 10 years, indicating that this area has not still reached its maturity period and will continue developing in the future. Second, research in the field is relatively interdisciplinary and emerges from the convergence of research conducted in several disciplines within the behavioral and biomedical sciences. Third, research in this field is produced by a community of productive researchers coming from several regions around the world, most notably in the United States, which secures a generation of scholars that will continue shaping the field in the years to come. Fourth, over the last 45 years, researchers have been able to address a multitude of research topics in the field, including positive mental health, mental disorders, substance abuse, counseling, stigma, stress, and mental health measurement.

However, this study also identified some issues that could be hindering the development of the study of the mental health and well-being of university students. For example, the research available overrepresents theoretical and disciplinary approaches from the developed world. Additional studies on the field from developing economies and LMICs are needed to provide a more comprehensive picture and ensure a fair representation of the multiple perspectives available in the field. Such studies would inform administrators and practitioners on how to broaden and enrich available programs and initiatives to promote mental health and well-being in higher education contexts in order to offer alternative forms of support that university students find appropriate for their social and cultural values. Moreover, the research community contributing to the development of the field is relatively fragmented. There are multiple research groups but little research collaborations between them and, at the international level, these connections tend to be limited by geographic, cultural, and language proximity. In this context, more actions like the WMH-ICS Initiative could provide a partial solution to this problem by strengthening national and international research partnerships and facilitating knowledge exchange across regions. Also, special issues in the core journals in the field inviting cross-cultural studies on the topic could contribute to promoting research collaboration across regions and research in less represented countries. The field would also benefit from a greater volume of research from the social sciences and humanities exploring the influence of social, cultural, economic, and educational factors on the conceptualization, manifestation, and experience of mental health and well-being. Moreover, more studies emerging from disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, business, and education, would likely increase the permeability of positive mental health concepts into the field and contribute to the promotion of salutogenic approaches to the study of mental health and well-being of university students.

This study has several limitations. First, publications were retrieved only from the WoS database, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Second, WoS provides stronger coverage of Life Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, and Engineering, and includes a disproportionate number of publications in the English language ( Mongeon and Paul-Hus, 2016 ). This could partially explain the low number of publications emerging from the Social Sciences, the Arts, and the Humanities, and research conducted in non-English speaking countries in the present study. Third, only journal articles were retrieved for analysis, excluding other relevant publications in the field such as reviews, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Future studies could replicate the findings of this study using alternative databases (e.g., Scopus and PubMed) or a combination of them, as well as different filters in the search strategy, to provide an alternative coverage of research conducted in the field. Nevertheless, we believe that the bibliometric approach used in this study offers novel insights about the development and current status of the field and some of the challenges that undermine its progression.

Data Availability Statement

Author contributions.

DH-T and LI contributed to conception and design of the study, organized the database, and performed the statistical analysis. DH-T, LI, and JS wrote the first draft of the manuscript. NL, AC, AA, YN, and AM wrote the sections of the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Funding. This research was funded by the Nazarbayev University Faculty-Development Competitive Research Grants Program (Reference Number 240919FD3902).

1 www.vosviewer.com

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Mental Health Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on mental health.

Every year world mental health day is observed on October 10. It was started as an annual activity by the world federation for mental health by deputy secretary-general of UNO at that time. Mental health resources differ significantly from one country to another. While the developed countries in the western world provide mental health programs for all age groups. Also, there are third world countries they struggle to find the basic needs of the families. Thus, it becomes prudent that we are asked to focus on mental health importance for one day. The mental health essay is an insight into the importance of mental health in everyone’s life. 

Mental Health

In the formidable years, this had no specific theme planned. The main aim was to promote and advocate the public on important issues. Also, in the first three years, one of the central activities done to help the day become special was the 2-hour telecast by the US information agency satellite system. 

Mental health is not just a concept that refers to an individual’s psychological and emotional well being. Rather it’s a state of psychological and emotional well being where an individual is able to use their cognitive and emotional capabilities, meet the ordinary demand and functions in the society. According to WHO, there is no single ‘official’ definition of mental health.

Thus, there are many factors like cultural differences, competing professional theories, and subjective assessments that affect how mental health is defined. Also, there are many experts that agree that mental illness and mental health are not antonyms. So, in other words, when the recognized mental disorder is absent, it is not necessarily a sign of mental health. 

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

One way to think about mental health is to look at how effectively and successfully does a person acts. So, there are factors such as feeling competent, capable, able to handle the normal stress levels, maintaining satisfying relationships and also leading an independent life. Also, this includes recovering from difficult situations and being able to bounce back.  

Important Benefits of Good Mental Health

Mental health is related to the personality as a whole of that person. Thus, the most important function of school and education is to safeguard the mental health of boys and girls. Physical fitness is not the only measure of good health alone. Rather it’s just a means of promoting mental as well as moral health of the child. The two main factors that affect the most are feeling of inferiority and insecurity. Thus, it affects the child the most. So, they lose self-initiative and confidence. This should be avoided and children should be constantly encouraged to believe in themselves.

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How to Write a Mental Health in College Students Essay

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Writing is a skill that takes time to build. Essays force you to practice research, critical thinking and communication skills – college is the perfect time for you to practice these. However, there’s only so much you can learn about writing through preparation. If you’ve been assigned an essay on mental health, you may not be sure where to begin. You might also wonder if you should choose mental health as a topic for a college paper. Here’s how to write a “mental health in college students” essay. 

• What Not to Do

If you’re trying to choose a topic for a college application essay, mental health is usually not the way to go. Your personal statement should show colleges why you’re the best candidate to attend their school. Because many students write about mental health , your essay may get lost in the crowd. In addition, your mental health journey is only a part of who you are. 

It can be difficult for many students to write about personal mental struggles without seeming overdramatic. Unless mental health struggles have shaped your whole life, it’s best to discuss other topics. If you mention mental health, stay brief and matter-of-fact. Don’t let it become the whole point of your essay. 

• Review the Instructions

If you’re writing this essay for a college course, start by looking over the assignment instructions. Don’t just listen to what your teacher says – look up the assignment on the syllabus to see if you can find a rubric or other relevant information. 

Highlight the important points to make sure you know what matters to your professor. The instructions are parameters you can operate in to create an essay you enjoy. Make sure you check word count, essay structure and review corrections on past essays. If you’re confused about something, don’t hesitate to ask your professor for clarification. 

• Do the Research 

Regardless of what class you’re writing for, this is the kind of topic that requires hard numbers. You don’t want to make general claims about rates of student anxiety or mental illness – to be credible, you need specifics. Be careful with your wording to avoid all-or-nothing statements. Everyone experiences mental health differently. 

Your professor may or may not allow you to pick the specific mental health topic you write about. However, you can ensure that your paper is well-researched and organized clearly. Before you start writing, create at least a basic outline showing the flow of ideas. This will make the writing phase much faster because you’ll always know what to say next. 

• Write It Out 

Writer’s block often stems from perfectionism. This paper won’t be perfect the first time, so don’t worry about writing it perfectly! Start with an interesting line that gets your reader’s attention and make sure you have a clear thesis statement. Taken by itself, this sentence should describe the contents of your entire paper. 

Build your paragraphs to the right word length by using specific examples. You should start each paragraph with a topic sentence that takes your reader one step in your paper’s argument. Then, describe a specific example that further explains this idea. You can find specific examples in your research or simply explain more about what you mean. 

• Edit Your Work

Editing is an important final step before you turn an essay in. It gives you an opportunity to look at your writing as a whole and ensure everything makes sense. If possible, you should set your first draft aside for a while before you reread it. This will help you see your work with fresh eyes so you can edit it. 

Editing involves strengthening your paper’s organization, rewriting specific sentences and checking for errors. You should make major edits first and then do a final read-through to catch punctuation and spelling mistakes. It can be helpful to read your paper out loud or have a friend look it over as well. 

One Key Takeaway for Writing a Mental Health in College Students Essay

Many students struggle with mental health while in school. Whatever topic you choose and however you organize your essay, make sure to write it with a sensitive tone. This topic is nuanced and shouldn’t be treated as a black-and-white issue. Write from an informed and compassionate point of view and offer your readers hope. 

Use this guide to write an essay on mental health in college students that astounds and delights your professor. Putting in the work will build research and communication skills you’ll use for years – whether you’re a psychology major, a premed student or studying the arts at school. 

