‘Mental Health on College Campuses is a Public Health Priority’.

On July 25, Sarah Lipson, assistant professor of health law, policy & management, gave a virtual talk on the mental health of transgender and gender non-conforming college students. The presentation was part of the virtual Happiness Festival, a series of live talks and workshops on the science of happiness and resilience, organized by The University of Oxford’s Happiness Research Institute, and broadcast online July 24-26.

Presenting data from the Healthy Minds Study, an annual, online mental health study of college students, Lipson spoke about the mental health burden and inequities that transgender and gender non-conforming undergraduate and graduate students experience, as well as recommendations that college and universities can adopt to address these issues.

“Mental health on college campuses is a public health priority,” said Lipson. “Transgender and gender non-conforming students experience a disproportionate burden of mental health problems. These disparities are borne out of societal and social factors, and the lived experiences that these students are facing.”

During the ages of 18 to 25, mental health “is enormously predictive of life-long trajectories, in terms of economic outcomes, social outcomes, and educational outcomes,” Lipson said. “For these reasons and more, focusing on mental health during college is a really important investment and something we should care a lot about.”

Watch the video above to see Lipson’s full presentation.