According to the April 2013 Utah Statewide Substance Abuse Epidemiology Profile Report, Utah is one of the youngest states in the nation, with over 31% of the population under the age of 18 (vs. 24% for the nation), and only 9% of the population over the age 65 (vs. 13% for the nation). Educationally, 30% of residents over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Utah’s Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) states that out of all Utah residents that received treatment for substance abuse in 2016 those ages 18-24 made up 17.7 percent. Six percent of all Utahns who were treated for substance abuse in 2016 claimed “student” as their employment status. 1,119 Utahns ages 18 – 24 received treatment for heroin or other opioids in 2016. The primary substance of abuse for Utahns ages 18-24 is heroin, followed closely by methamphetamine.
The Utah Higher Education Health Behavior Survey
The Utah Higher Education Health Behavior Survey, a biennial statewide survey of college students conducted by DSAMH. in 2007, was completed by 10,186 students from nine public colleges (College of Eastern Utah, Dixie State College, Salt Lake Community College, Snow College, Southern Utah University, University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah Valley State College, and Weber State University). The sample included 1,512 University of Utah students. This survey discovered that 34.1% of females and 25.5% of males needed mental health treatment. The same survey showed 11.8% had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year and 1.3% actually attempted suicide. The survey showed that overall, the rates of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use for University of Utah students were much lower than for students nationally. For most substances, University of Utah students use at rates that are ½ to ¼ the national rates. In 2007, 9.9% needed alcohol or drug treatment and 15.1% had five or more drinks in one sitting in the past two weeks.
According to the Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey in 2015, 10.1% of all 12th graders surveyed who used prescription drugs (stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers, or narcotics) without a doctor telling them to. SHARP was given to 39 school districts and 14 charter schools across Utah. Nearly 50,000 students were surveyed. Southern Utah University (SUU) officials state that the university’s counseling center hasn’t seen a real drug abuse trend of any kind in the last ten years. Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, Curt Hill, said some evidence suggests that prevention programs are working on campuses and there are “very few” times students are seen for drug abuse or addiction.
College & Mental Health
Dixie State University (DSU), has seen a steadily increasing amount of students being seen at the university’s Health and Wellness Center for mental health related issues. DSU’s Dean of Students, Del Beatty, pointed out that there were students who were disappointed when they didn’t receive medication for the campus’ wellness center. Beatty said the center’s policy is to look at other options like counseling and lifestyle changes before medication is prescribed. Utah State University’s (USU) student government representatives declared a campus-wide mental health crisis last fall after students were waiting up to six weeks to be seen for treatment by on-campus psychological services. The difference in the number of students seeking help could be associated with the fact that students are generally in school during the fall and winter months and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) means people with SAD get depressed during winter months. Students at DSU in St. George are living about 382 miles south of USU in Logan and see a lot more sun than snow, even in the winter months. To learn more about SAD in Utah read our blog “Utah Ski Resort Towns: Seasonal Affective Disorder and Substance Abuse”
Finding Addiction Treatment
College students in Utah face the same risk and temptations as students at other colleges in other parts of the country. The one slight difference could be the opioid epidemic happening all over Utah with all age groups but mostly those between 25-44 years of age. Prescription opioid abuse is increasing and leading to an increase in heroin as well. To learn more about the epidemic read our blog “Utah’s Struggle with Opiate Abuse.” If a college student in your life is struggling with addiction and/or mental health issues, we can help. Call Recovery Ways at 1-888-986-7848 or contact us here.