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Teens are talking about mental health

High schoolers' stories give a glimpse into the national crisis.

Adolescence can be a complicated time, especially for mental health, and some teens want their communities to do more in response.

The prevalence of mental health issues is hard to measure, but federal data show how widespread the challenges are. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said we need to address threats to mental health in young people—especially adolescents.

More than one third (37%) of high schoolers in the United States reported experiencing poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a 2021 CDC study . Almost half (44%) of high schoolers reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in the last year. Some of these feelings were also linked to experiences of racism, social stigma around gender and sexual identity, and sexual violence.

"I was also having issues with my friendships at school and an increased level of stress when it came time for tests, projects, and other assessments…the feeling of isolation, lack of appetite, and absolute hatred of school were not normal." –Morgan, New Jersey

Studies like these can help shed light on issues that teens may be hesitant or unable to discuss with parents, doctors , and school staff.

Stigma and a lack of information or access to care also keep many teens from getting help. But sharing personal stories about mental health can offer encouragement and connection. This can help teens feel like they are not alone. That’s why NIH asked high schoolers to describe these challenges in their own words for the 2022 Speaking Up About Mental Health! essay contest.

The contest was sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). They wanted to start conversations around youth mental health and highlight different aspects of this national health crisis.

In their essays, many students talked about feeling lost, embarrassed, or frustrated by their mental health struggles. Others wrote about going from being confident in early childhood to feeling alone or unseen in adolescence.

NIH-funded researcher Tamar Mendelson, M.A., Ph.D., Bloomberg Professor of American Health and Director for the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says that’s not surprising. Depression rates tend to increase around puberty, especially among girls but also in boys. Dr. Mendelson said this can be caused by a combination of hormonal changes, new social relationships, and new pressures from academic, athletic, and other activities.

"For many Asian American youths, getting help for mental health can be hindered by stereotypes.  Asian American boys, in particular, may not seek therapy since their cultures expect them to be more resilient than girls. After all, as the older brother, how can I let my little sister know when I am not feeling well emotionally?" –Evan, Texas

“Young people who are feeling overwhelmed or are not sure how to cope with emotions may be more likely to use substances to kind of help with that,” Dr. Mendelson said. Such substances could include alcohol, tobacco, or prescription or illicit drugs, for example.

Puberty is also when many young people become more aware of their sexual orientations and gender identities. For some, this can lead to being unaccepted or bullied. Rates of substance use and misuse also tend to increase during puberty.

In addition to navigating the typical stressors that teens face, more recently they also had to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and related family losses or financial struggles. They’ve experienced or witnessed racial- and identity-based discrimination, gun violence, political unrest, natural disasters, and climate change. These challenges coupled with other risk factors, including some parenting styles, can lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

Even though environmental triggers have changed over time, adolescent anxiety was rising even before the pandemic.

Michele Ybarra, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of mental health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and also an NIH-supported researcher, said that not long ago, it was widely believed that youth could not have depression because people thought, “What do [they] have to be depressed about?”

"Schools are places where students should feel safe and comfortable enough to ask for help. By using simple technology and dedicating time toward impactful mental health screening, schools can truly serve students and assist them in living happier, healthier lives." –Huda, North Carolina

But in the last several decades, Dr. Ybarra said, mental health professionals have realized that depression can happen to anyone at any age.

Several students wrote about schools with limited, outdated, or no education on the topic. Some said they could not speak to a therapist or school counselor when they needed to.

The issue is worse for students in rural areas , in schools with limited financial resources, or who need culturally appropriate care such as bilingual mental health information.

But digital tools can connect youth to information about their mental health. For example, Dr. Ybarra said, the rise of telehealth and teletherapy since the pandemic has helped increase access for some.

Dr. Ybarra said that while technology (including social media) can have both positive and negative effects on mental health, it can also be a force for good. The nature of relationships has changed in the internet age, and connecting online is natural for adolescents . Options like crisis lines or online therapy can get help to teens quickly.

Multiple students said when they could not find resources from their schools or communities, they started their own. Some also said their experiences have inspired them to study mental health and treatments after high school.

One student said they began volunteering for a teen crisis hotline after their cousin used the same service for help. The student also joined a youth advisory group for their state governor’s office and offered help as a peer-to-peer counselor at their school.

“My passion towards becoming a researcher on psychiatric disorders is stronger than ever,” they wrote.

The way people talk about mental illness could also be better, one student wrote . They preferred the phrase “living” with a mental illness rather than “suffering” from one. This small change in language signals it’s possible for people with such conditions to live happy and fulfilling lives. This student also said their own school began marking mental health-related absences as excused and holding an annual mental health week to encourage open conversation.

It’s too early to tell what the long-term effects of the past few years will have on youth mental health. But Dr. Ybarra said some teens have become more resilient since the pandemic began.

“I don’t think this generation is doomed in any way,” she said. “Several kids have said [the pandemic] really gave them the time to better understand themselves, they better understand their sexuality … Other kids took on new hobbies, and they learned how to do new things. Maybe they gave themselves permission to not talk to that toxic person in their lives.” While there’s no denying the pandemic has been a stressful experience, Dr. Ybarra’s impression is that most teens have come out the other side with perspective and an ability to thrive.

“This is good news. It also means that we need to be diligent about identifying teens who continue to struggle and connect them to services,” she said.

If you think a teen is experiencing a mental health crisis, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a national, 24/7 hotline  that can connect you with a trained crisis counselor by phone or online chat. Call or text 988 to connect to a trained crisis counselor 24/7 or use the live online chat option. TTY users can contact the Lifeline via their preferred relay service or by dialing 711, then 988.   

By the numbers

According to the centers for disease control and prevention, in 2021:.

• Asian (non-Hispanic): 64%
• Black (non-Hispanic): 55%
• Multiracial (non-Hispanic): 55%
• Hispanic or Latino: 42%
• American Indian/Alaska Native (non-Hispanic): 27%
• Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic): 55%
• White (non-Hispanic): 23%
• 18% of female high schoolers and 5% of male high schoolers experienced sexual violence, up from 15% and 4%, respectively, in 2017
• Up from 41% and 21%, respectively, in 2017
• 14% of LGBQ+ high schoolers and 7% of heterosexual students did not go to school because of safety concerns

*Data set did not account for gender identity, although previous research has shown that transgender youth experience more stigma and are more likely to have more suicidal thoughts or behaviors compared to their peers.

NIH-supported research on adolescent mental health

Greater engagement in gender-sexuality alliances (gsas) and gsa characteristics predict youth empowerment and reduced mental health concerns.

This study, supported by NIMHD, focused on the connections between sexual and gender minority youth’s involvement in extracurricular activities and their mental health. Researchers focused on gender-sexuality alliances (also sometimes called gay-straight alliances), which are school-based clubs to bring young people together to discuss shared issues or interests. Learn more about this study .

Understanding Bystanders for Self-Directed Violence Prevention: A Prospective National Study Highlighting Marginalized Youth and Young Adults

Self-directed violence refers to anything a person does intentionally that can cause injury or death to themselves. This study will examine the effectiveness of programs that train youth to be “active bystanders” and help those in danger of self-directed violence. Researchers will survey approximately 5,000 participants ages 13 to 22, recruited via social media, about the impacts of these bystander training programs in real-world situations. Read more about this study .

Strategic Framework for Addressing Youth Mental Health Disparities

This plan outlines research studies and other activities by NIMH, NICHD, and NIMHD to reduce mental health disparities among underserved and underrepresented youth by 2031. Some of the plan’s goals are to develop culturally appropriate mental health interventions for youth and parents and to research co-occurring mental illness among young people in groups that have been marginalized. Read more about the framework .

Alternative accessible version (pdf)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Supplement, Vol. 71, No. 3 ; CDC report shows concerning increases in sadness and exposure to violence among teen girls and LGBQ+ youth ; LGBQ+ Teens

May 16, 2023

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Mental Health among College Students Essay Sample

Mental Health is overlooked among college students. Many students suffer from mental health problems, some go unnoticed and untreated. This has a striking impact on students and their academic performance. College students are vulnerable to a variety of serious mental diseases; addiction, stress, anxiety, eating disorders, are just a few of the issues that students face. Many students suffer throughout college because they are unaware of their mental illnesses and do not receive appropriate care. 

