I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression my entire life and began treatment at 11 years old. Many people struggle with mental health at some point in their life, and college can make things better or worse.
For me, going to college has been a positive experience. Living away from home has allowed me to feel like an actual person. I feel in control of my life and can express myself, though this independence can also add stress. 
English creative writing senior Makayla Terrell said the independence and all the change of college negatively impacted her at first. College worsened her anxiety and depression, which she was diagnosed with as a high school sophomore.
But she enjoyed the independence of college. As the oldest child in her family, she said she was always taking on hyper-independence growing up. Through her independence, she found confidence and realized that she will always have herself.
Biology junior Lark Smith, who said she has never experienced mental health issues, said she gets the best of both worlds in college because her family is close to campus. She gets to do everything herself, but she has her family as a safety net, which she said alleviates some of the stressors of independence. 
Music senior Juan Cecchini, who began to suffer from depression in high school, found the independence that comes with college to be negative in his life. This improved after he joined the rowing team and orchestra.
But when COVID-19 shut down the world, Cecchini and billions of others were plunged into isolation.
Quarantine forced him back home. He said he felt lonelier—no longer a part of anything.
The pandemic hit the mental health of college students especially hard, many of whom were stripped of their newfound freedom and forced back home to navigate uncertain futures.
For those who’ve struggled with mental health all their life or faced new problems because of the pandemic, seeking help can be difficult.
“I feel like there is a stigma around getting help on campus. That also happened in high school a lot,” Cecchini said.
Raime Thibodeaux, the director of mental health services at LSU, said mental health is gaining societal recognition. She said this could be generational or possibly the influence of people being open about their struggles on social media.
“Mental health arguably might be more important now than it ever has been in our history,” she said. 
Coming to college can allow students to finally seek treatment for unaddressed mental health problems.
“There might be other students who, if their parents ‘don’t believe in mental health issues,’” she said. “Then, as a minor, they inherently might have a lot of difficulties accessing these services. Whenever they become an adult, then they can just reach out to us whenever they want.”
But navigating the website to figure out how to get an appointment can be difficult, according to Terrell, who’s seen a therapist on campus since the fall of 2020.
“I am fortunate enough to have a therapist on campus, but setting up for therapy was a shot in the dark, and it did take time to see a therapist and get that situated,” Terrell said. 
Despite the initial difficulty, she said she has a great relationship with her therapist. She said LSU could make therapy more accessible to students and make the process of getting an appointment better known. 
Over the past two years, LSU’s mental health services have cleaned up their clinic flow to make sure they prioritize accessibility because that’s what students wanted, Thibodeaux said. 
She said the biggest change that helped turn the corner was switching walk-in appointments from only those in crisis to anyone. 
Most non-crisis appointments are 25-minute screenings with five to six questions honing in on why the student wants help, Thibodeaux said. This process allows them to assess if the student is a good fit for services and, if they are, which branch of service is right for them. 
“Assessing that early in the process has allowed us to maintain no greater than a two-week wait for a new client appointment,” she said. 
She said private practices will sometimes stop taking new clients or have a six-week wait or more. LSU’s mental health services try to be better, she said.
Mental health services are covered by the student health fee, so students don’t have to pay for services, according to Thibodeaux.
She also said that if a student needed to be seen more regularly than their every other week appointments, they would refer you out to get you a higher level of care. 
Thibodeaux said mental health services at LSU exist to provide clinical mental health therapy, offering services to help with any psychological or mental health needs that may create barriers to the academic experience. 
They are also there to help support appropriate development in students’ lives since college is such a huge transition, she said. 
“Primarily we do that through the direct services that we offer, which the bulk of that is individual one-on-one, and second to that would be the group therapy option that we offer,” Thibodeaux said. 
Outside of making therapy more accessible at the university, another point of possible progress is excused absences for mental health issues.
Smith said it’s difficult to get excused absences at LSU. For her friends who struggle to get out of bed some days, this creates problems. 
Thibodeaux said mental health services discussed last year with Student Government adding mental health as a reason for absences. One idea that was floated, she said, was to set a policy that would allow students a certain number of excuse days that could be used for any reason. 
“If you had an X number of days that you knew were automatically excused, and you can use up to that amount, it doesn’t matter what the reason would be, you have the freedom to know that there is flexibility rather than the rigidity of having to attend every single class,” Thibodeaux said. 
Besides therapy, coping mechanisms are important for any student dealing with mental health struggles. These can be different depending on the individual and their needs. 
I enjoy reading, writing or painting when I want to relax and take my mind off of anything negatively affecting my mental health. I also like to pick up my room or work out to calm my nerves. 
Cecchini said going on study abroad in Korea helped his mental health. He said he got to “see the world and feel more at peace with myself.”
Smith said she tries to prioritize break time and alone time, which can be difficult during exams or when she’s stressed. She also joined a sorority her freshman year, which she stayed in until her sophomore year before dropping out. She said this experience was positive and allowed her to always feel that she had a place to go. 
Terrell said cleaning her space and chilling in the mornings help her cope with stress.
Terrell was in a sorority her freshman and sophomore year, which had both positive and negative effects on her mental health.
“A lot of good came from it, and I am grateful I went through the experience, but I think being a Black girl in a majority white space was difficult to manage,” she said.
She remembers being on the member side and going through the recruitment process and not feeling like a part of the sorority. She said she felt “othered” in her sorority and that she was treated differently. She grew up in majority white spaces, so she found herself used to the microaggressions and different treatment, she said. 
She said she has never experienced any discrimination, but she knows that it’s here on campus and said she feels privileged to have never really experienced it. 
Being in a completely different environment with all sorts of challenges can be difficult for a newly independent young adult to handle, which is why it’s important for students to utilize mental health resources when necessary. 
While the university offers many, continuously improving mental health services, it needs to do a better job highlighting them for students making the difficult transition into college and adulthood.
Kate Beske is a 19-year-old journalism sophomore from Destrehan.