Starting college can be a time of fun, new experiences and growth. Yet it can also be a rough transition for many students who struggle with mental health issues.
A new study from researchers in the United Kingdom and Canada found about one-third of first-year students have or develop moderate to severe anxiety or depression.
When these young adults had increasing use of illicit drugs, they had greater odds of developing high levels of anxiety or depression. Yet if they were more socially active, their mental health tended to be better.
While the research involved college freshmen in Canada, experts say the findings also apply to college students in the United States. “We’ve been seeing that the mental health of college students has been deteriorating,” said Dr. Rachel Conrad, director of young adult mental health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She was not involved in the study.
Read more from U.S. News & World Report here