Stress is a common word in today’s society. Many people have different analyses of the term stress. For some, stress has a positive message, for others, it's a negative one. Every person has had experiences with stress in their lives, whether it be positive or negative. Due to one’s feelings and how they are in certain situations, stress varies from person to person. College students,  in particular, are subjected to a wide range of stress. Stress factors affecting the student depend on the person and how they manage stress. Students take a lot of direction from coaches, family, and friends. Some of the comments are positive, but the majority are negative. Because a student-athlete already has so much going on outside of their sport, negative comments could easily cause stress. According to a 2015 NCAA survey, 30% of college student-athletes said they were “Intractably overwhelmed in the past month”.College is the first time a young adult is away from their parents' support and is expected to continue to perform at that high level without that constant support system. The increased stress levels of student- athletes are said to be due to their high demands of time requirements, pressure to perform, and burnouts. 

For women, one of the negative aspects of sports at the college level is physical exhaustion, eating disorders , and weight restrictions. Exhaustion is obtained when student-athletes overdo it and don’t follow accepted dietary guidelines, and do not get enough sleep.  College women athletes usually do not follow proper eating habits while in school(LaFountaine, 2007.) This is usually a result of a frantic schedule and the demand that comes with being a student-athlete. A more serious impact on female students who are athletes is the overall strain, stress, and extreme exercise put on their bodies. Exercise harms male athletes in relation to participation in substance abuse with illegal substances and performance enhancement drugs. Includes supplements, stimulants , and other substances that are often tied with affecting male athletes’ hormones. Athletes involved in the use of substances are more probable to experiment with other substances like tobacco, illegal drugs, and alcohol. The most common substance in student-athletes is Marijuana. Using this substance can lead to a decrease in athletic performance. Marijuana also has a significant effect on muscle fatigue and recovery. The use of any illegal substance can lead to the end of his or her career as an athlete and overall health. One negative impact for both male and female student- athletes is what's called a burnout. Burnouts affect students' emotions, physical energy, and their overall capability to learn. Burnout is expressed as being exhausted, resentment towards sport , and poor performance. 

Sports positively affect college student-athletes emotionally when it comes to their confidence levels. Athletes will display higher levels of confidence when in a motivational environment. This environment is a place where student-athletes are being encouraged in their sport with constructive criticism and receiving the support system they need to improve not only as athletes in their daily lives as well. This environment can be developed by teammates, team captains, coaches, and family. What student-athletes can accomplish in their sport is a determining factor in how their confidence is developed. In other words, if the athlete performs well in their sport, his/her confidence will increase. However, if the athlete doesn’t perform well, their confidence will decrease. This confidence travels over into academics, daily life, relationships, and the basis of the athlete's future. 

The negative impact of mental health on student-athletes has been a persistent problem around the world and has been a topic of interest in research for many years. Mental health has caused symptoms of depression and anxiety, helplessness, and loneliness. In student-athletes, these levels of stress are forced on individuals for several reasons. For example, student-athletes need to have success in both the field and the classes. Maintains the required average grade and playing time can be physically as well as mentally demanding.

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Speaking Up About Mental Health

National essay contest.

SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY The contest is open to high school students ages 16-18

PROMOTION TOOLKIT Help spread the word with social media and email tools

December 1, 2023

Dec. 1, 2023

January 16, 2024

Jan. 16, 2024

May 31, 2024

Mental health is an important part of overall health across all life stages. However, far too often, symptoms are not addressed or recognized among teens.

Speaking Up About Mental Health is an essay contest that challenges high school students ages 16-18 to raise awareness of mental health. The contest gives students a platform to share ways to eliminate and/or reduce mental health stigma faced by young people, especially in diverse communities.

This contest is soliciting essays that:

• Discuss ways to eliminate and/or reduce mental health stigma faced by young people, especially in diverse communities
• Share resilience and coping strategies to overcome mental health issues such as social isolation and loneliness, depression, and anxiety
• Address mental health stigma
• Encourage conversations about mental health, social media, and/or technology
• Suggest school policies or practices that could help reduce stigma
• Describe barriers to mental health treatment
• Cover other areas of concern to individuals and their communities with respect to mental health

Get details on contest rules and submit your entry on Challenge.gov

Promotion toolkit : Help promote the Speaking Up About Mental Health essay contest

The contest is led by:

National Institute of Mental Health

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Page updated Jan. 23, 2024

September 2022: NIH Announces Winners of High School Mental Health Essay Contest

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• School Education /

Essay on Mental Health in English for School Students 

• Updated on  
• Jan 24, 2024

Essay on Mental Health: According to the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the year 2021, one in seven people between the ages of 10 and 19 years old experiences mental sickness or disorder. Depression, anxiety, mood swings, behavioral disorders, and other mental disorders are the major reasons for illness among adolescents. As per WHO, depression is one of the leading causes of disability among human beings. Also, the organization states that individuals with extreme mental health conditions are susceptible to dying two decades before their estimated death, owing to grave physical illness caused by mental illness. 

Thus, it is essential to focus on caring for one’s and others’ mental health to avoid cases of disability and suicide. 

Also Read: 5 Minutes Speech on Technology and Mental Health

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is an emotional and psychological state of mind. It involves how we think, feel about things, and manage the challenges in life. As students, we should take care of our mental health in the same way we take care of our physical health. Good mental health contributes to effective academic functioning, healthy social relationships, and stress management. 

Furthermore, it is important to know that mental health is a dynamic state of mind that changes over time. Mental health is influenced by genetic vulnerability, types of personality, social support, and life experiences.

Also Read: The Importance of Mental Health Awareness

Types of Mental Health Conditions

There are different types of mental health conditions. One of the most common conditions is Anxiety Disorder. In the present day and age, many people are affected by social anxiety, one of the most common anxiety disorders. Its symptoms are increased heartbeat and excessive sweating. Another type of mental health condition is impulse control and addiction disorder, in which people have uncontrollable urges to perform self-harming acts and harm others as well. Furthermore, Mood disorders like schizophrenia cause disturbances in perceptions or thinking. Lastly, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is caused by the impact of horrific events such as any sexual or physical assault, natural disaster or unexpected death of a loved one on an individual’s mind.

Also Read: 7+ Mental Health Courses Online

How does Mental Health Affect Students?

It is important to understand that mental health is very important for students because it enables them to concentrate on their studies and lead a serene life. Also, a healthy mind encourages students to explore different opportunities and learn new things.

However, students with mental illness are often seen struggling with isolation, anxiety, and issues in their personal life. Mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, etc hinder concentration in studies and hurt their social and familial relationships.

Therefore, to ensure students’ mental health, families and educational institutions must provide emotional and moral support. Recognition as well as addressing well-being not only helps the students do good again in academics but also helps the students with overall personality development.

Also Read: 10 Tips for Students to Improve their Mental Health

Importance of Creating a Supportive Environment

Caring never goes to waste; rather, it helps the person recover quickly. Studies have shown that support from family and friends not only helps the student face the imbalance of mental health but also helps with emotional help. Thus, it is important to build a supportive environment that is free from any type of mental stress. This makes students feel safe and also prepares them for active learning. This is evident from a proven psychological theory that propounds that when students get a place where they are encouraged and easily understood, they can easily handle the challenges and grow with strong emotions. 

Also Read: How Can Schools Prioritize Mental Health

Expert Advice on Mental Health

Students must receive expert advice to handle mental stress and various complexities of academics and personal challenges. Here, academic institutions should take responsibility for building an environment where students can easily reach out to the responsible authorities for guidance and solutions. Thus, educational organizations must open channels for students to express their concerns, such as setting up counselling services or creating support groups. 

Furthermore, the organization of regular mental health checkups, mental health awareness campaigns, and knowledge sessions on mental conditions in schools are also helpful in the growth of students. Also, collaboration between teachers and mental health professionals and talking to family members can help young minds deal with their challenges. 

Mental health is not a taboo, it just needs awareness and open communication. Students should practice exercises that heal the unrest of the brain. For example, many people find peace by planting trees and watering plants. Whereas, some release stress by communicating with others. Therefore, each individual should find her/their/his way of dealing with mental illness and seek help when needed for good mental health.

