Students are stressed, depressed, and on the verge of mental breakdowns after deciding to pursue higher education.

This can be the result of taking on strenuous classes and work loads. On top of that, some students are working full or part-time jobs. Most schools offer counseling so that help and advice is readily available to those who need it, but most of the time it’s actually very difficult to get an appointment with a counselor.

The American College Health Association does a survey every year on the health of college students. Among undergraduates in 2015, 20.2 % were diagnosed with depression and 45.4 % felt that academics were traumatic and too difficult to handle. Diablo Valley College alone has 22,000 students and when applying those statistics 4,500 students are experiencing depression between both campuses.

When trying to schedule a counseling appointment online, there was only one available counselor for both campuses, meaning that if a student needed to see a counselor, there is a possibility that our one counselor might not even be on the campus. Because of this, a good number of students experiencing mental disorders cannot receive immediate treatment on campus.

Yes, we as students want to succeed in college and our institution wants us to succeed as well, but our mental and physical health should always be a top priority. We should spread more awareness of mental health in college and give students a safe place to go to in their time of need. It’s the least we can do.