Mental health has always had a negative stigma around it, making people feel inferior or weak if they want to talk about their feelings. According to an article from The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, written by Eliza Abdu-Glass, it states that “we are facing a true mental health crisis on our campuses,” for “73% of students experience some sort of mental health crisis during college.” This is not surprising to hear, as there are many physical and mental changes that go on when transition from being a senior in high school to a freshman in college.
Lucky, current college students here at SUNY Cortland are open to talking about their opinions on mental health. Talking with Jack Kelly, a sophomore and history education major, he states that “[he] think[s] for most people, mental health can be a difficult issue to talk about. [He’s] sure it is really difficult for professors to work around all their students’ mental health issues, which can cause students problems as well as how they perform in their classes.” This point emphasizes the domino effect of ignoring one’s mental health initially, can in turn hurt one’s academic career. This is supported by Julia Maher, a junior adolescent education major, for she briefly states, “college kids tend to have really bad mental health issues due to high levels of stress,” as the workload that college students receive only makes their mental health decline more.
In addition, most may not be aware of how gender affects one’s mental health. There are societal standards set regarding how much a man and woman can discuss their mental health. As for men, they struggle more, out of fear of being seen as ‘weak.’ A junior criminology major, Jonathan Rollo brings this up, “I do not believe that mental health is talked about enough. I know there is also a gender difference when it comes to this topic, for men rarely talk about anything they are struggling with, no matter how serious the issue may be.” There is a lack of knowledge as well as the level of discomfort men have in general to reach out for help if they need. Unfortunately, culturally speaking he makes a good point, as women can express themselves more freely, leaving men to deal with personal issues internally or try to ignore them.
Now, one of the more well-known ways SUNY Cortland has attempted to help students’ mental health is by bringing dogs into the student life center and even into some classes. Anthony Baumann, a junior and geographic information science major, states that, “the dogs being on campus always helps my own mental health. I think there should be more opportunities for students to visit and see animals.” Many students have animals at home, where they cannot see them every day, and this causes far more stress than those without pets may understand. It is proven how much happiness and joy dogs can bring to people, for there is more and more stories about schools bringing in dogs into classrooms.