Can Technology Bridge the Mental Health Gap on College Campuses?

Recent statistics have revealed a crisis that few headlines are reporting: three out of every four college students report moderate to severe psychological stress. Nearly half of those surveyed admitted to feeling “profoundly lonely.” One in nine has considered suicide in the past year.

But even with these alarming statistics in hand, only 46% of students who screen positive for anxiety or depression are receiving any counseling or therapy.

Consider the tragic death of Delta State University student Demartravion “Trey” Reed, who was found hanged on campus in 2025 – a death that shocked millions around the country and was determined to have been suicide.

When we begin to put faces and names with statistics, we are compelled to take action for change. Students who are already managing chronic health conditions can feel crushed under the balancing act of navigating complex medical care and living out the college life.

And when campus counseling centers place students on weeks-long waitlists, the risks rise. Throw in insurance barriers that often block access to off-campus care, and these vulnerable students fall through ever-widening cracks in the system.

A Fragmented System in Crisis

When students arrive on campus, they bring with them medical histories that are often scattered across dozens of electronic health record systems.

Their pediatrician uses one platform, the family doctor another, and then adds in all the specialists they may have seen over the years. Campus health centers, operating on yet another system, can’t see the full picture. This fragmentation can be frustrating at best, life-threatening at worst.

One bit of good news in the research shows that severe depression rates have retreated somewhat from a pandemic peak of 23% to 18%. But the overall mental health picture remains dire.

Counseling centers on campus report that they can only serve 11% of the 77% of students who report mental health struggles. The burnout is real – campus clinic staff are overwhelmed and working long hours, yet still can’t meet the demand.

Without integrated systems and support tools like telemedicine to extend care beyond regular hours, everyone’s fighting a losing battle.

When students can’t gain access to on-campus help, they often seek off-campus services. But many students lack understanding of their coverage or find that their plans don’t adequately cover mental health services.

The medical examiner’s ruling of suicide as Trey Reed's cause of death highlights the very real outcome of the perfect storm students face: a young man was suffering so deeply that death seemed his only option.

Reed’s story echoes across campuses nationwide. As college students try to keep their heads above water, more and more are facing increasingly dire risks.

The Communication Breakdown

When you see the statistics and read the stories, it’s easy to lose hope. But knowing the core problems can reveal a better path forward.

One critical issue? Students forget up to 90% of what healthcare providers tell them within a week. Imagine leaving a counseling session with coping strategies you can’t recall, or walking out of the campus clinic with medication instructions that blur within days.

This disconnect goes deeper than memory. A student’s hometown physician can’t always communicate quickly with campus clinicians. Parents trying to support their child from home can’t access information to help coordinate care.

This communication chaos leaves students (especially those managing chronic conditions like ADHD, autoimmune disorders, or mental health diagnoses) trying to bridge that gap themselves while barely staying afloat academically.

Eventually, something must give – and it’s often students, future leaders and changemakers, who take the fall.

Building Bridges Through Collaboration

The solutions aren’t simple – but they’re clear. We need unified EHR systems that allow for instant and accurate information sharing between providers. We need telemedicine capabilities to extend support beyond regular clinic hours and tools that help students and providers capture and act on healthcare conversations.

These aren’t futuristic dreams – the technology currently exists, and is getting smarter each day. What’s needed is the will to implement a comprehensive, integrated solution that helps treat student health holistically.

We recognize that technology alone isn’t enough. But when properly integrated systems can allow for true care coordination and students have tools to engage with that care, that sense of suffering in isolation can begin to break down.

Creating Change Together

The crisis on college campuses demands immediate action.

We need to increase funding so that universities can invest in integrated health platforms. We need healthcare systems to look forward and upgrade their systems to prioritize interoperability.

Most importantly, we need tech partners to focus on solutions that address the full spectrum of student needs – including EHR consolidation to telemedicine, and beyond to AI-powered early prevention.

This kind of lasting change will require real collaboration – the kind that allows communities to grow and foster cultures where seeking help is encouraged, not stigmatized.

Every student deserves to feel connected, supported, and hopeful about their future. Together, we can build systems that catch our young people before they fall. The question isn’t whether we can bridge this gap – it’s whether we will act with the urgency this crisis demands.