Help Seeking Among Students: Barriers that Prevent Undergraduates from Getting Mental Health Support
Mentor 1
Sarah Riforgiate
Start Date
16-4-2021 12:00 AM
Description
Depression is a rising issue among college students. There are a multitude of negative short-term and long-term effects when one’s mental health has declined, making it important to seek assistance for mental health challenges. Further, being a college student requires an active, healthy mind. However, many students who need assistance are not seeking the help they need to stay afloat. Self or societal stigma often prevents a person who needs assistance with mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.) from seeking out assistance. Therefore, it is important to study how college students communicate about their mental health, seek mental health support, and the barriers that prevent them from asking for assistance. For this qualitative study I will interview undergraduate students who self-identify as having a mental health condition and volunteer for the study. The interviews will focus on what kinds of mental health help they seek, how they go about seeking it, what sort of barriers stop them from seeking assistance, and what support they received in return. I will then complete a thematic analysis and discuss the study findings. This study will further the understanding about college student help seeking communication behaviors for mental health issues and provide suggestions to students to access mental health resources. The findings will also help organizations to better support students. With the results of the study, I hope to find more ways students can be supported, as well as encouraged to get help when they need it.
Help Seeking Among Students: Barriers that Prevent Undergraduates from Getting Mental Health Support
Depression is a rising issue among college students. There are a multitude of negative short-term and long-term effects when one’s mental health has declined, making it important to seek assistance for mental health challenges. Further, being a college student requires an active, healthy mind. However, many students who need assistance are not seeking the help they need to stay afloat. Self or societal stigma often prevents a person who needs assistance with mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.) from seeking out assistance. Therefore, it is important to study how college students communicate about their mental health, seek mental health support, and the barriers that prevent them from asking for assistance. For this qualitative study I will interview undergraduate students who self-identify as having a mental health condition and volunteer for the study. The interviews will focus on what kinds of mental health help they seek, how they go about seeking it, what sort of barriers stop them from seeking assistance, and what support they received in return. I will then complete a thematic analysis and discuss the study findings. This study will further the understanding about college student help seeking communication behaviors for mental health issues and provide suggestions to students to access mental health resources. The findings will also help organizations to better support students. With the results of the study, I hope to find more ways students can be supported, as well as encouraged to get help when they need it.
