As more college students across the country seek help for mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, local school officials say the same is true for students at universities in Chattanooga and the surrounding areas.
An Associated Press review of more than three dozen public universities recently found that the number of students seeking treatment has nearly doubled over the last five years, while overall enrollment has remained relatively flat.
At Lee University, the private Christian school located in Cleveland, Tennessee, the number of students seeking treatment at the university’s counseling center has more than doubled in the past decade, according to Dr. David Quagliana, a licensed psychologist and director and clinical coordinator for the Lee University Counseling Center.
“What we see at the Lee University Counseling Center follows a lot of the same trends in the national data,” Quagliana said. “The percentage of students seeking treatment is far outstripping the percentage of enrollment increase.”
But he said students are also seeking help for more complicated or serious issues than he’s seen in the past.