Mental Disorders Prevalent in Youth, Says Study

Nearly half of college-age adults suffer from one or more psychiatric disorders, according to new research published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The study, which was authored by Columbia University psychology professor Carlos Blanco, found that 45.8 percent of college students and 47.7 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds who do not attend college have at least one disorder.

In the former group, the most prevalent afflictions were alcohol abuse at 20.4 percent and personality disorders at 17.7 percent, researchers found.

The study concluded that although college students exhibit a much greater dependency on alcohol than their comparison group, they are less likely to be diagnosed as drug-abusive, nicotine dependent, or bipolar.

Blanco, who is also the associate director of the Anxiety and Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said he thinks the college student group exhibits a greater incidence of alcohol-related disorders because of alcohol’s availability on campuses.

“It is very acceptable at that age to drink, and people aren’t aware of consequences of alcohol dependence and abuse,” he said.

Despite the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among 18- to 24-year-olds, only one quarter of them receive treatment, and college students are less likely to seek medical help than those not attending college, the study found.

Blanco said this disparity is due to students’ lack of awareness, the stigma associated with seeking medical help, and limited availability of treatment on campuses.

But Joseph Glenmullen, a former Harvard Clinical instructor in psychology, questioned the study’s findings, saying that the broadness of current diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders may inflate the number of people who actually have these disorders.

“It’s not credible if nearly 50 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds have psychiatric disorders—the number is off the charts,” Glenmullen said. “For many disorders, the diagnostic criteria has been watered down and capture more people with milder and milder symptoms.”

Glenmullen added that the study’s conclusions may not be representative of Harvard undergraduates.

“In my experience, the most common psychiatric disorders [at Harvard] would be anxiety and depression,” Glenmullen said, conceding, however, that “there might be more instances of alcohol abuse and dependence that people aren’t seeking treatment for.”

A Crimson investigation conducted in 2003 found that 80 percent of Harvard undergraduates felt depressed at least once in the preceding year, and 47 percent felt so depressed on at least one occasion that it was difficult for them to function. Ten percent reported having seriously considered committing suicide.

Blanco and his colleagues collected their data by conducting face-to-face interviews with more than 44,000 18- to 24-year-old men and women.

They analyzed 5,000 of the interviews as part of the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

The study was motivated by recent incidents of campus violence, Blanco said.

“We were very concerned about incidents like Virginia Tech, and we knew that there hadn’t been any national studies done [on young adult mental health],” Blanco said.