When it comes to navigating life on a college campus, students are often dealing with more than academics – they’re also involved in sports and extracurricular activities, building relationships, juggling finances, working and even dating. To ensure people are functioning at their best despite obstacles, institutions must have an adequate number of resources available for convenience and leisure.
According to Katharine Hahn Oh, director of the University Counseling Center, JCU started a consultation with the JED Foundation in spring 2023 after a graduate assistant from the Wellness Center came across this opportunity. This is an organization that works with colleges and universities to enhance mental health promotions and prevent suicide. The first action step was administering the Healthy Minds study to see where students stood in terms of their mental health status at that time.
The results of the survey given to JCU students during the spring 2023 semester were “really positive” overall compared to similar institutions around the country. The exact schools that were compared to JCU are unavailable.
Hahn Oh stated that 46 percent reported flourishing in mental health during that time, which is a higher number than most campuses that were given the same survey. Only 30 percent indicated having depression and 20 percent said they felt isolated, while 24 percent were actively self-harming and injuring themselves within the last year. Those numbers were significantly lower compared to other institutions.
When the survey was given in spring 2023, JCU students performed the same as peers from other schools in terms of anxiety, eating disorders and having suicidal thoughts. However, 35 percent reported feeling the need to feel thin to feel good about themselves, while 64 percent reported drinking in the past two weeks. Within those two weeks, 49 percent said they engaged in binge drinking one or two times and 18 percent did so three or more times. Hahn Oh said that JCU “took this with a grain of salt” and that binge drinking and body image are items that needed to be worked on with the student body.
JCU students from the LGBTQ+ population tend to report higher rates of depression, anxiety and body image concerns compared to non-LGBTQ+ people since they experience more discrimination. Students of color had higher depression rates than white students, while women had more body image concerns than men.
In the spring 2023 survey, one of the questions asked respondents to indicate who they would feel comfortable talking to regarding mental health concerns. It was reported that 40 percent would seek help from a professor, while 35 percent would speak with an academic advisor. JCU responded to this by encouraging professors to inform students that they are available to talk if issues are being experienced.
The same survey was given to JCU students again this spring as a way to compare and contrast the trends from spring 2023, since the university’s partnership with JED Foundation for enhancing student mental health is coming to an end. Anyone who completed the survey was automatically entered into a raffle for prizes such as one of four $250 gift cards, one of 10 $100 gift cards, one of five Owala water bottles, one of five hot water bottle animals and a $100 John Carroll bookstore gift card.
This year’s Healthy Minds study survey was open to all JCU undergraduate and graduate students between Feb. 2 and March 2. Only 360 responses were recorded, which is equivalent to 12.5 percent of the university’s student population. All of the rough data will be available to study toward the end of March, while a cleaner data set will be accessible near the beginning of the fall 2026 semester. The university will determine how the data from this year’s survey will be applied once all mental health trends are received.
Hahn Oh hopes that those who chose to partake in this year’s Healthy Minds study are able to assess their own mental health effectively and seek help from professionals sooner instead of waiting. She wants the campus community to know that “JCU cares about students’ mental health.”
