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

TL;DR

The paper investigates how university students manage mental health medications in real-world settings and how technologies contribute or fail to support this process. Using semi-structured interviews with 10 students and thematic analysis, it identifies the dynamic nature of medication management, driven by self-acceptance, dosage changes, symptom interactions, and transitions. It reveals coping strategies that rely on simple, low-effort tools and highlights gaps such as logging and reliance on fixed reminders. The authors propose design implications to track symptom-medication relationships, provide adaptive reminders, safeguard privacy, and strengthen patient–provider trust, with implications for university health services and digital health developers.

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.