A nationwide survey has found a rise in university students suffering from mental health problems, an increase that has schools struggling to cope with the volume of consultations.

The survey was organized by Kei Advanced Inc., a group company of the Tokyo-based Kawaijuku Educational Institution, and lasted from January to March.

Of the 345 universities across the country that responded, 75 percent said the number of students with mental health issues was higher compared to 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic and social media are two factors experts believe contributed to the uptick in young adults who are struggling.

Recurring topics when students met with university staff included issues related to “job hunting,” “academics and research” and “lack of motivation or inability to set goals.”

‘NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME’

“The number of consultations remains high,” said Yuri Okamoto, chairperson of the NPO Zenkoku Daigaku Mental Health Gakkai (Nationwide university mental health society) and director of Hiroshima University’s Health Service Center.

She notes that today’s students are used to communicating through social media from a young age and had limited in-person interactions during high school due to the pandemic. Now that universities have returned to in-person classes, Okamoto said students are starting to feel the impact.

“I never thought I wouldn’t be able to go to a university,” said a 23-year-old woman attending a university in Tokyo.

After returning from a three-month study abroad trip, she began experiencing sudden emotional distress last August. This included uncontrollable crying and she was left largely bedridden.

Her second and third years of high school took place online as they coincided with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her first six months of university classes were also virtual.

This environment made it difficult to form connections with other students and she currently only has a few university friends—one she met during school orientation and another from her seminar group.

“It always felt like I was walking a tightrope in my friendships,” she said.

While studying abroad, she was constantly mindful of her host family. After she returned to Japan, she began feeling unwell and sought help from her university’s counseling center. Even after returning to classes in April, she continues to visit the center once every two months.

“Mental health problems can happen to anyone,” she said.

June is an especially important time for students to pay attention to their mental well-being since it marks a few months after starting university or coming back for another year, according to Kyoko Takaishi, former president of the Japan Association of Student Counseling.

Konan University in Hyogo Prefecture, where Takaishi is a professor, has seen more than 4,000 mental health-related consultations, a 30 percent increase compared to 10 years ago.

Takaishi emphasizes the importance of young adults becoming accustomed to spending time with people other than family and close friends given the impact of the pandemic and social media’s ability to simultaneously connect and distance individuals.

The university is also encouraging this—it has turned part of its counseling center into a free space where students can try pottery, gardening, cooking or share lunch together and actively invites students to take part.

24-HOUR COUNSELING SERVICE

At Toyo University in Tokyo, there were about 13,800 consultations in fiscal 2024, which is about 1.8 times more than a decade prior. There are no longer enough counseling booths, and students may have to wait one to two weeks to see a counselor.

Common anxieties shared include “I can’t go to my university,” “I don’t understand the classes” and “I can’t connect with people.”

Toyo has tried to accommodate its students by increasing its roster of counselors to 19, three more than it had seven years ago, and outsourcing services to offer 24-hour support.

Still, a staff member at the student support office said, “If this trend continues, we’re worried we won’t be able to handle it.”

Another factor universities must account for is an increase in students with developmental disorders, making more mental health support necessary.

As of last spring, private universities in Japan are also required to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, which includes not only academic support but also enhanced counseling services.

Professor Keiichiro Watanabe of the Center for Research on Counseling and Support Services at the University of Tokyo said that providing support for individuals with developmental disorders requires significant time and energy due to the wide variation of individual characteristics.

THE WRONG QUESTION

In Kei Advanced’s survey, the top challenges in providing mental health support were “diversification of consultation topics,” “identifying students with problems” and “shortage of counselors.”

Okamoto of the Zenkoku Daigaku Mental Health Gakkai urges universities to take proactive steps.

“Some people wonder if they have to take care of (university) students like they would in junior high or high school, but failing to take proper measures could lead to more serious social issues,” she said.

(This article was written by Amane Shimazaki and Hajime Ueno.)