Literature Review #1

1.  Literature Review

     Shayla Carroll

2. Novotney, Amy. "Students Under Pressure." American Psychological Association, vol. 45, No. 8, September 2014, pp. 36. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/09/cover-pressure.aspx. Accessed 26 February 2017.

3. I really love the variety in information given in this article. It starts out discussing the statistics of anxiety and depression in college students. The article states that about 1/3 of students from 150 colleges have had difficulty functioning because of depression, and about 1/2 of the students felt overwhelming anxiety. Novotney adds an alarming statistic that about 30% of students who have used mental health services have considered suicide. This article provides the alarming statistics which prove an increase in mental health service usage by college students. This increase is likely due to the fact that colleges are growing in size and the influx of students leads to a demand in clinicians that the university cannot provide. If the university can supply the students with more clinicians, then the students have a greater chance of staying in school and graduating-- which is the ultimate goal of college. The long waitlist to see a counselor is the problem that many universities are trying to fix with the help of cutting down the time of the initial interview/ assessment, and technological devices that act as an electronic therapist for students with anxiety. The device gives students the ability to answer questions about their anxiety, provides coping strategies and educational videos, and allows them to talk to a counselor every week. Because most college students come in to mental health services for anxiety, this device significantly cut down the wait list and is providing students with the necessary help and treatment they need. Another way universities are trying to resolve this issue is by educating faculty members on how to incorporate psychological concepts into the classroom. This article not only gives evidence of the increase in anxiety / depression, but gives answers as to how the university can help.  

4. The author of this article is Amy Novotney, who graduated from Northwestern University. She has ten years of experience in medical and mental healthy writing through jobs like being a communication consultant. She specializes in health writing, editing, proofreading, communications plan development and much more. She has written many articles about incorporating psychology into different aspects of life, such as law enforcement.

5. Innovative treatment models are ways in which the universities are trying to take control of the increase of anxiety and depression. Innovative treatment models in the article include the Brief Assessment and Referral Team (BART), which helps shorten the time of an initial interview, and the student is refered to the appropriate level of care. Another example is the Therapist Assisted Online (TAO) program, which is the device used by students with anxiety. 

A key concept in this article is that colleges have a main focus on retention rate. Retention rates drop when students develop any time of mental illness, which reflects on the college. By using innovative treatment models, universities can keep retention rates up and mental illness cases down. 

6. "The insufficient funding for college mental health services also means inadequate access to care and treatment. Colleges and universities are addressing this challenge by developing quick screening tools and brief consultations to rapidly determine the needs of each new student who visits the counseling center " (Novotney, 36).

"For students to be able to learn at their peak capacity, they need to be physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually well," says Douce. "Students who struggle are more likely to drop out of school, but by providing services for their anxiety, depression and relationship issues, we can help them manage these issues, focus on their academics and learn new ways to be in the world" (Novotney, 36).

"One way that counseling centers are trying to get more support for mental health services is by focusing on a factor administrators understand: a return on investment" (Novotney, 36).

7. This article helps explain what universities can do to help stop the increase in anxiety and depression amongst their students. I feel this article will be of great use towards the middle/ end of my paper when I explain how to potentially solve this problem that is on the rise. I like that there is research that provides evidence for the topic, gives reasons as to why anxiety and depression could be increasing, and gives a solution. The paper is not only about one thing, which will allow me to use bits and pieces of it throughout my paper making strong connections with other texts. 

