Wednesday, December 3, 2008 9:01 PM CST
Local higher education officials point to stress, anxiety as reasons students turn to drinking and substance abuse
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
A new study indicating that alcohol and substance abuse are still prevalent on campuses while nearly half of college-age Americans has had a “psychotic disorder” comes as no surprise to officials at area higher education institutions.
They link the trends reported in Monday’s Archives of General Psychiatry to changes in culture that have been occurring for some time, although mental health issues are catching up with drinking and drug abuse in terms of their importance to educators and health officials.
“Historically, alcohol and other drug use has been regarded as one of the highest issues related to student life by senior level administrators; mental health and violence issues have quickly joined alcohol and substance abuse within recent years,” said Eric S. Davidson, associate director of the Eastern Illinois University Health Service.
“Often, they go together hand-in-hand.”
The study, “Mental Health of College Students and Their Non-College-Attending Peers,” found the overall rate of psychotic disorders among young people was similar between those enrolled in a higher education institution and those who were not; in both groups, almost half had a psychiatric disorder at some point over the previous year.
However, the risk of alcohol use disorders was “significantly greater” for those in college when “sociodemographic characteristics” were not taken into account, said the study. At the same time, college students were less likely to be diagnosed for drug or nicotine dependence than their non-college peers, and bipolar disorders also were less common on campuses.
But college students also were not as likely to have received treatment for alcohol or drug abuse than those not in college. Overall, less than one-quarter of young people with a mental disorder even sought treatment, according to the study.
“The results are not surprising,” said Dan Nadler, vice president for Student Affairs and an associate professor at EIU.
He said his reviews of national data about new students over the last decade “consistently indicated that students are more frequently feeling anxious, overwhelmed and depressed.”
Eric G. Mueller, coordinator of Disability Services at Lake Land College south of Mattoon, also was less than surprised by the study. “With the way that society is changing, so much seems to be in flux,” he said.
“The basic fabric of the family structure seems stretched. Student schedules and future expectations have become overwhelming and they find it difficult to cope in a society which expects them to be contributing members.”
Davidson pointed out that researchers based the new study on interviews with young people in 2001 and 2002. “As a result of the traumatic events (during and after Sept. 11, 2001), it is important to remember that some periodic increases in alcohol and substance use were observed, mainly as students feared the end of their worlds,” he said.
So what is being done?
At EIU, officials have added two more counselors and more graduate interns, increased the college’s part-time psychiatrist’s hours and ramped up its outreach efforts, prompting “a significant increase in the number of our students visiting the Counseling Center,” Nadler said.
Thanks to outreach and prevention initiatives at EIU over the last three years, the Charleston university has also seen “significant decreases in excessive drinking and the related negative consequences,” Nadler said.
Proactive strategies such as the online AlcoholEdu program, the off-campus Good Neighbor outreach program and other workshops and groups sessions for alcohol and substance abusers have been successful, Nadler said, adding that EIU has stepped up enforcement of alcohol policies.
At Lake Land, Mueller said, “We do not treat the illness; we work with the student.”
He also said young people in general are not being taught how to deal with all that is overwhelming. “A combination of family, school and community ... needs to help these students cope,” Mueller said.
“The rates of substance abuse and alcoholism among adolescents frightens me. I see it as a direct cry for help that they are feeling unable to handle the world and its challenges, situations and changes.
“They need to be empowered that they can achieve so much without the use of drugs and alcohol.”
Davidson said it is interesting that college-bound high school students are less likely to drink than their peers not planning on continuing their education, but once their lives progress beyond high school graduation, this type of behavior flip-flops, as indicated by the new study.
“The environmental context associated with alcohol on all college campuses is a major contributor to the higher rates observed; non-students generally do not have the environmental influences that allow them to use alcohol as frequently and excessively as their collegiate counterparts,” said Davidson.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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The Cleveland Steamer wrote on Dec 4, 2008 12:38 PM: