The student mental health crisis has increased tenfold since the pandemic and Canadian universities aren’t adequately equipped to accommodate, judging by the full waitlist at the University of Regina (U of R) Student Wellness Centre.
“The COVID-19 pandemic shifted a lot of people’s perception on happiness and clarity,” said Ashtyn Mayer, a student at the U of R.
“It’s kind of put people in a position where they’re now less willing to be social and being super, super independent, and that creates a lot of pressure and loneliness.”
In a government survey regarding suicidal idealization among adults, the results of about 57,000 people reported 2.9% in 2019, rising to 3.4% in 2021; 65.5% of these individuals were in post secondary. According to Universities Canada, 74% of students reported their mental health challenges worsening with the pandemic, while 61% reported acquiring new challenges.
The mental health crisis of students, though significantly worsened by the pandemic, is not a new topic. Conducted by the American College Health Association (ACHA) in Ontario in 2016, a survey found that out of over 55,000 students, 60.6% of students reported a feeling of above-average stress. They highlighted the critical aspect of suicide, as 16.4% of students had considered suicide in the last month.
“Suicide remains the leading health related cause of death for youth, and an increasing number of young people report struggles with depression, anxiety, and addiction,” says the ACHA report.
The high numbers aren’t the only problem, as universities across Canada don’t have the resources to accommodate to their students. Universities Canada describes long wait times and a lack of quality as biggest contributing factors, fuelled by a need for funding. A study done in McGill university uses data from the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Dalhousie, and their own university to study the quality of mental health care. All four boast the same “short-term care” in a wellness center combined with physical care, doubling the students seeking care and a need for varying treatment. McGill university goes on to say, “it is not possible to follow students as frequently as they would like”, directly implying a lack of proper care due to a lack of resources.
“I think there are resources…I think they’re trying.” said Mayer regarding the U or R’s Student Wellness Centre.
As a smaller university, the U of R follows the same general structure as those of the bigger universities, combining their mental health with physical health to create a “wellness center” rather than addressing the different aspects individually. According to the Student Wellness Centre website, the centre cannot guarantee walk-ins, cannot guarantee to immediately connect a student with a Mental Health Clinician, and cannot guarantee an immediate response to a phone call, email, or webform message. The website also advertises “brief, goal-directed services, following a one-time treatment approach” – a boast found to be similar amongst the McGill study. Instead, students are encouraged to call a helpline in the case of an emergency. Unable to assist long term, the U of R, like other universities in Canada, turn to help short-term, merely providing students with a temporary solution to a long-term problem.