Three Academic Sources

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Wilding/publication/8192220_The_relation_of_depression_and_anxiety_to_life-stress_and_achievement_in_students/links/54aaf1a50cf25c4c472f7072/The-relation-of-depression-and-anxiety-to-life-stress-and-achievement-in-students.pdf
This article talks about the rise of anxiety and depression in the UK in terms of a students' financial situation. I was hoping to link mental illness in the United States with mental illness in the UK because of the rise of privatization in both places. This article can help me merge the two. The conclusion of this study found that financial difficulties can increase student anxiety, and depression can negatively impact a student's academic success. Financial situations and socioeconomic status has came up in quite a few articles I have read. This leads me to believe that privatization of colleges could potentially be indirectly causing mental illness to increase. I am finding articles that will really help the question of my paper out, which is WHY mental illness is increasing so rapidly amongst college students.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/17247209_Social_drinking_anxiety_and_depression
I have been waiting to receive access to this article because I believe it could give some answers as to why depression and anxiety is increasing. It is a fact that mental illness is increasing, but I really would like to research why and how it is effecting students in their school and personal lives. The abstract of this article explains that anxiety and depression levels increase while drinking, and after drinking. In the article above I mentioned financial and socioeconomic status, but maybe there is proof that students are not helping their own mental illness by engaging in social drinking. I hope I can gain access to the full article, I feel this will help diversify my paper.


http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/09/cover-pressure.aspx
This article contains a lot of information on my topic, not only about anxiety but depression as well. It shows potential reasons as to why mental illness is increasing due to the number of students colleges are letting in. It also explains how colleges are coping, along with statistics about anxiety and depression. The article introduces a new device as a solution to the waitlist problem counselors and university students run into when attempting to get any type of help.

Scouting the Territory

Blog #2

Update: My topic has remained the same since my initial post. I have been doing some research and I am still working on whether I want to include depression as a topic in my paper. From the DSM-5 standpoint, depression has more of a relation to bipolar disorder than anxiety. However, I am almost done with my psychology major and I have learned in many classes that anxiety and depression seem to go hand in hand. Many people who exhibit one, exhibit symptoms of both.

Online findings: From my research thus far, I have learned that depression and anxiety rates have both increased not only in the United States, but also in Britain. There are many factors which contribute to the rise of mental illness among college students, but privatization of colleges are one thing that the United States and Britain both have in common. Privatization, loss of confidence, angst, and obviously depression and anxiety were terms that came up a lot. All of the articles explain different possibilities, viewpoints, and explanations as to why these mental illnesses are on the rise. There are many different research studies, articles, and surveys about this topic. I am interested to see what common grounds are discussed amongst all of them.

Scholarly articles/ books & Conversations about my topic: In Dana Becker's book, she mentions how stress is becoming more of an inside job in that our stress is now causing our problems, we are not stressed because of the problems themselves. One thing she mentions that is causing such stress are the social problems we face. College students all face similar stressors such as being given so many different choices and options, and being afraid to make the wrong decision. Another social issue is the privatization of anxiety (I will hope to continue on this topic with more research). These social problems mentioned also correlate with the article "Anxiety: the epidemic sweeping through Generation Y" by Rachael Dove. One social problem Dove gives for anxiety, is social media and the fear of missing out, otherwise known as FOMO.  Another thing that came up in a scholarly article I reviewed was that students are at a higher risk for mental health problems if they struggle financially. I feel that with this conclusion of the study, I will be able to find a lot of information relating to mental illness and socioeconomic status. Much of this anxiety can be bought out by privatizing colleges, I am excited to see where my research will go.

http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/13/does-stress-hide-deeper-social-problems/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/health/anxiety-the-epidemic-sweeping-through-generation-y/

An alternative useful link: The first useful link I started off with contains statistics on anxiety from college campuses. A potential issue with some of this data is that it is from a few years ago. I would like to research more to find data and surveys that are a bit more recent, but this was a good place for my research to begin. The findings indicate that 80% of students experience frequent stress, 34% have felt depressed, and 13% have been clinically diagnosed with an anxiety or depression disorder.
Other useful links have been discussed above.

Controversies: I have not yet found any controversies on my topic.

Initial Topic Idea

Blog #1

For my project, I am considering researching the prevalence and etiology of mental illness in college students. Particularly, I would like to focus on anxiety and depression. I am double majoring in psychology and social work, so these specific kinds of mental illnesses are something I like to learn about. Throughout my two years of college I've realized that many students struggle with lots of stress which can lead to anxiety and depression. Many of these students think they are going crazy, when in fact they are struggling with something that many of their peers are also dealing with.

-S.C.