Post-secondary students in Canada face increasing stress, psychiatrist says

For first year post-secondary students now walking the halls of universities and colleges in Saskatchewan, there is a lot more ontheir minds than just higher learning.

"I was a little timid," recalls nursing student Afroditi Papageorgiu.

The list of potential stressors is long, includingsorting out schedules, buying text books, finding a place to live andgetting along with new roommates.

Many, like Papageorgiu, are able to adjust.

"It's kind of easy to overcome when there is a bit of a community at the school and things like that," she told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

Toronto psychiatrist Dr. Irvin Wolkoff confirms that making the transition from the comforts of home to the more demanding and rigorous world of post-secondary education is demanding.

"Moving off to university means that you have to invent yourself very, very quickly.You have to figure out who you are as a young adult," he said.

Wolkoff believes pressure is increasing as students face rising tuition, debt, higher unemploymentand an uncertain future.

Some may not be able to cope

Wolkoff also warned there is a segment of students who will not be able to make that transition without a lot of support. Young people, he said, who are struggling with or who have a family history of mental illness might not be able to make that leap. Also at risk, he said, are students who come from homes without support from their parents.

You could argue that it isnot even moral.- Dr. IrvinWolkoff

"The classic student in trouble is one who has withdrawn from all regular activities and is holed up in his or her room doing nothing," said Wolkoff.

Wolkoff told Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski many post-secondary institutions now do a good jobhelping to reach those students, and they no longer believe in allowing first year students struggling with the transition to drop out.

"It's terribly wasteful, it's unkind and you could argue that it is not even moral."