Victoria Gravesande reports on how new students could struggle to adapt to university life, and the problems that can cause for their mental health.
In the movies, university students are fearless, eager to please, have a five-year plan, and a sports scholarship to the university of their dreams. Their biggest stresses seem to be what to wear to the first frosh frat party. They binge-drink every weekend, fall hopelessly in love with everyone, and never seem to have overdue assignments, hangovers, or financial trouble.
The reality is far different.
For first-year postsecondary students, finding a balance between school, work, having a social life and co-curricular activities is difficult. For many, this comes with the added stress of living away from home for the first time.
A national survey published by CBC last year in September revealed that nearly 70 per cent of students across Canada felt “very lonely” and “so depressed that it was difficult to function” during the school year.
More than 43,000 students were surveyed for the National Health College Assessment.
Student Struggles
Carleton students are no strangers to such feelings.
“I harboured some anxieties in terms of making that leap into university and what that would exactly entail,” said Alexander Fougere, a third-year political science student. “There are these sort of monolithic and daunting myths about how the culture becomes exacerbated. Like, ‘if you thought high school was bad, you’re going to be up until five in the morning, writing something 30 pages long and they’re going to expect the footnotes to be so meticulous and if you don’t, they’re going to take your left hand’ or something like that.”
Michael Xie, a computer science student who lives at home, said this leap into university is not the only big step new students have to take.
“First-years have more to deal with in terms of adjustment to being an adult and to being left alone for the first time,” Xie said. “You turn 18 or 19 and you can go anywhere and it’s a new thing to most people. I think the timing doesn’t actually work out very well considering you’re trying to have good grades and work for your future and you have all this freedom and pressure.”
For students living at home, there is usually a lighter financial burden because they may not be paying for rent and food. They also have their family as an additional support system. However, this is not the case for all students, according to Enrique Sanchez, a computer science student.
“I kept a lot of things to myself. I didn’t really tell anyone things and I didn’t have someone to go to. I would never tell anyone stuff, not even my parents. They immigrated from a third-world country and if I told them I was sad and depressed they would be like ‘get over it, it’s nothing. I came from war. What are you sad about?’” – Enrique Sanchez, a computer science student at Carleton
Living on Residence
Combined with the increased workload, the new environment of a university campus can cause people additional stress, according to Fougere.
“The community is much larger than it is in even the most bustling high school, so you are going to feel a bit isolated,” he said.
Rebecca Sanders, a second-year criminology student, moved to Ottawa from Sudbury in 2017. Sanders struggled with depression and social anxiety throughout high school.
“Living on residence was really intimidating and I opted for a single room so I didn’t even really put myself in a position to make many friends. I felt lonely all the time, at first, but I didn’t want to to call my parents because I didn’t want them to worry and I wanted them to know that I could handle myself.” – Rebecca Sanders, second-year criminology student at Carleton
“Things only started to get better sometime in October when the RAs (resident assistants) have to ask us to set goals and stuff, and then I felt a little more motivated to do better and to meet my goals with someone else checking up on them,” Sanders said.
Both Sanders and Fougere noted their residence fellows (RF) were good support systems to have as a first-year student, especially for a student living on campus.
PJ Javier, a former residence fellow, said, “We tell the students on our floors about health and counselling services, as well as the residence counsellor, sexual assault services, and even for [RFs], we are always on-call even on our days off and we always need to be accessible for students.”
Self-medicating
Xie said the biggest stress for him wasn’t school or even social life; it was pressure to find a job that could give him good enough experience.
“I smoked a lot of weed to handle stress. It helped temporarily but obviously it’s not a solution. I wasn’t as motivated first-year as I was second-year to find a job. I didn’t think I was capable of finding one [in] first-year,” said Michael Xie, computer-science student at Carleton
Marijuana usage has increased since his days in residence, said Javier.
“First-years, compared to when I was a residence fellow for an upper-year floor, typically drink more and have more substance abuse and marijuana problems. Marijuana use has been huge on campus and in residence compared to when I was a first-year and that just goes to show another thing first-years are more vulnerable to than upper-years.”
Courtney Brennen, an occupational therapist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), said in an email people who struggle with stress after first moving to campus can start to self-medicate with alcohol and other drugs such as marijuana.
People can become dependent on these substances, and more severe mental health conditions can ensue.
“Cannabis use can impact the onset of a complex mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder for people with a genetic predisposition,” she said. “This means you could lose years of your life to an illness you may not have otherwise developed.”
Coping and Counselling
Ideally, instead of self-medicating, people should turn to mental health services such and counselling to help with their struggles.
Sanders said she didn’t know much about the counselling services on campus until she sought them out herself.
“I knew about the health and counselling services on campus, I just didn’t know where, like, geographically, they were until I asked someone. When I called to make an appointment it was good and my appointment was good and I was overall really satisfied with the help they provided,” said Sanders.
Neither Xie nor Sanchez remember anyone telling them about where to find help for mental health on campus.
“The only thing I know about is the yellow bench in the UC (University Centre) atrium,” Xie said, “If you’re sitting there then someone is supposed to come up and talk to you.”
Carleton University’s Mental Health and Wellbeing website outlines the services available to students as well as their goal to support students in achieving academic success.
According to the Carleton Mental Health and Well-Being website, all of the counsellors are master’s-level psychotherapists who specialize in issues impacting international students, those who have experienced sexual violence, and LGBTQ+ students.
Bonnie Stephanson, assistant director of Health and Counselling Services at Carleton, said in an email that there are limits to what can be done by on-campus services.
“We are not generally able to provide long-term support. We do work closely with our primary care doctors to ensure that people have access to the supports the need,” Stephanson said. “Your counsellor will discuss options with you in order to help you find the appropriate treatment for your needs. For complex mental health and addictions treatment beyond our capacity, we may refer you to service in the community.”
Javier said she felt that because on-campus services were not generally able to provide long-term support, she didn’t feel as if all her needs were met.
“It took a while to find a counsellor who matched me but none of them seemed trained to handle issues with eating disorders,” she said.
However, other students have had better experiences.
“I found the counsellors were really nice and understanding, and they speak to a lot of students and knew a lot about the things I was handling because being a first-year and being alone and struggling isn’t new and they’ve seen it all and I could really tell,” Sanders said.
To further improve Carleton’s counselling services, Stephanson said in her email: “Our new initiative this September is the expansion of our Same-Day Counselling service, which is available Monday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the main clinic, 2600 CTTC Building.”
This service will be no appointment necessary, operating like a walk-in clinic that can offer urgent care and support, problem solving and guidance or referrals to other services.
Overall, your own personal outlook on the university experience, is the best way you can deal with any challenges you may face, according to Xie.
“I think the most important thing to realize is that these aren’t the most important years of your life,” he said. “You don’t have to give 100 per cent everyday, and that may be program-specific, but you definitely need to find a balance between school and work and all the aspects of your life.”
Graphics by Paloma Callo
