The theme of mental illness was one that we at The Spectator thought was important to address because college is a time where students can develop mental illnesses and not know how to handle them.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the United States experienced some type of mental illness within the past year and we as an editorial staff feel the need to address the issue.

VSU has done a tremendous job in taking care of the health of students. Since 2010 there has been a 33% increase in students attending the counseling center. There are many mental health issues that affect college students such as anxiety, past trauma, body image issues, attention deficit disorders and more.

With the statistics given to us by the counseling center, we discovered students at VSU care deeply about their mental health, and we applaud the student body for this.

However, we believe that VSU could do a better job at informing freshman and incoming students about the counseling center and all it has to offer.

Freshman year can be a difficult time for students because they are away from their home, their family, and everything familiar to them. These difficulties can cause anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses that need to be taken care of in order to have success in the following years of college.

We feel VSU does a better job caring for their students in regards to mental health than other schools in Georgia, but there is always room for improvement, especially with an issue as important as mental health.