11 Mental Health Among College Students Tomia Willingham Sophia Learning Eng 215 March 14, 2021 Introduction Going to college can be demanding for many people. In addition to managing academic insistence, many students have to cope with their families' complex separation tasks. At the same time, some of them continue to deal with a lot of many family duties. Mental health experts and advocates contend that it is an epidemic that colleges need to investigate further. Depression, anxiety disorders are some of the significant mental health issues that affect college students. The effects of suicidal ideas on university students' academic achievement have not been explored, yet mental health conditions are associated with academic achievement (De Luca et al., 2016). A novel coronavirus has worsened the situation of mental health. Even before the onset of this virus, there was concern from mental health policymakers in America because of the rising mental health challenges. They claimed a need for additional aid for struggling university students and the capability for these institutions to provide it. Regrettably, many university students with mental health conditions do not seek and receive the necessary treatment. The primary reasons for not pursuing help include thinking that the challenge will get better with time, stigma from their peers and no time to seek the treatment because of a busy schedule (Corrigan et al. 2016). Without this treatment, college students experiencing medical conditions most of the time get lower grades, drop out of college, immerse themselves into substance abuse, or become unemployed. Because these mental health conditions are invisible, they can only be seen through academic performance or social behavior change. Should universities strike a balance between mental health conditions and academics? This review will conclude that the mental health condition of university students and scholars should be balanced. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You need to answer this question and present the answer as the thesis at the end of this paragraph. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: This is not a review essay—it is an argumentative or persuasive essay. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: What does this mean—should be balanced? By what? For what? And, by whom? Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: This paragraph is too long. See: https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/parts-of-an-essay/paragraph-structure.cfm Effects of not Balancing Mental Health and Academics There are consequences of not balancing mental health and academics in higher learning institutions, mainly if they do not receive any treatment. For example, if depression goes untreated, it raises the chances of risky behavior like substance abuse. The condition affects how students sleep, eat, and it also affects how students think. Also, students cannot concentrate in class, and they cannot make rational decisions. By lack of concent ...

1. 11
Mental Health Among College Students
Tomia Willingham
Sophia Learning
Eng 215
March 14, 2021
Introduction
Going to college can be demanding for many people. In addition
to managing academic insistence, many students have to cope
with their families' complex separation tasks. At the same time,
some of them continue to deal with a lot of many family duties.
Mental health experts and advocates contend that it is an
epidemic that colleges need to investigate further. Depression,
anxiety disorders are some of the significant mental health
issues that affect college students. The effects of suicidal ideas
on university students' academic achievement have not been
explored, yet mental health conditions are associated with
academic achievement (De Luca et al., 2016). A novel
coronavirus has worsened the situation of mental health. Even
before the onset of this virus, there was concern from mental
health policymakers in America because of the rising mental

2. health challenges. They claimed a need for additional aid for
struggling university students and the capability for these
institutions to provide it. Regrettably, many university students
with mental health conditions do not seek and receive the
necessary treatment. The primary reasons for not pursuing help
include thinking that the challenge will get better with time,
stigma from their peers and no time to seek the treatment
because of a busy schedule (Corrigan et al. 2016). Without this
treatment, college students experiencing medical conditions
most of the time get lower grades, drop out of college, immerse
themselves into substance abuse, or become unemployed.
Because these mental health conditions are invisible, they can
only be seen through academic performance or social behavior
change. Should universities strike a balance between mental
health conditions and academics? This review will conclude that
the mental health condition of university students and scholars
should be balanced. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You need to
answer this question and present the answer as the thesis at the
end of this paragraph. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: This is
not a review essay—it is an argumentative or persuasive essay.
Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: What does this mean—
should be balanced? By what? For what? And, by whom?
Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: This paragraph is too long.
See: https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-
resources/writing-center/writing-resources/parts-of-an-
essay/paragraph-structure.cfm
Effects of not Balancing Mental Health and Academics
There are consequences of not balancing mental health and
academics in higher learning institutions, mainly if they do not
receive any treatment. For example, if depression goes
untreated, it raises the chances of risky behavior like substance
abuse. The condition affects how students sleep, eat, and it also
affects how students think. Also, students cannot concentrate in
class, and they cannot make rational decisions. By lack of
concentration, students may be having many essays in the same
week they are undertaking their finals. This means that such a

