Depression. Anxiety disorders. Bipolar disorder. When you hear these words, what do you think of? Mental illnesses are drastically becoming more prevalent in our nation as time goes on, but yet there is still such a strong stigma against them and many that seek help don’t get they help they need, specifically in college students. Every student and every parent should be aware of this information.

Lets take a look at some numbers:

The statistics for mental illnesses in our country have increased tremendously. Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the United States experience mental illness in one given year. That is 43.8 million people suffering. 10 million of those people are experiencing a serious mental illness that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. Children are affected just as severely, with approximately 1 in 5 youth aged teens (13-18-year-olds) experience a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is only 8.4 percent less than teens.

All of these numbers are powerful and can be hard to swallow but the statistic that really hit me hard was that 1 in 4 college students deals with some kind of mental health issue.

These numbers aren't just numbers; they put this all into perspective. These statistics make the illnesses at hand become much more real to someone who may have never experienced firsthand how detrimental they can be. Seeing how many college students struggle and how little of them seek help shows that this is a serious issue.

I suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and I can finally, truthfully say that I am not ashamed of it. It has been hard to make it through the day without excessive, unrealistic worrying and tension that brings on serious anxiety attacks. But even though I have struggled with this for years, I have honestly never known how bad I had it until those very close to me sat me down and talked to me about it, which apparently is very common, according to my therapist. That fear, stress, and (obviously) anxiety brings on such panic that I have actually believed I was having a heart attack. I have finally realized that I don't want to live every day of my life with this anxiety and that I needed to talk to my therapist about it to see what my options are.

Unfortunately, I do not feel comfortable going to any school counseling services and finally, after a story on The Today Show, I realized I am not alone. I have always been told that colleges and universities handle students suffering from mental illnesses in a very drastic way and apparently many students never seek help because of this. A six month long investigation involving 22 students at 10 different schools dove deep and revealed a troubling explanation as to why these students are suffering in silence.

A student named Jasmine was involved in the story on The Today Show and she explained to reporter, Ronan Farrow, that she was struggling from depression, never wanted to kill herself, but sought out help from her school's counseling service. Shockingly, what happened next was the furthest thing from the help she really needed. She said she was immediately brought to a psychiatric hospital by ambulance, which was "really embarrassing" and obviously very public. They told her the visit would be just for a few days but forced her to stay for two weeks and then she had a meeting with school officials, where they told her she was no longer a student and had to leave campus immediately; being forced to move out within 48 hours.

This became a growing controversy after the investigation. "Forced mental leaves are risky business", says Sara Abelson, a woman from Active Minds (a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising mental health awareness among college students). How could anyone believe that forcing a student to leave school due to a mental illness would be helpful? Abelson goes on to say that forced mental leaves "are not ethical and they are not effective".

Schools are concerned with the potential risk of student suicide, which is, according to Dr. Victor Schwartz (The Jed Foundation), "for one thing, a bad PR problem for the school". If these forced mental leaves are causing students to keep their illness bottled up and not get help in fear of being sent home, then schools' counseling services are failing at their job.

Some students who were sent home against their will were eventually allowed to re-apply to their college. Thanks to The Today Show, their voices could be heard as they fight back against this reoccurring, horrible solution to an illness. A student named Rachel was sent home for depression and self-harm. She "had to get on a stretcher and be taken to the locked ward of the ER". While she was still institutionalized, she received a letter from her school saying that she could not return as a student at that time and if she did want to eventually return, she had to re-apply. Rachel did re-apply and when she was accepted as a student again, she wrote an article about her struggles and the help- or lack thereof, that was provided from the school.

Students all over the country are demanding change. Four students said they were strapped to a gurney and brought to a psych ward. One described the experience to be "terrifying".

You can watch the entire story here.

I agree with those fighting against these horrible forced mental leaves and I am fighting back too. Colleges need to care for their students in a morally correct way. There are much more effective alternatives in getting students help, one being the counseling service actually counseling! Therapy is incredibly beneficial; sometimes people just need to talk to someone. Sometimes medication is the best route.

Either way, kicking a student out of a college because of an illness should never be an option. Help me spread the word of this unethical and ineffective result to a student trying to better themselves.