- Students
- Higher level institution
- Parents
- Student advisors
Depression itself directly affects the student body's health and well being; both the atmosphere of the school and the success of students rely on the health of the students, whether it be physical or mental. Institutions that have high rates of depression tend to be looked at with caution during the application process; if the student is looking to spend the next four years of their life at a school, it shouldn't be somewhere that will provide enough stress to push students towards mental instability. Parents definitely beyond anything want good health for their children.
With respect to possible interventions that could be made, a major factor for depression is extreme stress and a sense of hopelessness. Certain financial and academic situation may be the major triggers for depression. As such, increasing the availability of on campus resources when under a lot of stress or other issues would be extremely beneficial to the students. However, at the same time there would be the issue of funding said programs and providing staff available to speak and provide help to the students in question. The institution itself must be willing to invest resources, both monetary and human, to curbing the rates of depression. They will not go down without options being there to help the process along. Advisors of students could help students by directing them on the proper schedules to make such that workloads aren't overwhelming and the quality of student life isn't hindered by taking too many credits. Parents can be advised not to place excessive importance on doing well in school verses enjoying the time that is spent in college. The biggest intervention would be the increased amount of on-campus counseling resources to reach out to troubled students. However, this would require the most effort on the side of the school using its budget to fund it. Colleges may be reluctant to allocate many funds to such a cause and may be against the idea in general.
Jeffrey! Great blog! I feel like there could be a few more stakeholders however... For example teachers. But, other then that I think you are on the right track! Keep up the great work!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat thought process through your blog.
ReplyDeleteOther stakeholders may include teachers (as Tommy says), existing student assistance services like counselors or something like that.
While you mention several stakeholders, the concerns you mention are only of the student and the parents. What concerns would the student advisors have for example?
You correctly identify that increasing the availability of on campus resources when under a lot of stress will assist in alleviating the problem - but then don't immediately follow up with specifics on what you mean by this.
What resources are you talking about? Are you increasing the number of counselors? Help phone lines?
Help us understand what the issue of funding may not be able to cover.
How might you address the issue of colleges being reluctant to allocate funds to counseling resources?
How do you think parents may react when you advise them not to place excessive importance on their children doing well in school? Do you think they will agree? How might you address any resistance?