As you walk along Pardall Road on a sunny Friday afternoon, you might hear the whirring sounds of bikes passing by or smell the aromatic flavors of fire-cooked pizzas from Blaze that fill the air. You might run into a familiar face or two as you saunter down the crowded street. And you might even notice endless crowds of students gathered at the foyer of Hana Kitchen, either making plans for the weekend or talking about how terrible that last midterm for Organic Chemistry was.
These are all familiar recollections that many undergraduate students can fondly recall about their days in Isla Vista.
The small college town borders the UCSB campus, providing homes for many students who have moved out of their on-campus dorms. In the heart of Isla Vista lies a unique and vibrant community for countless students residing in the area.
For some students like Paolo Ortiz, a fourth year at UCSB, the close-knit college town had become his “home away from home,” giving him a support system he needed, especially when he was at his lowest.
“I was at a bad place at one point,” Paolo distinctly remembers.
He recalls his first year in college as a battle between his sanity and his worsening mental health. It felt like a continuous stream of anxiety and depression, and he constantly wondered when it was going to end. Although he struggled immensely, he bravely continued to go about each day, constantly reminding himself that he just needs to get by at school.
By the end of the school year, however, he eventually depleted what was left of his energy and willpower, losing the ability to completely cope with his anxiety.
Many other students have shared similar experiences, though at different extents, regarding their mental health in college.
Not surprisingly, students in higher education represent a large part of the population of young adults that suffer from mental disorders.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 75% of mental illness begin by age 23, with about 43.8 million adults having experienced mental illness in 2012.
The mental health crisis is more apparent than ever in college campuses worldwide. Psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression are the most serious and prevalent health problems among students in higher education, making young adulthood a critical period for mental health.
Research has found that the large increase in psychological problems in college students is due to many factors, and some factors affect a number of students right when they start college.
As incoming students begin a new chapter in their lives, transitioning and adapting can be difficult. Students are transplanted from one familiar place to sometimes a completely foreign environment.
They are forced to leave behind the comfort and support of their family and friends to live in a completely unfamiliar environment alongside hundreds of unfamiliar people. In turn, they are faced with the challenge to adapt, adjust, and manage stressors of this significant life transition by themselves.
Failing to manage and adapt to stressors can consequently and greatly affect the mental wellbeing of students.
Cindy Leung, a current second-year student at UCSB, says her experience living as a first year student and adapting to college life was quite difficult, especially because she felt like no one was there to support her.
She had to adjust to a new curriculum, the quarters went by too quickly for her to keep up, and it was hard for her to make friends on campus. She found herself switching majors three times that year, disappointed that she was unable to keep her ideal major.
The college environment can be an especially challenging place. Students begin to worry more and more about their academics or their credentials. Courses get more rigorous, and some students can fail out of their majors.
“How am I doing compared to the other students? Am I keeping up? Should I be looking into internships soon?” Students constantly ruminate these questions, haunted by frequent doubts in their heads.
As student populations are growing and changing, these changes come with new issues, needs, and stressors that can be demanding for many.
“Students in this generation are working even harder in order to keep up with this fast-paced environment. Because of this, there are new stressors and more worries that students get caught up about,” UCSB Health Educator Michael Takahara explains.
As a result, these new stressors have caused an increase in anxiety and other psychological issues in students.
Because mental health concerns are becoming more serious and increasingly prevalent, there has been a heightened need to address these problems through additional interventions.
Emmie Matsuno, a counselor at the UCSB Counseling and Psychological Services Center describes the necessity in improving students’ mental wellbeing by building resilience.
“Resilience is being able to adapt to adversity, challenges, or any experience that may cause significant amounts of stress. It is a person’s ability to bounce back from adversity,” she explains.
Resilient students may experience the same stressful experience as less-resilient students. The only difference is, resilient students have the capability to bounce back and thrive from that experience.
So the question is, how does one build resiliency?
“Social support is part of the answer,” Michael explains. It is an important aspect in building resilience against stressors that can be harmful to a person’s mental health.
Social support includes family, friends, and maybe even significant others. They are people who can provide tangible, informational, or emotional support for a person.
Research has continuously shown how social support is a powerful coping resource for anyone. When you talk to someone, it can have positive psychological effects and buffer the negative effects of stress.
When students talk about their problems with others, they feel a little better rather than keeping everything in.
For Paolo, however, he felt like he had no choice but to keep everything in.
“There were a lot of times when I felt overwhelmed about school. Not only that, but I felt alone, and there wasn’t anyone I could talk to. Even if I was stressing out about school, I didn’t know who I could turn to,” Paolo recalls.
His stress and anxiety about school was compounded with his lack of social support.
Fortunately, things started to change when Paolo moved out of the dorms and into Isla Vista his second year.
He attributes his gradual progress to Isla Vista’s unique neighborhood. To him, Isla Vista provided a sense of community and connectedness when he lived in the small town.
He believes what is so particular about Isla Vista is the way it creates a community for many college students. You get to see friends here and meet friends there, and they’re never more than a 10-minute walk away from where you are.
Because Isla Vista is such a small and compact town, students are easily able to build and maintain social connections.
According to Emmie, building and maintaining social connections promote feelings of belongingness that strengthen resiliency in college students. She states that social connectedness is a protective factor that not only promotes resiliency, but also increases academic success in college students.
Cindy shares the same sentiments about her experience living in Isla Vista. After moving out of the dorms, she moved into an apartment complex, just 5 minutes away from Pardall Road.
She describes the town as “a place where you can feel like you’re not alone, because you can be sure you’re always going to run into people you know.”
Research shows that on the contrary, people who are more socially isolated or have less contact with someone to confide in will feel more alone. As a result, people are more likely to feel unhappy.
Conversely, the heart of Isla Vista is a place that has grown a community for many college students. Students are more capable in building a strong social support system away from home in this small college town.
Therefore, students like Paolo and Cindy are more successful in overcoming challenges and stressors that might negatively affect their mental health and wellbeing.
Paolo smiled from chin to chin as he continued sharing his thoughts and experiences about this unique college town. His disposition had changed dramatically from the beginning of the interview.
With a gleam in his eye, he said his last remarks about his beloved college town.
“If home is where the heart is, then my heart is in Isla Vista.”