Also Read: Taking Care of Your Mental Health While Studying Abroad

10 Lines Essay on Mental Health 

Some important lines that can help you write an effective essay on mental health are as follows:

1. Mental health is about mixed feelings and thoughts such as being, sad, isolated or mixed.

2. It is important that student should take care of their mental health similarly like taking care of their bodies. 

3. Mental health includes how we manage our emotions and stress.

4. It should be understood that one must take the help or support of friends and family whenever incapable of facing any hard time.

5. Academic institutions can play an important role in the sharing of thoughts and one´s point of view.

6. Teachers should help the students to come up with their problems and should be open to providing solutions to the students. 

7. One must have a balanced mental health for personal growth.

8. There are many times types of mental health. Some of them include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, Mood Disorders and many more.

9. Family should create a supportive environment for children with the help of open communication between parents and elders.

10. Planting, and spending time with family and friends are some of the activities that help keep one motivated and away from stress. 

Also Read: World Mental Health Day Activities for Students

Ans. The four types of mental health care are Bipolar affective disorder, Depression, Eating disorder and Obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

Ans. Philippe Pinel is often considered the father of mental health. 

Ans. Mental health issues are commonly seen among students nowadays. The basic reason behind the mental stress is the lack of communication and technology. There are many types of mental health among them the important areas are panic disorders, phobias, anxiety disorders, social anxiety, etc.

Ans. Mental health is an emotional and psychological state of mind. It involves how we think, feel about things, and manage the challenges in life.

Ans. Some common mental health conditions are generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with expertise in creating educational and informative content. She has a year of experience writing content for speeches, essays, NCERT, study abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and ananlysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particulary in education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs with related to her field to further expand her expertise. In personal life, she loves creative writing and aspire to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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Mental Health in Schools Essay Example

Schools overlook their students' mental health, students that struggle with mental health sometimes struggle with being able to learn and focus in school. With the lack of education about mental health students could think that they are not normal and struggle with being confident in themselves; statistics and studies show that 18.8% of teenagers in public schools all across America have attempted or seriously thought about suicide. Public high schools are not properly equipped with the resources and staff to help students with their mental health and preventing suicide. 

One of America's only resources for mental health in schools is the guidance counselors and there are not enough counselors compared to the amount of students. For instance, a public highschool with 3000 students and 3 guidance counselors, each counselor would be giving 1000 students resources. On top of that, they have to be able to notice the changes in their students' actions and behaviors. “In the worst case scenario, a student on the brink of suicide or another mental health disorder can be denied a counselling session because their counselor was too busy with other students” (O'Connor). The lack of counselors in the school system is one of the main reasons students have no safe person or space to talk about their feelings. “Counselors are very grateful for their jobs and work very hard, but sometimes it feels like a band-aid on an arterial wound,”says one source (JONES). The amount of school shootings that occur around the United States severely affects students' mental health, and when they have no support system at home the only place they know to go is their school.  When schools do not have enough counselors it could potentially lead to more risk for suicide, feeling worthless and alone.  For example, in an impoverished highschool with only one counselor all of these students would only be able to see that counselor maybe once a month. Counselors also have very many other tasks they do everyday, like making schedules, graduation support, etc. Adding a school therapist or mental health resource room for students could potentially help this problem. Students need a safe space or person that they can go to when they need support. Teachers all across the country need to have the proper resources and training to be able to notice changes in students behavior and empathy. Additionally more counselors could help with the awareness of the problem. 

Furthermore, students should be able to have access to mental health days to take a mental break or go to therapy. Education systems in America frown upon this as it's considered “not necessary” with our 2020 pandemic occurring staff believing that these students have had enough days off and are falling behind with their graduation path. “A 2020 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the proportion of mental health-related emergency department visits for children aged 5–11 and 12–17 increased by about 24% and 31%, respectively, compared to 2019 (Blackmer and Shenker)”. Along with the pandemic teenagers had to stay home and quarantine away from their friends and couldn’t travel, with this occurring in early 2020 and is still currently happening, students are still struggling with feeling alone and having no support system at home and at school. When your mind is constantly going it could lead to exhaustion which could potentially alter your thinking skills and make you overall more depressed and could induce self harm. Allowing mental health days in all middle/high schools  could help prevent the body and mind from self harm with the stress and exhaustion that occurs from school. Your mind and body need a break from staying up until 3am working on homework or a big assignment due the next school day. When your mind and body gets exhausted you tend to have physical pain as well. “Some public schools have proposed that high schoolers should be allowed to take up to five mental health days off per semester to improve academic performance.” (“Should High Schoolers Have Mental Health Days in School? - Solstice RTC”). Allowing mental health days could show significant improvement in motivation and the students overall health. When students do take their allowed mental health days they could come back to school with more motivation and overall become a better student because they aren’t so stressed out about their big exam anymore and it gives them an opportunity to take a break. 

Teaching mental health in schools could bring awareness to other students and staff about the concerns and struggles that their classmates/students are battling with. Allowing mental health lessons to be taught in schools allows teachers to be able to recognize the signs of depression and anxiety. Without being taught the realities of mental health difficulties, children won’t understand the impact that ‘banter’ (whether it be insults, bullying or spreading of lies and rumors) could have. The only way this will change is if we educate them, just like physical health is taught; (Hughes). Schools all around America have health classes to teach signs of drug use, eating healthy, and staying fit but no mental health. Students could struggle majorly understanding why their thoughts and why they feel different from their friends and family and having no realization that they are struggling with mental health because they have never been taught about it. Students with undiagnosed anxiety tend to get extremely stressed out and overwhelmed on exams. With that being said the stress from the exam on top of everything else going on in their life could cause them to fail the exam as well as not understand why they failed after studying for hours. Furthermore, “Nervousness and anxiety are perfectly normal reactions to stress. For some people, this fear can become so intense that it interferes with their ability to perform well on a test” (“The Causes of Test Anxiety and Academic Stress”).

Some parents and faculty could argue that students use their mental health as an excuse for being lazy. Students that struggle with mental health severely have serious difficulties with learning and being able to manage their anxiety. When teachers say that their students are using their mental health as an excuse, it could lead to more anxiety when asking for an extension on a paper or an exam. Parents and teachers that don't struggle with mental health dismiss when their student/child comes to them with a concern. Lack of education on the topic can lead to this, not allowing mental health days as an excuse could be more harmful than letting your child struggle and not understand why in class.  “There's the danger that we take too much care and when they hit the real world that same kind of support isn't there," says David Cozzens, dean of students and associate vice president of student affairs at the University of Wyoming in Laramie (Petersen). When teachers say it's an excuse just to miss school and not do their work it can end up causing more anxiety on the student and make them not wanna come at all and potentially drop out of school completely. 

Overall, mental health is one of the biggest issues in public high schools today and it is extremely overlooked by teachers and not taking exams seriously. Teachers can show their support in many different ways to show students that it is a real thing. Mental health days could improve the struggle tremendously and teachers and guidance counselors should have more education on the topic all around America.

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Mental Health and College Students

By amaya j murriel, research essay.

Starting college means the beginning of acquiring new responsibilities, such as, time management, making your own decisions as far as declaring a major, what you decide to devote your free time to. These are responsibilities you might have not been exposed to before entering the college atmosphere. This can easily become overwhelming especially to those who are new to it. Maintaining a healthy mind is important because it is a key component to making it through these very stressful four years. Mental Health can be simply defined as a person’s well being in regards to their emotions and psychological state. Mental illness can disrupt this state and if left untreated can lead to deeper health issues. Depression is the most common mental illness and can be easily treated with antidepressants. The only obstacle is that those suffering from it are sometimes unaware they are suffering from the disease. They don’t take the symptoms seriously and often avoid speaking to someone about the symptoms they are experiencing. Another common disease amongst college students is anxiety disorders. Since you are overwhelmed with a number of things its normal to have anxiety but if the attacks continue to happen more frequently this can be a sign of a serious problem. Bipolar disorder can also be common on college campuses, also a result of the overwhelming responsibility that you are faced with while in school. Bipolar disorder is when your emotions and action tend to change within an instant, making it impossible to control them. All of these can be a result of a raise in stress level, something you can thank college for. Maintaining a healthy mind is the first part of guaranteeing that you will be successful in your college career.

