Objectives Mental disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) are common and burdensome among college students. Although available evidence suggests that only a small proportion of the students with these conditions receive treatment, broad‐based data on patterns of treatment are lacking. The aim of this study is to examine the receipt of mental health treatment among college students cross‐nationally. Methods Web‐based self‐report surveys were obtained from 13,984 first year students from 19 colleges in eight countries across the world as part of the World Health Organization's World Mental Health–International College Student Initiative. The survey assessed lifetime and 12‐month common mental disorders/STB and treatment of these conditions. Results Lifetime and 12‐month treatment rates were very low, with estimates of 25.3–36.3% for mental disorders and 29.5–36.1% for STB. Treatment was positively associated with STB severity. However, even among severe cases, lifetime and 12‐month treatment rates were never higher than 60.0% and 45.1%, respectively. Conclusions High unmet need for treatment of mental disorders and STB exists among college students. In order to resolve the problem of high unmet need, a reallocation of resources may focus on innovative, low‐threshold, inexpensive, and scalable interventions.

Depression is an important public health problem that requires more and better attention. In the present work we review epidemiologic studies of depression among adolescents in Mexico and discuss strategies that may help in earlier identification and referral of potential cases for timely care. In summary, depressive symptoms are prevalent among adolescents and adults in Mexico as in many other countries, with a higher ratio of female cases. Young people experiencing the most challenging socio-urban situations have higher rates of depression. Even though depressive disorders are more prevalent among females, consequences may be even worse for males. The authors posit that, among males, stigma attached to depression might lead to attempts to hide depressive symptoms by masking them through high-risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol, drug use, and violence, among others). Women may have higher rates of suicide attempts, but the case-fatality rate of suicide attempts is higher among males. Despite of barriers and resource scarcity among healthcare and educational institutions, it is necessary to continue to develop alternatives that will lead to better attention of mental health issues among the youth, even when their mental health needs are not expressed directly or their chief complaints are in regard to "other" health issues.

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El aislamiento social involuntario por pandemia tiene consecuencias en todos los ámbitos sociales. El aislamiento social conlleva reacciones emocionales, comportamentales y psicológicas que pueden llevar al suicidio cuando las personas se sienten rebasadas y las expectativas sobre el futuro son catastróficas. Objetivo. Describir los estresores, cambio de rol, reacciones emocionales y riesgo de suicidio ante el aislamiento social por COVID-19 en estudiantes universitarios. Material y Método: Estudio cualitativo, descriptivo, exploratorio y transversal, con un muestreo por conveniencia. Participaron 1,186 estudiantes universitarios, la media de edad fue de 20 y DE 3.5, estado civil 94.8% solteros y 3.8% reportaron estar en una relación (casados o concubinato) y el 3.5% refirió que vive solo, 66.3% mujeres (n=786) y 33.7% hombres (n=400). Instrumento: cuestionario exprofeso para identificar variables sociodemográficas,  emocionales, psicológicas, cambios de rol, consumo de alcohol y tabaco, prácticas de autocuidado para inferir para el riesgo de suicidio. Resultados: el 32.6% de los encuestados reportó que no tiene un plan de actividades que como mínimo incluya: trabajo académico, trabajo en casa, esparcimiento, hora para dormir y despertar. Se identificó que el 3.5 y el 6.4% aumentó el consumo de tabaco y alcohol respectivamente. El 47.5% refirió que al estar nuevamente con sus familias no se sienten integrados, se sienten frustrados, estresados, aburridos y como si no estuvieran en casa. Las emociones y sentimientos más frecuentes son: miedo, enojo, sensación de pérdida de control, tristeza, desorganización, sensación de encierro, aburrimiento, frustración y ansiedad, esto puede desencadenar ideación y conductas suicidas.

Background Research is scarce on the prospective predictors of first onset suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) and the accuracy of these predictors in university students, particularly in low‐and‐middle income countries. Therefore, we assessed the 1‐year incidence of STB among first‐year students, a broad range of prospective predictors of STB incidence, and evaluated the prediction accuracy of a baseline multivariate risk prediction model to identify students at highest risk for STB onset over the subsequent 12 months. Methods Students (n = 3238) from 13 universities in Mexico completed an online survey developed for the World Mental Health International College Student Surveys in their first year and again 12 months after. We ran generalized linear models and receiver operator curves. Results The 1‐year incidence of suicidal ideation, plan and attempt was 8.53%, 3.75%, and 1.16%, respectively. Predictors in final models were female sex (ideation only), minority sexual orientation (ideation only), depression, eating disorders, ADHD (ideation and plan), ongoing arguments or breakup with a romantic partner (ideation only), emotional abuse (ideation only), parental death (ideation, plan), not Catholic/Christian (ideation, plan), not having someone to rely on, psychotic experiences (plan only), and insufficient sleep (attempt only). Prediction accuracy for ideation, plan and attempt was area under the curve = 0.76, 0.81 and 0.78, respectively. Targeting the top 10% of students at highest risk could reduce STB in the subsequent year up to 36%. Conclusions By assessing these risk/protective factors in incoming students we identified students at greatest risk for developing STB to whom suicide prevention strategies could be targeted.