I'm a senior in college and have had a variety of teachers in my years in school. There are the ones who want to teach more than their curriculum to their students and others who just do the standard protocol and make the minimum past rate for the year. But something that I've been pondering on for a while now.

"Do teachers/professors care about the mental health of their students?"

I (Almost) Dropped Out of College www.youtube.com

With midterms going on for the entire fall season, students have pushed themselves to their breaking point. They've skipped meals, lost hours of sleep, and even skipped classes or cut back on work to have more hours to study since there aren't more than 24 hours in a day. I've had weeks where I had three exams in one week, on some occasions back to back as if it was finals week. Millennials are looked at as "The Lazy Generation" but that is untrue. We are "The Hustle Generation" because nothing is easy for us and we know that. We're full-time students, work part-time and even full-time jobs, outside clubs, internships, some of us having our own families. College isn't about just partying and getting out in four years time. But the reality is that it isn't that at all.

The Kids Are Not All Right: College Mental Health Needs an Intervention www.youtube.com

College campuses have started offering student counseling in recent years due to the high rising number in mental health statistics in college students in the mental health sector. Recent Statistics show that one out of every four students is diagnosed with a mental illness. The top five issues found in college students include Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, Eating Disorders, and Suicide. But it feels as though teachers and professors have been ignoring these facts for years. We constantly ask them why do they torture us like this or didn't they go through the same struggle in college so why would you do the same to your own students.

We come home on weekends and holiday breaks and we're are strangers to the people around us. Our friends see how we've lost interested in being outside and doing activities. Our parents see that the energy and faith in yourself are gone and that depression has taken over their bodies and minds. They underestimated what college would do to you after one semester, one year, or three years. You're haven't been physically injured but have been mentally and emotionally beaten by your surroundings.

College Student Opens Up About Depression And Anxiety www.youtube.com

In a poll survey, 84% of college students feel as though their professors don't care about students mental stability and ability to go about completing assignments. 46% have experienced anxiety on more than one occasion and 67% are currently going through depression and only 34% is being treated for it. I asked several students this question and got a variety of answers.

"Their jobs are to educate. They don't care about our well being at all."

"I've had professors give us three hours worth of homework over thanksgiving break, the one week in the semester that is my actual vacation from school."

"Mental health is just as important as physical health."

"I had two exams back to back in the same week, one on Thursday and one on Friday. I asked one of my professors if I could take the exam a day early so I could have time to study for both and he said it's not his job to accommodate for "my schedule". I wasn't asking for a free pass. I just asked if I could take a test early rather than take a test that I know i won't be fully focused or prepared for."

"If a student isn't okay mentally they can't learn."

"They keep asking why our class average is getting lower with every exam, but at the same time they don't realize they're making the material hard enough so we don't pass at all."

"Teachers need to keep in check what is going on with them in class as well as at home."

"I feel like professors don't understand what we go through mentally and it's something we can't just push to the side."

"They think their class should be our number one priority like we don't have 15 hours of other classes to worry about."

"The only reason for a professor to cancel class is when there's a state of emergency and they still don't want to cancel class when the school says so."

"Suicide is occurring at a younger age."

"I asked my professor if I could take an exam the following week because my dad had passed away over the weekend and she didn't believe me. I told her I wasn't in the mental capacity to be in school and all she could say was that it isn't her priority to give a student special treatment. When I told my mom, she came straight down to the school to come to get me and told my teacher off for not believing me. The woman just lost her husband so she didn't want her daughter to go through an even more tougher time."

So where do we go from here? We need to have an open dialogue and conversation with both sides and come to an understanding where both parties can understand where the other is coming from. Because if we don't come to an understanding, neither of these groups are going to win int he ends and it will just be a mess for everyone and this cycle will continue to the point where the college will be seen as a place that will mentally disable you.

Remember that Mental Health Is Just As Important As Physical Health.

If you or anyone you know is currently struggling with mental illness, don't be afraid of seeking help or treatment.