Australian Students With Psychiatric Illness

An analysis of 250 students presenting at a university student health service is described. Over half presented with depression and a further 19% with anxiety, while sexual problems and schizophrenia contributed 11% and 6% respectively to the total. Fifty-three per cent had underlying personality traits which were disadvantageous to their well-being, the most common being a sensitive personality. The precipitating factors were, in hierarchical order: study, conflict with parents, emotional and sexual difficulties, and difficulty in interpersonal relations. Conflict about values not associated with emotional problems, and financial difficulties leading directly to psychiatric illness, were uncommon. Sixteen per cent of students presented without any clear precipitants. Of those with sexual problems, homosexuality among men and frigidity among women were the most frequent. In only a minority of the former was the homosexual behaviour fixed. Some reasons for these findings, their implications and limitations are discussed.