3. student will stay up for long hours to complete the papers and
prepare for the finals. In the process, the student interrupts the
sleeping cycle, and concentrating during the finals may be
complex, leading to failure. This means that academic
performance will be impacted negatively. Comment by Dr.
Helen Doss: You need to provide a background information
paragraph to define key terms and provide context Comment by
Dr. Helen Doss: Who? Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You
need sources for the claims in this paragraph
Depression is a common source of suicidal thoughts among
college students. Kibbey, Fedorenko & Farris (2020) claim that
mental health conditions such as Depression have worsened
because of COVID-19. They assert that after colleges were
closed after the virus outbreak, many people, including
students, were confined at home, and those who were accessing
counseling services could not do so at home. This caused the
elevation of psychological anguish among college students. On
the other hand, many college students diagnosed with anxiety
disorder usually experience challenges functioning on campus.
It decreases the students' academic performance and potency.
More acute levels of anxiety may cause incomplete assignments
and fail of tests. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: Do not
capitalize Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You need sources for
the claims in this paragraph
Further, college students who suffer from anxiety disorder may
drop out of college. Transitioning from secondary school to
university is a challenge for many students because it involves a
distinct environment, new people, and course work. There is a
high probability of a mental health condition for students who
did not prepare well for this transition. Also, international
students face mental health conditions when they join college.
Many exhibit long periods of sadness and signs of Depression
because living away from family at such a tender age and
experiencing a whole contemporary culture can cause mental
instability. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You need sources
for the claims in this paragraph

4. Tackling Mental Health Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: ? Use
formal language:
https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/2bi.html
There are several things that university officials can do to foster
positive emotional assistance to students. These measures will
help curb the dropout rates and assist students in having mental
health and academic balance. Firstly, colleges should expand
counseling services. Universities spend a lot of money on extra-
curricular activities and fall short in coming up with measures
that provide mental care to their students. As a consequence,
students face a lot of challenges with their mental stability.
Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You need sources for the
claims in this paragraph
Further, many students who need this help may be reluctant to
seek out help because of stigma. Bharadwaj, Pai & Suziedelyte
(2017) claim there is a lot of stigmatization of people suffering
from mental health conditions. Many students may decide not to
seek help because they are afraid of what their peers will say.
For those students who look for counseling services in their
institutions, there is a high probability that they will wait for
long before seeing a counselor. Other institutions limit the
number of sessions disregarding the needs of individual
students. Students in colleges may benefit if their institutions
add more counselors and establish peer assistance teams for
students with various health conditions. Setting a more
extensive counseling department will assist students who need
help, and their academic performance will rise. Comment by
Dr. Helen Doss: What help? Be specific Comment by Dr. Helen
Doss: ? Use formal language:
https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/2bi. html Comment by
Dr. Helen Doss: You need more sources for the claims in this
paragraph
According to some experts, almost a quarter of all university
students have been determined to suffer from a mental health
condition or be treated professionally. They feel deserted and
feel like they are in the battle alone. It is paramount for

