Why is Mental Health Important for Students?– Common Reasons Why

Mike Richins

If you have ever heard of the terms depression, anxiety, or mental disorder, then you may be familiar with the term mental health. However, as commonly as we hear this term for an adult's betterment, some of us are not aware of how dangerously important it is in a student's life as well.

So, why is mental health important for students? The main reason is, better mental health promotes their academic life, improves their social skills, enables them to partake in constructive social events, and altogether makes them more confident. This is why not putting care behind a student's mental health can seriously harm the foundation of their lives.

Mental health always plays a staggering role in a student's success. That is why, in this article, we cover everything you need to know about the causes, benefits, and dos and don'ts of how to promote the betterment of a student's mental health. To know more, read on.

What Does The Term Mental Health Mean?

Even though mental health refers to the state of health of one's mind, when it comes to students, it has a much deeper meaning. That includes the psychological and emotional conditions of your mind, which help you study, do cognitive thinking, practice creative skills, and so on.

It's especially important for students because bad mental health can add a huge pile of additional stress, which can be a big burden to take. This way, not only does academic life gets hampered but also personal relationships keep detaching by the absence of will and energy.

Altogether it affects how you feel, act, or behave in a certain situation. Regardless of your age, and which class you're in, mental health is a reality that every student should always be careful about. That's because if bad mental health can affect a student so much, good mental health can do much more and make wonders for a student.

Less stress, no distractions, ultimate focus, will to always learn more, making better relationships, taking responsibilities, engaging in competitions, healthy practices and increasing creative skills are all just a snippet of the good result good mental health brings out for any student. 

So, it is important to be aware of the common causes and remedies for mental illness, especially if you're a student.

Why is Mental Health Important For Students- Common Reasons Why

Mental health issues are often drastic and can highly affect a student’s overall academic and social life. Poor mental health conditions always impact a student's true potential along with their academic success.

As a result, they often feel unconfident in their personality, which is why mental health is so crucial for students. Here are some other reasons why mental health is always so important in every student's life-

• For Better Academic Success:

To get better academic success, you need to have mental and emotional well-being.  Positive mental health will enhance your adaptability to emotional well-being. Ultimately with less stress and more control, a student will achieve better academic success.

• To Increase Confidence and Self-Esteem:

As a student, you always need to believe in yourself and your ability. When you have positive mental health, it will increase your self-esteem as well as your confidence.

• Makes You More Productive:

Oftentimes, emotionally stressed students do not feel like working. They experience laziness, tiredness, and procrastination. However, having healthy mental health will make a student more energetic and productive, which enables them to unravel better opportunities ahead of them.

• Helps You to Get Better Social Life:

If you do not feel good emotionally, you will not feel good in your social life. Sometimes, you may like to isolate yourself from your friends and family, but having healthy mental health can help you to have a better social life and even encourage you to partake in family responsibilities.

• Improves Your Physical Health:

Sometimes, we think mental health is not as important as physical health. What you might not know is mental health is deeply interconnected with your physical health, which is why mental illnesses spike physical illnesses. So, positive mental health will help you to improve your physical health drastically.

• Participation in Social Events

Positive and healthy mental health also gives you the courage to do better in social events and extracurricular activities. It will help you to be emotionally strong and grow in your social life whilst also increasing your skill sets along the way.

• Strong Bond with Friends and Family

When a student is suffering from mental health hazards, they strand themselves to the point that they don't like associating with any family or even friends. As a result, there's no bond and no healthy relationship. Better mental health always keeps one involved with various activities with friends and families, which in turn promotes strong bonds between them.

What Might Cause a Student's Mental Health Issue?

There are plenty of situations that can breed mental health issues in a student's mind. In the majority of cases, the causes of mental illness are often seen downplayed.

As a result of which, anyone can be a potential victim of poor mental health. Some of the common reasons why a student might manifest a mental health disorder are-

• Repeated Exposure to bullying from classmates, friends, or seniors.
• Not getting satisfactory academic results after repeated hard work.
• Social isolation and cornering from friends or classmates.
• Involvement in toxic relationships.
• Extreme family issues
• Constantly Getting discriminated against for their class or race
• Drugs, substance abuse, or forced negative influence.
• Repeated domestic violence.

Examples of Some Common Mental Health Issues of Students:

National Alliance stated extensively in a Mental Illness study that 75% of poor mental health victims are university or college students. Maybe you are also going through some sort of mental health issues without knowing or realizing them.

So, it is important to recognize the mental issues before getting they worsen. Let us list some common examples of mental health issues that most students experience once in their lifetime.