Depression is a common disease that can affect those of all ages, often the symptoms of depression are very mind making them almost impossible to distinguish. Those being affected often ignore the symptoms or they attempt to deny them in hopes that they will go away. In reality this could be doing more harm to you. Seeking help when first signs begin to appear is the best thing you can do for yourself this will keep the disease from becoming more serious and leading to later health complications. Depression is the most common mental illness on college campuses because of the tremendous amount of stress they are forced to endure over the months while in school. It is often common to feel as though you won’t be able to complete assignments on time or that you will struggle to perform well on exams. These feelings can lead to depression. Depression can become very serious when you start to have bigger symptoms such as suicidal thoughts or lack of motivation and an inability to complete assignments resulting a  decline in your grades.

Often when overwhelmed my responsibility many students turn to substance abuse to help cope with their feelings.  the most common substances being alcohol and drugs such as marijuana and over-the-counter prescription pills. The use of these substances can be the beginning deeper problems, when combined with depression can result a permanent damage. “In this context, many college students experience the first onset of mental health and substance use problems or an exacerbation of their symptoms.” (Pedrelli, 2015) Especially on college campuses, it is easy to gain access to drugs which makes them highly depended on by students. They provide an escape from the stress they’re enduring and this escape can become addicting and this is the beginning of an addiction. When treated, treatment can become addicting as well, which makes it hard to treat, often those who attempt to treat it say they feel worse while on medication so they refuse to take it.

Those suffering from these diseases seek help from mental health facilities on their campuses. All campuses provide services to all students, such as counseling and advising. This provides students with a safe and comfortable environment to be able to discuss the problems they may be facing. A Center for Collegiate Mental Health report found that college student’s use of counseling center resources increased by an average of 35 percent over a five-year period, while the average enrollment increased by 5 percent during that time. Meanwhile, the number of students receiving counseling for anxiety rose from 18 to 30 percent over the past four years, according to the 2017 CCMH annual report. This proves that the amount of students suffering from mental diseases such as depression is becoming more common and schools aren’t doing enough to support those in need. Students are beginning to rely on their centers to help get them through this time and they most wouldn’t be able to make it through the years without this kind of support. “Previous researchers have documented a high prevalence of mental health concerns and a steady high demand for counseling services among today’s college students ( Fink, 2014 ; Kirsch, Doerfler, & Truong, 2015 ). Students present complex concerns that are disruptive to their college experience ( Fink, 2014 ). In fact, an estimated 10.4% of today’s students visit college counseling centers for mental health needs—and many of these students might be unlikely to achieve successful academic outcomes without counseling support ( Gallagher, 2013 ). Therefore, we undertook the current study to more fully understand counseling center outcomes on student academic experiences.” (Floss, 2018) Providing counseling and support for students has shown an increase in the students ability to perform both socially and academically. But, many do not offer the kind of support students many need.

When I began to plan for this paper I had an idea on how I would get the best information to support my claim. I went to visit the student center at City College to meet with a counselor hoping that I could speak to someone who I could interview. My plan was to ask a few questions about what services the school provided for student who needed help.  I was greeted by a woman sitting at the front desk, I informed her of my plan and she told me I had to email the office to see if there was a concealer available to be interviewed. That same day I sent a detailed email discussing what kind of meeting I would like to arrange. I never received an email back. The failure to respond to my email made me question if those who are reaching out for help get the same treatment. Are they greeted the same ? Are they told to send an email stating what they’re struggling with? Are they ignored? These are all questions that should be answered because this can be someone’s decision to give up on their responsibilities because of the lack of support from their school community. Even though my email clearly stated that this was a source for a paper I was writing that lack of acknowledgment is alarming and made me think of how other schools handle their students who suffer from diseases like this one. Most of the other CUNY websites have a similar layout to City College. “The professional counseling and student development staff can help you with many issues—questions about the College, academic or personal problems or other concerns which may be interfering with your success at City Tech.” (City Tech website, 2019) similar to what is said on City colleges website. It is hard to distinguish which college is truly providing the most amount of support to its students until you have an encounter with the counseling center.

It is important that colleges make it aware to students that they have the support they need to make it through the toughest times. Mental Health is something that is often overlooked and not take seriously but its real and millions of students face it worldwide. I’ve recently had my own battle with mental health and it caused a bump in my academic career, and it’s like a ripple effect and often leads to an imbalance in your life, and without knowing there are people who are there to support you and guide you back to your path it can lead to permanent damage. It is also important for students to utilize the services being provided to them as much as possible. You should never feel embarrassed or ashamed to admit that you need help or someone to talk to. Making counseling more accepted in society will lead to more students admitting they need help. This starts with us being more accepting and supporting those who might face these issues making them feel comfortable with being open about their problems. This starts by ensuring that counselors are available at all times for college students.

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Student mental health is still suffering–how should we address it?

The key to supporting school systems, and students, is to harness the power of culturally-competent and age-appropriate solutions.

Key points:

• Varied mental health supports can help students to become stakeholders in their well-being
• Empowering staff and students with a sense of belonging
• Schools are key to solving mental health equity gaps
• For more news on student mental health, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being hub

Between March 2020 and March 2021, K-12 schools in the U.S. saw an unprecedented influx in federal government aid, totaling nearly $190 billion. This funding aimed to help students recover both academically and emotionally from the pandemic. School districts across the country utilized these grants to hire counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other care providers. In theory, this should have been transformative; however, the available workforce wasn’t large enough to meet the demand, and traditionally underserved and rural districts faced the brunt of this shortage.

Subsequent follow-up funding has been deployed by the federal government in a necessary step to increase the workforce of care providers. As these funding opportunities come to a close, many districts are still left struggling to adequately address their students’ mental health needs.

According to the CDC, more than one in three high school students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, but in reality, the rate of U.S. students struggling with these challenges was rising even before COVID. The pandemic’s disruption to students’ schooling and development only exacerbated mental health issues, resulting in worsening anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues. As funds such as ESSER come to a close, schools that were able to increase care teams or introduce new mental well-being initiatives are now facing a funding cliff. The impact of this is predictable: Students will suffer as staff and programs are cut. To address this problem, the U.S. education system must look to alternative solutions.

Expanding beyond traditional approaches

Counselors, social workers, and school psychologists are the most impactful front-line resources available for supporting student mental well-being; however, these professionals are saddled with huge caseloads and demands beyond their normal purview. For example, according to a 2020 survey of 7,000 school counselors , many were required to serve as substitute teachers, perform temperature checks, and take on other tasks as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. To improve mental health support to students, we have to expand our narrow perception of what care can look like.

Looking beyond a traditional western medicine approach, school districts should consider adopting solutions such as peer-to-peer counseling, where students who have been trained can meet to support one another and address personal, social, or emotional challenges. Peer-to-peer counseling empowers students to become stakeholders in their mental health while also providing benefits such as cultural relevance, early intervention, crisis prevention, and social-emotional skill development. This effective strategy is strongly advocated for by California’s Children Trust , which has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make peer-to-peer support reimbursable for California schools through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.

Additionally, utilizing a community-based collaborative care model can further bolster a school system’s mental health resources. This type of approach is not meant to replace the role of trained mental health professionals, but it can provide Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Tier 1 and 2 for large student populations. An effective initiative of this kind may look like inviting vetted community leaders to come in and offer culturally-tailored support, a resource that’s frequently lacking in schools. When coupled with other solutions, community-based care approaches can play a central role in improving student mental well-being.

Embracing technology

While in-person methods such as professional counseling, peer-to-peer programs, and community-based collaborative care models present a range of benefits, an immediate and ready solution exists for K-12 to effectively close the gaps in its mental health resources: digital mental health products.

Technology is accessible and readily complements care providers, and dozens of culturally competent and evidence-based products are successfully being utilized in school districts. These digital products can complement in-school care providers with treatment plans and access to telehealth, assessment tools, screening, tracking, and preventative technologies, which provide education, awareness, peer support, and other non-clinical approaches.

While effective technology solutions exist, the majority of schools face barriers to adopting and utilizing them. Figuring out how to fund product implementation, choosing which products to trust, and understanding exactly what types of student mental health concerns need to be addressed are common obstacles voiced by school systems.

