ONLINE ONLY: The National Picture
Colleges and universities nationwide are grappling with how best to address students’ mental health challenges. Here is the mental health picture of 71,860 students at 107 schools, from the spring 2007 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment.
| Felt so depressed it was difficult to function, one or more times in the past school year | 45.0% |
| Had five or more drinks in one sitting in the past two weeks | 38.4% |
| Seriously considered attempting suicide, one or more times in the past school year | 9.8% |
| Attempted suicide, one or more times in the past school year | 1.6% |
| Ever been diagnosed with depression | 14.5% |
| Ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder | 9.2% |
| Ever been diagnosed with anorexia | 2.2% |
| Ever been diagnosed with bulimia | 1.6% |
| Had stress affect academic performance in past school year | 34.1% |
| Had sleep difficulties affect academic performance in past school year | 26.1% |
| Had depression/anxiety/seasonal affective disorder affect academic performance in past school year | 16.4% |
| Had alcohol use affect academic performance in the past school year | 7.7% |
| Had drug use affect academic performance in past school year | 3.0% |
| Had eating disorder/problem affect academic performance in past school year | 1.3% |