• Depression and Anxiety Disorder:

One of the most common types of mental health issues that the majority of students face is depression. In our time, this issue is so pervasive that most students experience depression or anxiety at least once in their lifetime.

This is indeed a very serious mental health issue, yet it is seen as less important than any other illness. That is because the majority of us are not aware of the drastic consequences of these mental health issues.

• Insomnia:

Abnormal sleeping disorder or insomnia is another common type of disorder that can be caused by poor mental health conditions. Students are common prey of this type. In the initial stage of insomnia, it doesn’t seem that serious, but in the long run, it can lead to very serious matters like even suicidal tendencies.

• Psychotic Disorder:

Psychotic Disorder is an extreme disorder that triggers unnatural thoughts and perceptions. Students with this disorder often experience hallucinations and delusions while losing all touch with reality and lagging in life. This type of disorder is very stigmatized in our society. In most cases, people have misconceptions about psychotic disorders. As a result, the victims of this disorder often alienate themselves from the real world, which affects both the academic and social life of a student.

Signs and Symptoms of Mental Health Illnesses

The signs and symptoms of mental health illnesses of students vary depending on the condition and circumstances. Sometimes, the students don’t even know that they might have mental health issues because they are not aware of the signs of poor mental health. So, you should know the common signs and symptoms of poor mental health. Some of them are-

• Constantly failing to concentrate on anything. This makes it very hard for a student to memorize or understand a learning topic.
• Becoming very indecisive and delusional all of a sudden. This can affect relationships with peers and teachers.
• Feeling depressed or sad all the time. Extreme depression and taking academic pressure never go well for any student.
• Excessive irregular mood swings.
• Laziness, procrastination, or tiredness, stops a student from partaking in social building activities and creative regimens.
• Sleeping disorder or insomnia. Not getting proper sleep stops a student from learning or memorizing a topic.
• Eating disorders or loss of  appetite, which can make a student sick.
• Becoming short-tempered and developing anger issues.
• Suicidal thoughts.
• Having auditory or visual hallucinations, which are symptoms of a psychotic Disorder. Students with psychotic disorders lose the sense of reality and corner themselves.

How Can a Student Improve His Mental Health?

In our modern time, mental health issues have become a very common problem among college or university students. So, if you are also one of those who are experiencing poor mental health conditions, then do not lose hope. That's because if you want, you can improve your mental health in several ways.

For example; you can start working out, or you can increase positivity in your social and everyday life. Not only that, there are plenty of ways by which you can help your mental health, like-

• Socialize With People

Sometimes, when you are having a bad day, it is better to talk to your friends or family members than to isolate yourself. Sharing your inner feelings with someone you like might immediately give you inner peace.

However, it is always better to socialize with the people you love. When you have people around, you will not feel lonely or isolated. This practice is really helpful for improving your mental health.

• Start Working Out

If you are feeling down or low, you can join a gym and start working out. When you will be active in your everyday life, it will boost your energy and improve your mood. Also, it will help you to get better sleep. So, starting working out can help you to get sound mental health.

• Start Meditation:

meditation will help you to manage your stress and emotion. It will increase your self-awareness and patience. It will also help you to reduce depression and anxiety. Sometimes, doctors prescribe meditation to reduce daily stress.

• Help Others and Volunteer:

Another effective way to improve your mental health is to volunteer or by helping others. It may sound silly, but it is true that when you help others, it will increase a hormone, namely endorphins. This hormone is responsible for making you happy.

• Get Enough Sleep:

Sleep is very important for your mind and body especially when you're studying. It usually helps to function your body properly. It also plays an important role in brain function and body development. If you can have enough sleep, then it can sustain a very healthy brain function and improve your calculation skills.

Sleep also improves your overall physical health and supports your immune system. So, getting an adequate amount of sleep can help you to get better mental health.

Why And How Can We Support Better Mental Health for Students?

Being wary of the importance of good mental health in a student's life is a very important concern for all of us. Every student should be aware of it before it is too late. When they're not aware, they silently suffer from chronic mental health disorders without knowing that they have mental health issues.

So, to support better mental health, the first thing we need to do is to create awareness among students. We should take the necessary initiative to help the students who are experiencing poor mental health conditions. Additionally, all the parents, teachers, and students should have adequate knowledge about it, so anyone can be the savior for any mental health victim.

Final thoughts

Mental health is a very big issue in our contemporary time among students. The majority of the students are victims of mental health disorders in one way or another. Some people are aware of it and seek professional help to improve their mental health condition and some still don't have a clue. This is why we have tried to cover everything related to why mental health is important for students.

So, you, as an individual, should know about it and create awareness for yourself and the people around you. Helping and educating others about mental health can make a very big change in society.