– The fact that one in three students may have a mental disorder is alarming. Unfortunately, it confirms and reinforces previous findings presented during last year’s SHoT-survey, says Pro-Rector Marit Reitan.
Tuesday, the Student´s health and well-beeing survey (SHoT) presented a supplementary survey.
Mental illness
More than 10.000 students have responded to the survey, where one of the main findings is than one in three students meets the criteria for mental illness.
The survey states that the most widespread mental disorders among students are depression and anxiety.
– This is the first we have investigated the occurrence of mental disorders among Norwegian students, said head of the research group for SHoT, Kari-Jussie Lønning during the presentation.
Necessary steps
Reitan emphasizes that it has become common knowledge that mental health problems perhaps are the biggest public health challenge in today´s society. Also that statistics show that mental illnesses are the cause of the biggest loss of health in form of reduced ability to manage daily life.
– As a large institution educating the workforce for the future, we must expect society to take these findings seriously and take the necessary steps to improve the services related to mental health, both in terms of prevention and treatment, says Reitan.
The pro-rector adds that NTNU works actively to create a good psychosocial learning environment for all students.
– We believe this to be an important preventive measure, Reitan says.We believe this to be an important preventive measure, Reitan says.We believe this to be an important preventive measure, Reitan says.
- Read more about the SHoT survey (in Norwegian)