Proper resource allocation can help ensure a brighter future

While there are currently several mental health-focused technology products available, investment for these types of innovations is still lacking. With federal funding drying up, large VC-backed companies that haven’t previously worked in the education sector are beginning to enter the scene, and oftentimes, these companies are driven by interests that don’t meet the needs of the students they are meant to be serving.

The key to supporting school systems, and ultimately students, is to harness the power of culturally-competent and age-appropriate solutions that entrepreneurs with lived experiences are developing while also supporting school systems by helping them identify, adopt, and utilize these transformative products.

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David Ball is Global Head of Health, Education and Technology at SecondMuse leading Headstream , an innovation program that seeks to understand and address the challenges faced by youth in regard to their mental well-being.

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Essay on Mental Health for Students [500+ Words Essay]

January 2, 2021 by Sandeep

Essay on Mental Health: People generally tend to ignore their minds’ health while maintaining physical fitness. Balance of the physical and mental health leads to a fit and sound health system. Emotionally strong individuals have better strength to fight depression, anxiety, stress and negative thinking. People with mental illness show a disturbing pattern of thinking, emotional display and behaviour. Fitness exercises, meditation, yoga and counselling, are great ways to maintain good mental health.

Essay on Mental Health 500 Words in English

Below we have provided Mental Health Essay in English, suitable for class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

“The only journey is the journey within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Mental health is the psychological well being of a person. It is the absence of any mental illness. Being psychologically fit means that a person can cope up with stress and perform normal life activities under normal conditions. It is the ability of a person’s mental functioning to work in a productive and useful way.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on October 10th. The day is filled with seminars and debates aimed at increasing awareness about mental health. Numerous investments are also made by people and companies in the treatment and awareness of mental health.

Signs of Troubled Mental Health

A human being needs an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. But when you are exhausted, and you still can’t sleep, it is a sign that your mental health is suffering. Sometimes overworking oneself can lead to not only physical exhaustion but severe mental exhaustion as well. People develop insomnia (the inability to fall asleep) as a result.

Anxiousness can be another sign. It can often lead to panic attacks and rapidly racing thoughts. Because of this mental pressure, a person can also fall victim to chest pains and problems in breathing. Loss of focus is another symptom of bad mental health. It happens when you feel like there is so much going on in your life at one time, and you start making careless mistakes, thereby losing the ability to focus properly.

Being constantly on edge is another factor. It can be noticed when you’re easily put off by the smallest happenings or comments and get offended and fight with your family members, friends or co-workers. It takes place out of too much irritation that is built up inside. A feeling of disconnect with your loved ones can also have an adverse impact on your mental health. It leads to you feeling lonely and may even sink you into the depths of depression.

Important Benefits of Good Mental Health

Good mental health leads to happiness. It lets you spend more time with your loved ones and pursue your favourite hobbies. You take out time for others as well as yourself. Having stable and well mental health also helps you save a lot of money. You need not pay for doctor visits, psychologist consultations, medicines, etc. Good mental health will leave you feeling energized and full of enthusiasm. You would succeed in doing all your tasks before time with utmost efficiency, productivity and determination.

Things like stress and depression can lead to a lot of fatal health issues and may even result in suicide in extreme cases. Being mentally healthy increases the longevity of your life as you experience more joy and satisfaction. Mental well being also helps us in thinking clearer and uplifts our self-esteem. We may also connect with ourselves spiritually and act as role models to others. We would also be able to help others and not be a mentally draining burden on them.

Essay on Mental Health Of Students

Students are often asked to write an essay on Mental Health Of Students in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Mental Health Of Students

Understanding mental health.

Mental health is about our feelings, thinking, and behavior. Just like we can catch a cold, we can also feel sad, worried, or scared. It’s normal to have different emotions, but when these feelings last a long time or hurt our ability to do things like homework or play, it’s important to get help.

Stress in School

Many students feel stress because of schoolwork, exams, and busy schedules. It’s like carrying a heavy backpack all the time. Talking to friends, family, or teachers can lighten this load. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it.

Being Kind to Yourself

Sometimes we can be our own toughest critic. If you make a mistake or don’t do well on a test, it’s not helpful to be hard on yourself. Instead, treat yourself with kindness and understand that everyone makes mistakes and has bad days.

Friendship and Support

Friends can be like a comfy pillow when you’re tired. They can listen, make you laugh, and help you feel less alone. If you see a friend acting differently or feeling down, a kind word or a listening ear can mean a lot.

When to Seek Help

If you’re feeling very sad, anxious, or angry for a long time, it’s important to talk to an adult you trust. This could be a parent, teacher, or school counselor. They can help you find ways to feel better. Remember, asking for help is brave.

250 Words Essay on Mental Health Of Students

Mental health is all about how we think, feel, and act. Just like we need to take care of our bodies by eating right and exercising, we also need to look after our minds. Students, like everyone else, can face challenges that affect their mental well-being.

School can be fun, but sometimes it can also be tough. Tests, homework, and making friends can cause stress. When stress piles up, it can make students feel tired, worried, or sad. It’s important to talk about these feelings and not keep them inside.

The Role of Teachers and Parents

Teachers and parents play a big role in helping students stay mentally healthy. They can listen to students’ worries and encourage them to do their best. It’s good when they remind students that it’s okay to make mistakes and that no one is perfect.

Healthy Habits

Having a routine can make students feel secure. Eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, and playing outside can make a big difference in how students feel. Also, taking breaks from studying and doing things they enjoy can help keep their minds happy.

Getting Help

Sometimes, students might need extra help, and that’s okay. Talking to a counselor or a doctor can help them understand their feelings and learn how to feel better. Remember, asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Taking care of mental health is just as important as taking care of physical health. By talking about it and taking small steps each day, students can keep their minds strong and ready to learn.

500 Words Essay on Mental Health Of Students

Mental health is about how we think, feel, and behave. Just like we can get sick with a cold or a sore throat, our mental health can suffer too. For students, this means how they handle stress, relate to friends, and make choices in their daily lives. Good mental health helps students do well in school and enjoy their time with friends and family.

Why Mental Health Matters for Students

When students are mentally healthy, they can focus better in class, remember what they learn, and manage the ups and downs of school life. They can also make friends more easily and deal with problems like bullying or getting a bad grade. But when their mental health isn’t good, everything can seem harder. They might feel sad, worried, or angry, and it could be tough to study or get along with others.

Stress and Pressure on Students

Students face a lot of pressure to get good grades, do well in sports or other activities, and fit in with their friends. This pressure can create stress, which is a feeling of being overwhelmed or unable to cope with mental or emotional pressure. Too much stress can lead to problems like trouble sleeping, headaches, or feeling unhappy. It’s important for students to find ways to handle stress, like talking to someone they trust or doing activities they enjoy.

Signs of Mental Health Issues

There are signs that might show a student is having trouble with their mental health. They might seem very sad or worried, have big changes in their mood, or stop wanting to do things they used to enjoy. They might also have a hard time with their schoolwork or not want to spend time with friends. If you or someone you know is showing these signs, it’s important to get help from a grown-up, like a parent, teacher, or school counselor.

Getting Help and Support

Getting help is a brave and smart thing to do. Schools often have counselors or psychologists who understand about mental health and can offer support. Talking to a grown-up you trust can be a good first step. They can help you figure out what to do and how to feel better. Sometimes, just talking about what’s bothering you can make a big difference.

Taking Care of Your Mental Health

There are things students can do every day to take care of their mental health. Getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and getting regular exercise can help you feel good. Taking breaks, having fun, and spending time with friends and family are also important. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help if you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

Mental health is a big part of being a happy, healthy student. It’s okay to have times when you feel down or stressed, but there are ways to feel better. Remember to look for the signs that you might need help, and don’t be afraid to ask for it. Taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your body, so make it a part of your daily routine.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Mental Health In The Black Community
• Essay on Mental Health Importance
• Essay on Mental Health For Students

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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March 13, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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Study tracks shifts in student mental health during college

by Dartmouth College

A four-year study by Dartmouth researchers captures the most in-depth data yet on how college students' self-esteem and mental health fluctuates during their four years in academia, identifying key populations and stressors that the researchers say administrators could target to improve student well-being.

The study also provides among the first real-time accounts of how the coronavirus pandemic affected students' behavior and mental health. The stress and uncertainty of COVID-19 resulted in long-lasting behavioral changes that persisted as a "new normal" even as the pandemic diminished, including feeling more stressed, less socially engaged, and sleeping more.

