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A typical college student recognizes the importance of maintaining good mental health. The student would admit that it is essential to seek help when necessary, but in practice, it may take some time before visiting a psychologist or any other healthcare professional. The gap between recognizing the need for professional help and taking steps towards seeking such help can be very significant in the case of young adults.

Why Does Such a Gap Exist? In fact, the problem may be rather complicated, and it is not necessarily associated with lack of financial means or inability to find the right specialist to provide help. However, the causes of such hesitation need to be considered.

The Theory of Help-Seeking versus Reality

One of the interesting issues related to mental health literacy is the difference between awareness and help-seeking. On the one hand, a person may understand that depression is an actual illness, which requires therapy, but still ignore the need to get help from the specialists and neglect this need for a whole year.

The main problem is the fact that various campaigns aimed at increasing awareness about mental health conditions do not consider the gap between awareness and action.

Young adulthood is the period of time associated with forming one’s identity. It is crucial to become a self-reliant person and be able to deal with all the challenges on their own. Under such circumstances, the desire to manage everything independently becomes very psychologically significant.

Another reason why people try not to seek help in this situation is the lack of time. When a person is busy with studying, working, social life, etc., it becomes difficult to find time for a couple of therapy sessions. One can hardly call such situation a demonstration of laziness – quite often, it is a question of logistics.

Specific Barriers That Should Be Mentioned

Costs. Even despite the fact that a person has medical insurance, sometimes students face some financial barriers related to receiving mental health services. Sometimes it happens that the insurance policies do not cover the costs of treating the mental problems of the youth. Moreover, sometimes the youth does not have insurance or their insurance will not pay for their therapy.

Stigma. The issue of stigma associated with mental illnesses is much smaller compared to the previous generations, but still, many students hesitate to seek help. The thing is that campuses promote the success and productivity of the youth, and in such circumstances, the existence of mental problems can be perceived as an indicator of instability. Moreover, there is a fear that other students will think worse of those who require such help. It is also important to mention that such need can be viewed negatively by graduate schools and employers.

Not knowing how to start. There are some people who recognize their need for help and the necessity to visit a specialist, but they do not know how to do it. People have doubts regarding the choice of the right specialists and how to start the conversation about their problems.

Waiting lists. Many university counseling centers operate with a big waiting list of clients.

What Actually Works

Students who make it to mental health services do one or a combination of the following in a more concrete way than others. First, they are clear about what needs to happen next, not just “maybe I should seek help,” but “I am going to call the counseling center on Tuesday.” Second, they reach out to people familiar with the system for advice on how to do that (RAs, student health services, veteran professors who have learned about the system over time). Third, if one route gets blocked, they try another.

If students require a higher level of care than can be offered on a campus, then they may need to think about getting the care outside the campus network. Specialized treatment facilities, especially those with experience in working with young adults, will be able to provide care for mental health conditions combined with substance abuse, which is something that general campus services would not be equipped to do. Some may offer intensive outpatient treatment that allows students to pursue their education at the same time.

But What if You Do Not Feel You Are Distressed Enough to Seek Professional Help?

This is the reason that people give the most frequently for not seeking help and should be mentioned. There is no thing as being at the wrong level of distress to seek help. You do not have to reach some level of bottom before you think of contacting a therapist. It really does not matter whether you are failing all your subjects, drinking on daily basis or even unable to get out of bed.

Early intervention is always much more efficient when it comes to therapeutic interventions, and people usually should contact their therapists as soon as they become troubled rather than waiting to hit the bottom. The student who contacts a therapist to help him with his anxiety issues and still to keep going has more chances for effective application of therapeutic interventions than the student who contacts the therapist when he fell into crisis.

Evidence for Early Intervention

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) provides enough evidence of the relation between early intervention and positive outcome in virtually any case of mental health disorders. Early intervention decreases the risk of recurrence of depression. Early evidence based therapy is significantly more efficient in treatment of anxiety disorders than the one sought many years after. Early intervention leads to better outcomes in long term recovery from substance use disorders.

This is not surprising once you think about it. Any health disorders are better treated if found earlier, and the same goes for mental health disorders. Unfortunately, it is the mental health disorders that are usually accompanied with late seeking for help due to the nature of the disorders themselves.

The First Step for College Students

If you are a college student and came across this post due to some resonance, this is your first step: go to your university health/counseling webpage right now, not tomorrow, right now. Learn about the services that your university offers, about their procedures and wait-lists. In case campus resources are not enough, find community mental health centers close to your place.

This is the step that people usually avoid making, and this is the step that makes all other steps possible. You are not obliged to make any commitment at this stage, you only need to gather some information.

This is a smaller request than it sounds.