Societal changes in how we communicate — via social media in the world of 24/7 Internet — can also lead to new pressures not faced by previous generations, say experts.
“This generation of children and youth live in two universes,” said Patricia Marra-Stapleton, the mental health leader for the Toronto Catholic District School Board. “One is real life. They also live in a digital social world. What we’re seeing emerging is that kids as young as 8 years old have an overdependence on social media and digital connectivity.”
Dr. Katy Kamkar, clinical psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says that although social media has positives in terms of opening up communication and dialogue, there are also psychologically scarring influences.
“There is concern around cyberbullying, spending a lot of time on the computer, and limiting the actual social support from person-to-person contact.”
Whatever the cause, the effect is proving dramatic.
Budget strains
The increase in cases has triggered dramatic spending across the private, public and educational sectors.
Algoma University had the most significant change, jumping about 133 per cent in three years. Its budget for counselling services was $22,776 in 2013-2014, which increased to $53,113 in 2015-2016 despite a decline in enrolment of more than 230 students.
“Students have higher anxiety, more stress and often lack the coping skills or nearby peer support necessary to help,” said Tom Mauro, director of student services.
The University of British Columbia saw an 86-per-cent increase, from just over $1 million in 2010 to $1.9 million last year.
“The number of staff we had was completely inadequate for the size and complexity of our student population, and we really needed to be able to bolster that,” said Cheryl Washburn, director of counselling services.
Ryerson University had a 23-per-centincrease in budget in the last three years, from $1.4 million in 2014-2015 to $1.7 million in 2016-2017.
The additional money funded two new counsellor positions, a community service provider and mobile mental health options for students, said Ryerson clinical co-ordinator Sarah Thompson.
A Star/Ryerson survey of counselling appointments at 13 post-secondary institutions found widespread increases in recent years.
On average, the number of counselling appointments increased by 35 per cent.
The biggest increase was at Georgian College: a 211-per-cent jump to 3,928 in 2016-2017 from 1,260 in 2013-2014.
While the University of Ottawa’s total student enrolment decreased by 833 between 2013 and 2016, the number of counselling appointments rose by 1,195.
At Sheridan College, there have been more than 100 high-risk assessments that involved a call to emergency medical services (EMS) from April 2016 to this February.
“Post-secondary is often when some of our mental health diagnoses come to light,” said Marissa Amoroso, senior manager of health and counselling at Sheridan College. “When they’re overwhelmed, they don’t know what to do or how to reach out for help.”
Accommodating students
Another measure of mental strain on young people is accommodations granted by universities to students with disabilities that hamper their academic performance.
The number of students listed for “psychiatric” conditions who received accommodations at the U of T’s downtown campus alone jumped from 628 in 2009 to 1,526 last year — a 143-per-cent increase.
Psychiatric conditions (including ADHD) now account for 56 per cent of all academic accommodations at the country’s largest university.
Olivia Nicoloff is a 22-year-old U of T student who suffers with anxiety, panic attacks and depression.
“Twenty-two years is a long time to be fighting with yourself,” she said. “My illness really manifested in my ability to focus and my ability to do schoolwork.”
Nicoloff began seeking counselling at the university in her first year in 2013 — but didn’t get in until this year.
“It’s a good thing that I was not a serious risk to myself or others because I might not be here,” she said. “These wait lists are long, there are not enough doctors. There never probably will be to meet the demand of students.”
She received academic accommodations for assignments and tests this past year.
“All of my life being so strong academically I’ve had these expectations put on me that I’m going to do such great things … if I put my mind towards it. And there was a lot of judgment on myself because I couldn’t do that anymore.”
At the University of Winnipeg, student accommodations for mental health reasons spiked 80 per cent — from 142 in 2011- 2012 to 255 this year so far.
Last year at Georgian College, there were 684 accommodations, an increase of nearly 70 per cent since 2011.
Trent University’s accommodations jumped 108 per cent since 2010 to 604.
And since 2014 alone, Brock University’s mental health accommodations have nearly doubled to 422.
Privatizing help
Some schools and student unions, including those at Durham College, Dalhousie University, George Brown College and McMaster University, are responding to the spike in mental health demands by farming out the support services to private contractors like Aspiria Corp.
Aspiria provides Student Assistant Program (SAP) and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services for mental health issues and life coaching to businesses and schools across the country.
In 2010, Aspiria had no SAPs. Today, it has 23, with the number expecting to grow larger by September.
“We’re finding that the on-campus counselling centres need to be supplemented by other services, external to the campuses, for mental health counselling,” said Eric Rubel, vice-president of clinical experience.