The researchers tracked more than 200 Dartmouth undergraduates in the classes of 2021 and 2022 for all four years of college. Students volunteered to let a specially developed app called StudentLife tap into the sensors that are built into smartphones. The app cataloged their daily physical and social activity , how long they slept, their location and travel, the time they spent on their phone, and how often they listened to music or videos. Students also filled out weekly behavioral surveys, and selected students gave post-study interviews.

The study—which is the longest mobile-sensing study ever conducted—is published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies .

The researchers will present it at the Association of Computing Machinery's UbiComp/ISWC 2024 conference in Melbourne, Australia, in October. The team made their anonymized data set publicly available —including self-reports, surveys, and phone-sensing and brain-imaging data—to help advance research into the mental health of students during their college years.

Andrew Campbell, the paper's senior author and Dartmouth's Albert Bradley 1915 Third Century Professor of Computer Science said that the study's extensive data reinforces the importance of college and university administrators across the country being more attuned to how and when students' mental well-being changes during the school year.

"For the first time, we've produced granular data about the ebb and flow of student mental health. It's incredibly dynamic—there's nothing that's a steady state through the term, let alone through the year," he said. "These sorts of tools will have a tremendous impact on projecting forward and developing much more data-driven ways to intervene and respond exactly when students need it most."

First-year and female students are especially at risk for high anxiety and low self-esteem , the study finds. Among first-year students, self-esteem dropped to its lowest point in the first weeks of their transition from high school to college but rose steadily every semester until it was about 10% higher by graduation.

"We can see that students came out of high school with a certain level of self-esteem that dropped off to the lowest point of the four years. Some said they started to experience 'imposter syndrome' from being around other high-performing students," Campbell said. "As the years progress, though, we can draw a straight line from low to high as their self-esteem improves. I think we would see a similar trend class over class. To me, that's a very positive thing."

Female students—who made up 60% of study participants—experienced, on average, 5% greater stress levels and 10% lower self-esteem than male students. More significantly, the data show that female students tended to be less active, with male students walking 37% more often.

Sophomores were 40% more socially active compared to their first year, the researchers report. However, these students also reported feeling 13% more stressed than during their first year as their workload increased, they felt pressure to socialize, or as first-year social groups dispersed.

One student in a sorority recalled that having pre-arranged activities "kind of adds stress as I feel like I should be having fun because everyone tells me that it is fun." Another student noted that after the first year," students have more access to the whole campus, and that is when you start feeling excluded from things."

In a novel finding, the researchers identify an "anticipatory stress spike" of 17% experienced in the last two weeks of summer break. While still lower than mid-academic year stress, the spike was consistent across different summers.

In post-study interviews, some students pointed to returning to campus early for team sports. Others specified reconnecting with family and high school friends during their first summer home, saying they felt "a sense of leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of these long-standing friendships" as the break ended, the researchers report.

"This is a foundational study," said Subigya Nepal, first author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in Campbell's research group. "It has more real-time granular data than anything we or anyone else has provided before. We don't know yet how it will translate to campuses nationwide, but it can be a template for getting the conversation going."

The depth and accuracy of the study data suggest that mobile-sensing software could eventually give universities the ability to create proactive mental-health policies specific to certain student populations and times of year, Campbell said.

For example, a paper Campbell's research group published in 2022 based on StudentLife data showed that first-generation students experienced lower self-esteem and higher levels of depression than other students throughout their four years of college.

"We will be able to look at campus in much more nuanced ways than waiting for the results of an annual mental health study and then developing policy," Campbell said. "We know that Dartmouth is a small and very tight-knit campus community. But if we applied these same methods to a college with similar attributes, I believe we would find very similar trends."

Weathering the pandemic

When students returned home at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers found that self-esteem actually increased during the pandemic by 5% overall and by another 6% afterward when life returned closer to what it was before. One student suggested in their interview that getting older came with more confidence. Others indicated that being home led to them spending more time with friends, talking on the phone, on social media, or streaming movies together.

The data show that phone usage—measured by the duration a phone was unlocked—indeed increased by nearly 33 minutes, or 19%, during the pandemic, while time spent in physical activity dropped by 52 minutes, or 27%. By 2022, phone usage fell from its pandemic peak to just above pre-pandemic levels, while engagement in physical activity had recovered to exceed the pre-pandemic period by three minutes.

Despite reporting higher self-esteem, students' feelings of stress increased by more than 10% during the pandemic. Since the pandemic, stress fell by less than 2% of its pandemic peak, indicating that the experience had a lasting impact on student well-being, the researchers report.

In early 2021, as students returned to campus, the reunion with friends and community was tempered by an overwhelming concern of the still-rampant coronavirus. "There was the first outbreak in winter 2021 and that was terrifying," one student recalls. Another student adds, "You could be put into isolation for a long time even if you did not have COVID. Everyone was afraid to contact-trace anyone else in case they got mad at each other."

Female students were especially concerned about the coronavirus, on average 13% more than male students. "Even though the girls might have been hanging out with each other more, they are more aware of the impact," one female student reported. "I actually had COVID and exposed some friends of mine. All the girls that I told tested as they were worried. They were continually checking up to make sure that they did not have it and take it home to their family."

Students still learning remotely had social levels 16% higher than students on campus, who engaged in activity an average of 10% less often than when they were learning from home. However, on-campus students used their phones 47% more often. When interviewed after the study, these students reported spending extended periods of time video-calling or streaming movies with friends and family.

Social activity and engagement had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the study in June 2022, recovering by a little less than 3% after a nearly 10% drop during the pandemic. Similarly, the pandemic seems to have made students stick closer to home, with their distance traveled cut by nearly half during the pandemic and holding at that level in the time since.

Campbell and several of his fellow researchers are now developing a smartphone app known as MoodCapture that uses artificial intelligence paired with facial-image processing software to reliably detect the onset of depression before the user even knows something is wrong.

Provided by Dartmouth College

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Education | Students’ mental health challenges persist –…

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Education | power outages shut down service on two bart lines, education | students’ mental health challenges persist — bay area schools are doing something about it, wellness centers are helping students reduce stress and anxiety.

A correction to an earlier version of this article has been appended to the end of the article.

Sophia, an eighth grader at Monroe Middle School in San Jose, was trying to get through her first class, but her anxiety was making it impossible to calm down. She couldn’t focus on the lesson and worried she would get so upset that she’d cause a scene.

Sophia situated herself at the bracelet-making station. Her tension and anxiety started to ease.

“Coming here and having my own space and having my own alone time, that helps me calm down, and then I’m ready to go back,” said Sophia, who asked that her last name not be used.

This space is one of 19 wellness centers throughout Santa Clara County elementary, middle and high schools, providing students with a place to de-stress and learn coping strategies to help them get through the day. And it’s part of a growing trend as school districts across the Bay Area turn to a range of strategies to address a staggering crisis impacting young people around the country.

Nearly 30% of teenagers experience episodes of poor mental health each month, and more than 40% have persistent feelings of sadness, according to a decade-long survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention released in 2021. The isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the problem.

“With the separation and schools closed, we had already seen alarming upticks in social anxiety, anxiety writ large, early indications of depression and higher rates of suicide,” said Mary Ann Dewan, the superintendent of schools for Santa Clara County. “We saw an even greater opportunity to ensure that the school was centered as a place of wellness.”

Students can drop by centers before, during or after school or sign up for therapy sessions. Each space is designed to be a “Zen Den,” a calming environment where students can focus on their wellbeing by participating in self-care and relaxation.

School staff members also lead activities that range from bringing therapy animals to campus to rock painting to yoga classes. They provide mentorship when kids need an adult to talk to.

“A lot of kids have this perception that school isn’t going to help me at all. I do think that a wellness center allows them to see how the school is really there to serve you,” said Daisy Urisar Esquivel, the wellness center liaison at San Jose’s Monroe Middle School.

Teachers also benefit from these spaces. Now when a kid needs a moment to reset, they can be sent to a safe, supervised space instead of having to stick it out in class or get in trouble for potentially disrupting a class.

“As adults, we’re able to take breaks if we’re feeling kind of stressed, right? So it just makes sense why students should be able to take a break when they’re stressed out, when they’re anxious or when they’re not feeling up for it,” said Angelique Guzman, the wellness center specialist at Monroe.

