| March 7th, 2018

The Importance of Mental Health

By: journeymagazine

By| Lauren Coleman

What is mental health and why is it a taboo? According to Mentalhealth.gov, Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It also helps determine how we handle stress and make choices.

Mental health has an impact on areas of our body that you would not think of as feeling physical pain or even causing high blood pressure. The health of your mind needs to be addressed, especially at the collegiate level.

Around the age 18, there are many reasons why people could be feeling differently. At this age, one could be making a big transition in life that may feel overwhelming. All colleges should offer counseling services, where one can go and speak about different problems that they are experiencing.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College have counseling services centers for students who are enrolled. FAMU and TCC offer a safe environment where students can discuss academic and personal issues.

FAMU Counseling Center found that within the first two months of the Spring 2018 semester that they have seen a total of 231 clients amounting to 546 appointments. Out of those 546 appointments, 12 cases have been labeled a crisis or emergency.

Director of FAMU Counseling Center, Anika C. Fields Ph.D., wants students to come get the help they need. The center does this by providing students with someone to speak with.

“Our goal is to make sure that students are getting what the came to university for which is to get a degree and to graduate but if they are having significant mental health issues. It’s hard to go to class and do what you need to go which is to graduate,” said Fields.

The top three issues that students have problems with, in order of importance, are depression, anxiety and relationships. Rachel Mock, licensed mental health counselor at TCC agrees that these are the main issues students face.  She also believes that social media places a role.

“There have been studies done where they found that people are strolling through something like Facebook and people are besting the best parts of their lives and often feel worse afterward,” said Mock.

She believes that social media can play that large of a role in their lives. How can someone who is not thinking about how their post might make someone feel as if they are not living to their full potential?

Mental health is important not only for self-esteem but also for your physical body. Graduate student, Rakaiya Joyner, who is studying counseling education, speaks of the importance of taking care of your mind first then the body second.

“Making sure that you’re well-rounded mentally and physically, both of those go hand-in-hand when you’re overwhelmed mentally that can affect you physically and also things around you. Taking care of your mind comes first and then everything will flow,” said Joyner.