5. universities to invite mental health experts and speakers to talk
to first-year students during their orientation sessions
(Bruffaerts et al., 2018). These speakers can reach out to
students transitioning from high school and international
students who may be far from their parents. These freshmen will
feel they are not alone in this new life. Colleges should strive to
work closely with international students because they are
unique to this culture, and they do not comprehend how things
are done. Prieto‐ Welch, (2016) contends that working closely
with them will reduce stress levels and that lack of sensitizing
these students may lead to depression. Comment by Dr. Helen
Doss: Who? Be specific
These colleges should also incorporate wellness sessions in the
curriculum, particularly in situations such as the one the world
is undergoing of the novel coronavirus. Also, colleges must
encourage school-life equilibrium. Each lesson that a student
attends should change them. Nevertheless, students should not
leave a lecture session feeling like they have been running a
marathon on an empty stomach. At times, stress from these
lecture sessions may be too much to handle, and universities
should encourage professors to design their courses in a manner
that pushes students without overwhelming them. Officials must
comprehend that many college students today have a job and
attend lectures at the same time. The rising cost of living means
that students can even take full-time employment to buy books
and reduce students' loans. This schedule may create stress, and
thus, colleges should encourage students to balance their school
and life. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: You need sources for
the claims in this paragraph
Colleges should also offer students life skill lessons because
these students have extra freedom than they can handle. They
may lose some of the social networks they had in high school,
and they do not have parents around to guide them. Being alone
heaps a lot of pressure on the students, and they may suffer
from anxiety and Depression. Colleges should incorporate life
skills in their curriculum to teach students ideas such as

6. scheduling, budgeting, and other crafts (Roh & Kim, 2015).
When university students feel assisted by the institution, they
can manage their mental health and academics. Many
universities are plagued by gender-based violence, and women
are more vulnerable to sexual harassment. Today, there is a lot
of hate going around in colleges, and the LGBTQ are prone to
bullying, which leads to Depression and lowered grades.
Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: ? do you mean “cannot
handle”
Benefits of Positive Mental Health Comment by Dr. Helen
Doss: Is this section necessary? These seem obvious. Or, place
it in the conclusion.
Once colleges put in place measures to promote mental health
care, some benefits accrue. The campus's reputation is raised,
and every student across the globe wants to join the institutions,
which means that the economic gains will also increase. A
college with no dropouts will maximize its financial revenue.
Further academic benefits will again rise because students who
have mental stability will raise their grades. Suppose
universities cannot balance the mental health and academic
performance of their students. In that case, it is bound to lose
economically because no parent wishes to take their children to
an institution with a high turnover of suicide cases.
Additionally, these colleges may also get funding from various
donors for promoting mental health in their campuses (Barry et
al., 2019). Further, the self-esteem of the students’ increases
when they do not have any mental condition. When the esteem
is up, students become more innovative in class, and many
discoveries may happen. Another benefit of stable mental health
is time management. Many students today work, and they need
to manage their time. When an institution focuses on its
students' mental health, it will follow that students can manage
their life well. They will go to work, attend lectures, and hand
in their assignments on time. But professors must also work
with students to give them ample time to complete their
projects. Finally, society also benefits because the number of

7. people involved in antisocial behavior decreases. People who
drop out of college are engaged in many social mischiefs, and
when colleges retain these students, society will be made up of
people who will benefit the community.
Counter Argument Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: This needs
development
A counterargument to the claim is that students with mental
health instability are bound to have a poor academic
performance. Although some students suffer from these
conditions, they brave the needs and improve their grades.
Although some of these conditions lead to poor academic
performance, we cannot solely attribute this failure to mental
health. Some students have had certain mental conditions since
elementary school, but they find their way to prestigious
colleges worldwide. Some students give up fast and see
themselves dropping out of college. Comment by Dr. Helen
Doss: Where is the rebuttal?
Conclusion Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: Where is the
reiteration of your thesis?
In conclusion, mental health is an important topic not only for
university students but the whole society. Many people,
including university students, suffer from one or more mental
conditions. In universities, it is upon leaders to develop ways to
lower mental health conditions, such as expanding the
counseling division. The department should be staffed all the
time, and these counselors should not limit the number of times
a student visits. When colleges improve their students' mental
health, it will benefit financially, and it will also attract a lot of
students and donors because everyone wants to be associated
with an institution whose academic performance is high. The
mental health of students is good. However, some people
contend that poor academic performance should not be blamed
on adverse mental health because students have these conditions
and perform well in college. Comment by Dr. Helen Doss:
What does this mean?

