PTSD on the rise among college students: Study

Updated: May 31, 2024 / 11:30 AM CDT

New graduates line up before the start of a community college commencement in East Rutherford, N.J., May 17, 2018. This summer, millions of Americans with student loans will be able to apply for a new repayment plan that offers some of the most lenient terms ever. Interest won’t pile up as long as borrowers make regular payments. Millions of people will have payments of $0. And starting in 2024, undergraduate loan payments will be reduced by half. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

A new study released Thursday found post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is on the rise among college students.

The research found PTSD increased 4.1 percentage points over five years, going from 3.4 percent of students in the 2017-2018 school year to 7.5 percent in the 2021-2022 academic year.

The analysis conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggested possible stressors that could have triggered PTSD in students such as losing loved ones during the pandemic, campus shootings and racial trauma.

“These trends highlight the escalating mental health challenges among college students, which is consistent with recent research reporting a surge in psychiatric diagnoses,” the study concludes.

It added that the “findings suggest the need for targeted, trauma-informed prevention and intervention strategies by mental health professionals and policy makers to support the affected student population.”

Around 5 percent of people in the U.S. experience PTSD every year, and it can be a difficult diagnosis to make.

Some have argued the disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic could count as a traumatic event for many because of the lockdowns and high death toll in the country.