The mental health conference highlights the growing interest among students

Health experts call it a crisis.

“People who didn’t wrestle before college really have a hard time transitioning,” said Elizabeth Byrnes, a junior at Siena College.

College students are struggling to maintain good mental health.

“Other cases are still lingering from the pandemic,” Burns said. “I think there’s a lot of social anxiety around interacting with faculty, staff, and other peers.”

Last year, Byrnes founded Active Minds.

“It was really important on our campus,” she said. “We were in a very vulnerable situation.”

It is part of a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting mental health awareness and education for youth.

“I thought students deserved a place to voice what they wanted and needed,” she said.

Burns represented the group at a mental health conference on campus Friday.

“As mental health advocates, we want to better understand the problem,” said John Richter, director of public policy at the New York State Mental Health Association.

MHANYS met with experts, collegiate associations and mental health advocates to highlight the most pressing issues.

“60 percent of college students now meet the criteria for one or more mental disorders,” Richter said.

According to the organization, between 2013 and last year, depression among young people increased by 135 percent and anxiety increased by 110 percent.

“There’s less stigma about it,” Richter said. “People are more open about it. People are more willing to get help.”

The conference was an opportunity for stakeholders from different parts of society to meet and decide on the best way forward.

“Because we understand each other so well, we might work together on legislation that we see eye to eye on,” Richter said.

Byrnes described it as a proud moment, as it happened on her campus and gave her an opportunity to highlight the achievements of Bright Minds.

“We currently have about 270 students on the email list,” she said. “Many students want to get involved and have these critical conversations. He changed the campus culture here.