8. References Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: New page and
centered
Barry, M. M., Clarke, A. M., Petersen, I., & Jenkins, R. (Eds.).
(2019). Implementing mental health promotion. Springer
Nature.
Bharadwaj, P., Pai, M. M., & Suziedelyte, A. (2017).
Mental health stigma. Economics Letters 159, 57-60.
Bruffaerts, R., Mortier, P., Kiekens, G., Auerbach, R. P.,
Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., ... & Kessler, R. C. (2018).
Mental health problems in first-year college students:
Prevalence and academic functioning. Journal of affective
disorders, 225, 97-103.
Corrigan, P. W., Kosyluk, K. A., Markowitz, F., Brown, R. L.,
Conlon, B., Rees, J., ... & Al-Khouja, M. (2016). Mental illness
stigma and disclosure in college students. Journal of Mental
Health, 25(3), 224-230.
De Luca, S. M., Franklin, C., Yueqi, Y., Johnson, S., &
Brownson, C. (2016). The relationship between suicide ideation,
behavioral health, and college academic performance.
Community mental health journal, 52(5), 534-540.
Kibbey, M. M., Fedorenko, E. J., & Farris, S. G. (2020).
Anxiety, Depression, and health anxiety in undergraduate
students living in initial US outbreak "hotspot"
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cognitive Behavior Therapy,
1-13.
Roh, Y. S., & Kim, S. S. (2015). Integrating problem-based
learning and simulation: Effects on student motivation and life
skills. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 33(7), 278-284.
Pathos strives to appeal to emotions, and they try to convince
people of a claim by developing an emotional reaction. In this
essay, Prieto‐ Welch, (2016) applies pathos when he contends
that international students may suffer from mental health if
colleges do not induct them correctly into the contemporary
culture. Pathos gives a method for the audience to link to the

9. subject through emotions.
I would like to know whether my essay's organization was
proper and whether my paper had clarity. Also, I would like to
know whether my report followed a logical order. Comment by
Dr. Helen Doss: It needs some work, but it is a good start
Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: It could have been more
clear with a s strong thesis and use of more sources with in-text
citations Comment by Dr. Helen Doss: Somewhat—see my
notes above. You made a strong effort.
Touchstone 3.2 Rubric and Feedback
Rubric Category
Feedback
Score (acceptable, needs improvement etc.)
Argument Development and Support
The thesis needs development/refinement. The argument is not
fully developed as a result; while it is supported by some
relevant details, including rhetorical appeals and source
material, some aspects of the argument are neglected—
counterargument and rebuttal need development and inclusion,
in the case of the rebuttal.
34/40
Research
Does not cite outside sources consistently; needs to incorporate
more credible sources effectively through direct quotation,
paraphrase, or summary.
24/30
Organization
Includes most of the required components of an argumentative
research paper; sequences ideas and paragraphs such that the
connections between ideas (within and between paragraphs) are

10. mostly clear. But, some paragraphs are too long and need to be
reorganized and connected with transitional statements. The
conclusion needs development. There is at least one section
missing and one that could be eliminated or moved to the
conclusion.
12/15
Style
Demonstrates generally effective style choices, but includes
occasional redundancies, imprecise language, poor word choice,
and/or repetitive sentence structures.
4/5
Conventions
There are errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling,
capitalization, formatting, and usage.
3/5
Reflection
Demonstrates reflection; includes insights, observations, and/or
examples, following response length guidelines.
5/5
Overall Score and Feedback: 82/100
Thanks for your hard work, here, on a compelling and important
topic. You have a ton of good content and ideas in your essay.
Focus on refining the thesis, updating the argument, completing
and formatting quotations, organizing paragraphs more
effectively, and updating your reference list. Good luck! Dr.
Doss