How to support the mental health of college students

MPR News with Angela Davis

College students are starting to head back to school this month, and along with a laptop and maybe posters and a dorm fridge, many young people also are bringing mental health struggles to campus.

About one out of every five college students experience what mental health professionals call “serious psychological distress,” according to this past spring’s National College Health Assessment which has surveyed students twice a year since 2000. Half of students say they’re lonely.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the rise in mental illness on campus and how college students can build skills for better mental health.

Guests:

• Mia Nosanow is a psychologist who spent 20 years at Macalester College counseling students one-on-one and in groups. She’s the author of “The College Student’s Guide to Mental Health: Essential Wellness Strategies for Flourishing in College.”

• Cecilia Bloomquist is a licensed social worker and associate director of mental health services at Boynton Health, the campus health system at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.