Moving onto college is one of the biggest life changes that young adults have to go through. It's full of laughs, tears and memories for years to come. One of the biggest concerns among these incoming college students isn't which party they're going to, but rather mental disorders. Mental disorders can include a range of things from schizophrenia to OCD, but my main concerns are anxiety and depression. More and more students are suffering from these two illnesses than ever before, and it's important for people to be educated so that they can stay healthy while they work towards their degrees.

The Center for Collegiate Mental Health in Penn State released their finds in 2015 regarding the mental health of college students, and the results are what should shock you. Their reports describe 100,000 college students seeking mental health services across the span of 140 universities and colleges nation-wide. Some of the most jarring statistics they've found include: one in two have been to counseling, one in three have taken psychiatric medicine, one in four have self-harmed, and an astounding one in three have considered suicide. That means that for every threepeople you know at leastone of them have considered suicide. I can think of three people right off of the top of my head, and I know that statistic to be true. I'm not stating these facts to scare anyone or make it seem as though college students are these crazy unstable beings, but I believe in educating yourself for the sake of health.

Students are reporting higher levels of anxiety than ever before, and this can be due to pressure from parents, poor time management and especially genetics. Anxiety is one of the hardest things to deal with, and that's especially true when you're a student. It can feel like you're being overwhelmed every waking minute. You find yourself worrying more and more about what others think when they see you. For students with anxiety, it isn't so easy to lean over and ask a stranger to borrow a pen because all you can think about for the rest of the class is how that person must be angry that you took their pen. When you wait in line for your delicious golden brown nuggets from Chick-fil-A you can't help but think about how many people are standing around you doing the same thing, and it makes your chest pound. Anxiety is a hard illness to deal with and for quite a few students, it seems as though medicating is the only answer, but I'll address more solutions later.

Depression is the next problem to tackle when assessing the mental health of students. A recent study done by UCLA on their incoming freshman class showed that the emotional health of these students was at its lowest point in 30 years. Their statistics also stated that nearly one in 10 students were depressed, and this was out of the 153,000 students surveyed. These numbers are only going to keep going up. Students suffering from depression will likely skip out on classes and club activities because of the deafening sadness and overwhelming hopelessness they feel. From personal experience I know this to be true.

The only way to help these students is to face their problems head on and unabashed. Parents and children are still being very hush-hush about mental disorders and it's because of this that there's a continual perpetuation of shame that comes along with having a mental disorder. Students shouldn't be afraid to go to an adult for help or to seek their own help. The first step is to diagnose and accept that there's a problem and seek assistance, be it through the school or outside sources. Many colleges have their own care facilities and psychological services that students are welcome to go to for free. FAU is full of these: from aromatherapy bags andbiodotsin the Owls Care office to mindfulness groups and psychiatric services inCAPS. There are many resources all over campus and all you have to do is open your laptop and look.

I think that the more people educate themselves the better they'll feel. In my own dorm, two out of the four people living here are on prescription medication. More than half of my friends are medicating themselves to numb the aching and gnawing pains that they suffer every day. I, too, have went to seek help and medicate myself so that I could become a better and happier person. I want more students to know about the readily available access they have to help when they need it. Being a full or even half-time student is hard, but it's even more difficult when you're trying to deal with your brain screaming in your head. I believe that if more people can get themselves helped, or even if their friends can get them help, colleges will begin to see an increase in positivity and great mental health. One student at a time.