Category Young Adults

10 Strategies for Colleges to Support Minority Students’ Mental Health

The Jed Foundation and The Steve Fund

Health disparities occurring in the broader society also impact students of color. Students of color at American colleges and universities are almost twice as likely not to seek care when they feel depressed or anxious compared to white students. In comparison to white students, are significantly less likely to describe their campus as inclusive (28% to 45%) and more likely to indicate that they often feel isolated on campus (46% to 30%). These statistics indicate a need for a more tailored approach to protecting the mental health of students of color.


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Overcoming Mental Health Stigma—Even in My Own Family

Kamiesha Cooper

Looking for the “Tweeting for Minority Mental Health” post? Click here.

By Kamiesha Cooper

My first experience with depression was when I was 5 years old, growing up in Alabama.

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Reducing LGBTQ+ Teen Suicidal Behavior

rainbow shoes

Susan Weinstein
Editor in Chief, Care for Your Mind

June is Pride Month, a time when we celebrate the creative, intellectual, and cultural contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender to our society, while we also protest the inequalities and unfair treatment that LGBT+ people continue to face in modern times.

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“Press Pause” to Help Teens & Young Adults Cope with Stress, Anxiety, and Relationship Issues

John MacPhee

John MacPhee, MBA, MPH
Executive Director & CEO, JED

Over the last few years, there’s been a growing focus on the importance of strengthening resiliency and developing healthy coping mechanisms among teenagers, college students, and young adults. We want young people to “press pause.”

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“Seize the Awkward”: How We’re Reaching Young People

Victor Schwartz

Victor Schwartz, MD, Chief Medical Officer
The Jed Foundation (JED)

We know that when young people are in distress they commonly turn to friends for help and support. We decided to try to figure out how to use this idea more effectively.

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The Mental Health Tragedy in the US:
What Can Be Done?

Victor Schwartz, MD, Medical Director, The Jed Foundation

In an October 2015 segment of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver did a stunningly effective report on the tragic state of mental health services and care in the US. While it seems we only talk about mental health care as a national policy issue after mass shootings – which, as Oliver pointed out, is exactly the wrong time and context for this discussion – we have a national tragedy around mental health care.  Given that we only recently commemorated World Mental Health Day, it behooves us to take a few moments to consider the problem and what we might do about it, apart from the debate around gun violence and mental health.

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It Takes a Campus

How colleges and universities can better support students with behavioral health issues

Nance Roy, Ed.D.
Clinical Director, The Jed Foundation

The need for campus-based support for students with behavioral health conditions is clear. According to NAMI, nearly 73 percent of students living with a mental health condition experienced a mental health crisis on campus. Yet, 35 percent of those students reported that their college did not know about their crisis. Overall, 40 percent of students with diagnosable mental health conditions did not seek help.

Colleges can best meet students’ needs by enhancing institutional awareness and response to students who are struggling. While most colleges and universities have behavioral health services to support students, often not everyone on campus is aware of the resources. Even the best of programs and services can’t be effective if they remain largely unknown and not well utilized.

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So Now What? Mental Health and Making the Transition from High School to College

Jazmin Kay

Jazmin Kay
Mental Health Advocate, JED Foundation
Student, George Washington University

Like many students, I have dreamed about this week for years.

Packing up my car to the brim, wrapping up my childhood experiences into a scrappy cardboard box. Feeling a mixture of ecstasy and sadness as I smoosh the imprint of my face into the backseat window, I say goodbye to my hometown, and proceed to the next chapter of my life. But leaving for freshman year of college—contrary to what my movie-convinced middle school self believed—is not that “picture perfect.”

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