Wellness Center staff member Daisy Urisar, right, works on a bead bracelet a student at Monroe Middle School on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Notes left on a board in the Wellness Center at Monroe Middle School on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

A student stacks blocks in the Wellness Center at Monroe Middle School on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

A student makes a bead bracelet in the Wellness Center at Monroe Middle School on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

By the fall of 2022, the centers already had received more than 10,000 student visits since the first ones opened fall 2021, and more than 97% of visitors said they would like to return.

While wellness centers have found success in Santa Clara County, other methods are being tried in the East Bay to alleviate mental health burdens among students.

At Oakland Unified, students voluntarily log online check-ins about their emotional state. Each week, kindergarten through 12th graders log into their student portals, either through their phones or school computers, and click on the Sown to Grow platform. The program screens for mental health issues by prompting kids to answer on a scale of 1 to 5 how they’re feeling that day and why.

The online resource utilizes AI to comb through student responses and flag any alarming text, such as suicidal ideation or self-harm tendencies, to teachers and school counselors. If a child has consistently low responses, it also triggers a response from a school administrator.

Students can track their own responses from week to week to see if they have experienced mood swings or made improvements to their mental health. So far, more than 80% of Oakland Unified schools have implemented the new tool.

Mental health experts said students will have better health outcomes if schools can catch and treat early signs of mental illness.

“School is a really important window of opportunity to identify kids that are at risk and reach out and try and link them to mental health services if they need it,” said Dr. Michele Berk, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at Stanford Medicine. “Having more resources, making them easy for kids to access, reducing any stigma to accessing those services, that would all go a long way.”

In late January, Kaiser Permanente granted Oakland Unified $9 million to spend on school health centers, social emotional learning initiatives and mental health screenings across the district’s 77 schools over the next three years. The district has also started a peer mentorship program where upperclassmen can mentor freshman and sophomore students.

Last year, then-sophomore Jose Alcantar struggled to keep his grades up at Oakland High School, but he made it his routine to go to the library after school and find support from other students until he felt confident in class again.

This year, he wanted to be the kind of student others could rely on for advice, so he became a peer mentor. Alcantar meets with students after school three days a week and guides mentees through whatever may be on their minds — academic challenges, problems at home, mental health issues, you name it.

“It could be a struggle for some kids to feel comfortable enough to talk to someone about their problems,” he said. “Being from Oakland, there’s obviously students here struggling, and it’s nice knowing we can help. As students, we relate with other students more so than adults.”

Correction March 11, 2024: An earlier version of this story misidentified the professional affiliation of Dr. Michele Berk, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at Stanford Medicine.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Bullying — Bullying Should Be Kicked From School

Bullying Should Be Kicked from School

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Mental Health

‘a condemnation’: under mental health strains, students weigh quitting college, by daniel mollenkamp     mar 12, 2024.

Photo By GoodStudio/ Shutterstock

When college students think about quitting, it’s most likely because of mental health strain or stress.

That’s according to the recent data from the “ State of Higher Education Study ,” conducted by the analytics company Gallup and the private foundation Lumina.

For the study, researchers interviewed 6,015 enrolled students, 5,012 formerly enrolled students who never completed their program and 3,005 adults who never enrolled in higher education. This particular study is part of a larger attempt to understand American attitudes about college when more people are questioning whether rising college costs are truly worth it, tracing back to the pandemic.

The most important lessons so far? How startlingly pressing concerns over mental health and well-being are for college enrollment and participation, according to one of the researchers.

Of all those surveyed for this latest study, 35 percent had contemplated “stopping out,” or ceasing to complete their coursework. However, despite small increases in college enrollment for Black and Hispanic students, the latest survey recorded that those students still consider leaving college at a higher rate. In the survey, 42 percent of Hispanic students reported they had considered stopping out, compared to 40 percent of Black students and 31 percent of white students.

Those numbers have remained relatively consistent over the past couple of years. But the reasons students are leaving have shifted.

Students now consider ceasing their postsecondary pursuits primarily because of emotional stress, mental health and cost, according to the report. And mental health and stress are at the top. The number of students tempted to leave college because of mental health or well-being has increased, with 54 percent of all students citing emotional stress — and 43 percent citing personal mental health — as reasons they’d leave.

While not shocking, it is disappointing.

The numbers rose during the pandemic, and researchers had hoped that this was a pandemic-related phenomenon and that the emotional stress students are feeling would decrease to pre-pandemic norms, says Stephanie Marken, a senior partner at Gallup who’s responsible for their education research division. But then, it remained at an all-time high. “I think that represents just a new normal,” Marken says.

An optimistic reading of these findings would be that students simply feel more comfortable sharing their struggles with researchers and so researchers are noticing higher levels of strain, Marken says. But there are other concerns: Inflation has forced people to work more and has triggered more financial stress, Marken notes. Financial issues can also manifest as stress and worry, making it much harder to engage with coursework, she adds. Students these days also tend to have more competing responsibilities with school than students a decade or two ago, Marken says, such as caregiving.

Regardless, at least one researcher is frightened that this may mean that more students will enroll in college only to then leave without a degree.

Students who start college but don’t finish are worse off than a student who never went in the first place, Marken says. They don’t see a pay bump from earning a certificate or degree. They possibly took out loans to go to school and also missed time in the workplace. They are also more likely to struggle to pay bills, Marken says.

Failure to solve the problem would be a significant loss in economic opportunity for the country, she says. After all, even with bloating costs, lifetime earnings are significantly greater for students who end their studies clutching a degree.

Laws of Attraction

Retaining students has become vital for colleges as well. As the number of traditional college-aged students has fallen into decline, some schools have even begun to wonder whether they can keep the doors open. For regional schools, it’s been particularly pronounced. With enrollment numbers down, schools may be eager to prevent the students they have from giving up.

Understanding why people leave is critical to keeping enrollment figures up, Marken argues. By investigating “stopping out,” the Gallup researchers were trying to comprehend whether colleges will continue to lose more students — and whether the “some college, no degree” population will continue to grow.

Based on this research, Marken thinks it will.

What about solutions? A lot of the money spent by institutions has been very much focused on providing support during moments of crisis, Marken says. That’s important, but less money has been spent “upstream,” helping students understand how they can also be more resilient within college, a necessarily complicated time in their lives.

It is very important that students get resources to build some resilience, so that they can bounce back from challenges experienced within day-to-day life in a way that does not cause them to potentially leave their program, Marken says. That means equipping students to feel connected to their community, assisting them to build a network and find their niche, which can help reduce loneliness. For example: offering networking opportunities and extracurricular activities that really are individualized to students.

Redirecting some money there, she says, could more proactively tackle the problem.

But in the meantime, the trend is disquieting.

“I'm really deeply concerned about the ‘some college, no degree’ population growth in the U.S.,” Marken concludes, adding, “I think it's a condemnation of our postsecondary education system, that we have this many learners who stopped out temporarily.”

Daniel Mollenkamp ( @dtmollenkamp ) is a reporter for EdSurge. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Technology-assisted Journal Writing for Improving Student Mental Wellbeing: Humanoid Robot vs. Voice Assistant

• Sayis, Batuhan
• Gunes, Hatice

Conversational agents have a potential in improving student mental wellbeing while assisting them in self-disclosure activities such as journalling. Their embodiment might have an effect on what students disclose, and how they disclose this, and students overall adherence to the disclosure activity. However, the effect of embodiment in the context of agent assisted journal writing has not been studied. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the viability of using social robots (SR) and voice assistants (VA) for eliciting rich disclosures in journal writing that contributes to mental health status improvement in students over time. Forty two undergraduate and graduate students participated in the study that assessed the mood changes (via Brief Mood Introspection Scale, BMIS), level of subjective self-disclosure (via Subjective Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, SSDQ), and perceptions toward the agents (via Robot Social Attributes Scale, RoSAS) with and without agent (SR or VA) assisted journal writing. Results suggest that only in robot condition there are mood improvements, higher levels of disclosure, and positive perceptions over time in technology-assisted journal writing. Our results suggest that robot assisted journal writing has some advantages over voice assistant one for eliciting rich disclosures that contributes to mental health status improvement in students over time.

• Computer Science - Human-Computer Interaction