How Can We Solve the College Student Mental Health Crisis? | Dr. Tim Bono | TEDxWUSTL
Professor Tim Bono’s talk delves into the mental health and psychology of students, specifically how unrealistic expectations can skew the formula for happiness. Professor Tim Bono earned his undergraduate and graduate degree in psychology at WashU, and is now a professor teaching positive psychology. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
20 Comments
I'm the first one who have seen this video 😁
My depression is cured…
If u dont hv time to watch the video….the whole message of the vid is hv REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Man, I'm early
If you want nothing then is that dividing what you have by zero? :O
Yeah, sure, it's all the students fault. Blame them hard, offence is best defence. What a convenient "psychologist".
He has it wrong. It's not the students' expectations of college; it's the college's expectations of students.
Just seeing through the comments ,I have realised everyone has a different opinion and what one accepts needn't be accepted by another.
The problem isn't so much unrealistic expectations as much as it it that education is now more about getting as much money as possible rather than giving a quality education. This is why all those colleges admission presentations and campus tours kept getting loftier and loftier. They say "look how great it is". They mean "give us your money"
Edit: it's further perpetuated by a society that prioritizes money. Half the kids in college aren't there for education or progressing the human condition. They're there because they want nice things and nice things require money. Now college is saturated with people who don't really want to be there but simply are because they fear the alternative (being poor and "WoRkInG aT mCdOnAlDs")
depression is real
Colleges: "We need to address the growing mental health concerns of our students"
Also Colleges: Continues that mental health crisis with unrealistic and unforeseen curriculums. And gaslights students thinking its "all in their head".
It is the expectation. You expected to have “the college experience” where your studying with friends, going to lectures, having coffee with friends and feeling independent. When in reality, or for a number of students, we’re constantly alone and need to worry on studying for the next midterm or final that we procrastinated on bc we thought we had more time. You expect one thing but got another (which can be marks or something else) which fuels worry or even FOMO of what you “should” be experiencing which could then spiral into feeling overwhelmed or anxiety.
Modern higher education is simply not fit for purpose. Most people strive to get a degree to try and improve their job prospects in the absence of better pathways. But what they are learning is oftentimes not relevant for their careers, or at the very least, it's a very inefficient way to progress. To make matters worse, all of the students know full well that employers care very little about the degrees. It's just a box to be ticked. The disconnect between education and the workforce is a strain that students are mostly responsible for bridging, and it's not easy.
Very few people in this world are wired to spend so long reading about things yet spending so little time actually doing them. As an engineering student, I see little value in most of what I am told to learn and assessed on. 90% of what I learn I will never use. Common arguments against that are "But how do you know you won't need it?" or "College is for learning to learn". The reality is that it's a horrifically inefficient way to do either of those things. We can all learn to learn whilst learning things that are actually useful and productive.
Imagine going to the gym, and spending your first 3 years learning the theory about how each piece of equipment works. Then you might occasionally get to practice with some pretend-weights, where the pretend-weight experts can critique your form and strength. Then after you prove yourself on the pretend-weights, and have sufficiently flexed your extensive theoretical knowledge of the equipment, you are finally allowed to use the equipment in the gym. It's a horrifically inefficient and ineffective way to learn.
If you go to college purely because you want to learn about something out of passion, then your head must resemble a Krispy Kreme. We all have the biggest library in the history of humanity at our fingertips. Why would you limit your learning about a passion to a rigid curriculum that every other student on that course is also learning about in the same way?
Apprenticeships were the way, particularly in the west, and we had the golden opportunity for them with our workforce age demographics, but we screwed it up.
Dear Academics. The reason poor students are suffering from Mental Health Issues is because students are given too much work. They need time to relax their minds. Weekends should not be filled with studies. The Academic world is the problem, not the student.
I was taught ITA English Twaddle in an English school here in the UK. A backward Alien 👽 language that makes no sense whatsoever. I am still waiting for a Government apology and compensation. Academics can make serious mistakes, and need to be held to account. I had to learn to read, write and spell all over again, which I did myself. I taught myself to type from a book and worked my way up from Receptionist to Managing Directors Secretary for a top London Architectural firm.
As a child I would fight to breathe in rooms full of smoke. Doctors, Scientists, the Media and Governments all promoted Smoking cigarettes as harmless. Now they are promoting vaping and these fumes at bus stops and in the bus depot is destroying my daughter's lung health. I feel for any poor student that is penalised for attendance if they suffer the same Vaping abuse.
I am totally drug free. I know how to cure Asthma through life experience. Real stories matter. Not every education comes from an Academic Book.
In my opinion, you have to think that you'll be great, you'll have to face adversities but the way that you face the challenges can change everything. Of course, if you suffer from depression if your situation is bad and you feel that can't do anything you should ask for help and never forget that God is with you, then, always pray to God.
I'm suffering loneliness intrusive thoughts and social anxiety at school and cptsd
Hard to take this for any value when not one mention of finances was brought up. Why are college students stressed ? Take a quick look at tuition rates and average salaries. If you can't afford to make the money a PHD would you get you, they'll make sure that once you got it, you're no better off them when you started.
Many students (and parents) expect that college will only teach what is required to get a certain job or get into a certain professional school.
Most college curriculums are geared towards providing a well-rounded education and experience and to teach the student how to think and learn. A lot of students consider that a waste of time (which causes a lot of stress) becuae it is irrelevant to their future career. They don't know (or expect) what most colleges are delivering.
Add in they often feel alone and lonely, have to deal with new people, are no longer one of the best in the school, have to work to earn grades, and face difficulties in many areas and it creates an environment that can often lead to mental health issues.
My university is notorious for heavy workload.
I once finished an assignment in a 40 minute train ride.
It's not just students fresh out of high school who become part of the mental health crisis. I decided to go to college again at 28, transferred from community college to university, I had low expectations going into university and still deal with the stress and anxiety. For me, I'm affected because of debt, a bleak pay-off after the education, and social isolation at the school. I actually found this video because this is a topic I want to talk about for a project for a class. The project is to innovate a way to solve a problem we are passionate about. If anyone has ideas please chime in.