I am so glad that as time moves forward, so does our acceptance for mental health. Although the stigma still exists and suicide is still a leading cause of death, we have come a long way. But we still have so far to go.

One of the arenas I see failing to treat mental health the way it should be treated is college campuses.

At my school, if you want to set up an appointment at the counseling center, it can take weeks before they manage to get you in. And if you choose to continue going, they'll probably tell you that they only have time to fit you in every 2-3 weeks.

Now I know my college, like many others, is trying extremely hard to be supportive of students' mental health. The fact that we can receive counseling for free is an amazing feat in itself. But I can't help but wonder, is this reactive way of shoving students into counseling that can only be offered a few times per semester really the best way to tackle mental health issues?

Now, I'm not saying counseling and therapy aren't great, because they can be very helpful for very many people. But research shows that many college students seek help for mental health due to anxiety. Often, this anxiety isn't even experienced until attending college.

Why are colleges so focused on trying to fix anxiety caused by the stress of school with counseling, instead of taking a proactive position and tackling the issue from a different view point? Maybe we should be treating anxiety caused by college by making college a less stressful environment. If college didn't cause anxiety in the first place, then we wouldn't need counseling.

But, in the mean time of figuring out how to do that, I suggest schools make counseling more available to students by hiring more staff and creating groups specific to targeting how to deal with anxiety so that everyone feels welcome to take care of their mental needs.