Navigating the Paradox: Challenges and Strategies of University Students Managing Mental Health Medication in Real-World Practices

TL;DR

This study explores how university students manage mental health medication in real-world settings, highlighting their challenges, coping strategies, and the role of technology, with implications for designing supportive tools.

Contribution

It provides new insights into students' medication management processes and proposes design implications for technology to better support their mental health needs.

Findings

Students face challenges with self-acceptance and medication management.

Flexible, minimal technology use helps students maintain autonomy.

Medication management is a dynamic process with frequent dosage adjustments.

Abstract

Mental health has become a growing concern among university students. While medication is a common treatment, understanding how university students manage their medication for mental health symptoms in real-world practice has not been fully explored. In this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with university students to understand the unique challenges in the mental health medication management process and their coping strategies, particularly examining the role of various technologies in this process. We discovered that due to struggles with self-acceptance and the interdependent relationship between medication, symptoms, schedules, and life changes, the medication management process for students was a highly dynamic journey involving frequent dosage changes. Thus, students adopted flexible strategies of using minimal technology to manage their medication in different situations while maintaining a high degree of autonomy. Based on our findings, we propose design implications for future technologies to seamlessly integrate into their daily lives and assist students in managing their mental health medications.