Severe mental health issues are increasing among college students, according to a recent survey.

The 2010 Director Survey, conducted by the American College Counseling Association, found that 91 percent of counseling center directors reported a trend toward an increase in severe mental health issues in their patients. The survey contains data from 320 counseling centers, which represents 2.75 million students who are eligible for counseling services, according to the survey.

“In addition to the higher levels of distress, students are experiencing more significant stressors in their lives, including economic stress, academic stress and relationship problems,” said Claudia Carroll, director of the Health and Counseling Center at St. Edward’s University. “These stressors, combined with other mental health concerns, help to create this increase in experienced psychological distress.”

The Health and Counseling Center, which did not participate in the survey, has not seen a statistical increase in the number of students who report certain mental health concerns. However, the counseling center did see the severity of clients’ symptoms increase, according to Carroll.

“As an example, while the percentage of students endorsing depression as a psychological concern has not increased at a level of statistical significance, the severity of their depressive symptoms and the intensity of their psychological pain and distress have shown significant increase,” Carroll said.

The counseling center sees between 9 and 10 percent of the St. Edward’s student population, which is consistent with national levels. However, some students are seeking therapy elsewhere, Carroll said. She could not release any statistics related to the mental health issues of clients because of confidentiality purposes.

Nevertheless, the survey found certain mental health issues have increased over the past five years. Of the directors surveyed, approximately 71 percent saw an increase in crisis issues requiring immediate response, 68 percent saw an increase in psychiatric medication issues, 60 percent saw an increase in learning disabilities and 46 percent saw an increase in alcohol abuse.

Forty-five percent of directors reported an increase in illicit drug use, 39 percent reported an increase in self-injury issues, 25 percent reported an increase in on-campus sexual assault, 23 percent reported an increase in career planning issues, 23 percent reported problems relating to earlier sexual abuse and 23 percent reported an increase in eating disorders.

Carroll said the Counseling Center has seen a slight increase in the number of students who reported prior history of eating disorders.

Carroll, who has worked in counseling centers at four other universities, said that one reason that St. Edward’s has not seen a significant statistical increase in the number of students with severe mental health problems is that the St. Edward’s community is proactive with students.

“The different faculty, residence life and student life: all these departments know their students pretty well, and so they know when someone is not functioning well,” Carroll said. “I find that the campus is being real proactive—taking care of the students [and] getting them to see us quickly.”