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Depression in college students
Depression in college students
The effects of mental health on college students
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College brings many changes to a young adolescent. Moving away from parents and being on your own is the biggest and sometimes scariest step. This change for college students can sometimes be very dramatic and can often lead to depression. A column written by Michael Kerr (2012) reported that one out of every four-college student suffers from some sort of mental illness, depression being the most common. It also stated that 44 percent of American college students report having symptoms of depression. College is supposed to be a time of growth, learning and self-discovery. What factors play a contributing role to the rates of depression found in college students? Research by Nyer and colleagues (2013) has suggested that sleep disturbances and anxiety contribute to depression-like symptoms in students. Another study conducted by Xueting, Hong, Bin and Taisheng (2013) found that students who were trying to reach perfect grades in their academics found themselves falling short of expectations which triggered symptoms of depression. Varied distractions, academic or financial difficulties, substance abuse, lack of sleep and unstable friendships are additional risk factors for depression (Xueting, 2013). If not left untreated, students often resort to suicide as a way out of the depression. (Wilcox, 2013)
Mental health professionals classify depression as a disorder that affects a person’s thoughts and feelings. “At some point during their lifetime, depression plagues 17 percent of U.S. adults.” (Myers, 2006 p. 621) In the year 2000, 76% of college students felt “overwhelmed” and 22% were unable to function as a result of their depression (American College Health Association, 2001). Major depressive disorder is characterized by extreme...
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...g about suicide were more likely to attempt suicide than those who had attempted before. This finding suggested that mental health professional cannot assume those people who think about committing suicide more are at higher risk. Also, professionals cannot assume that those who have a single suicidal thought are safer than those who think about suicide more often.
From the research stated above, one can see that depression is prominent in college students. Adjusting to college life, keeping up with academics, sleep deprivation and substance abuse are all factors that contribute to depression in college students. When left untreated or if a person does seek help for the depression, they may turn to suicide as a way to deal with the pain that depression causes them. Proper counseling and screenings for students can help decrease depression and suicide in students.
Clinical depression, which affects about 10% of the adult population (Holtz, Stokes, 1138), is charact...
There have been many instances of suicide that have occurred in the past years at universities across the country, and since it is such a sensitive subject, there have not been nearly enough coverage as this topic deserves, considering this issue does not seem to be going away. When collecting data about suicide statistics, the age range is broken down as people ages 15-24, which spans most developmental years. Within this bracket are college-age students and this age-group has by far the most troubling statistics around it.
In college students must learn how to manage their time, organize their schedule that meets their college and personal duties, how to be resourceful, and how to interact with people whom they never met. Before college, a variety of students already learned how to accomplish these skills, but only a few of these students are fully responsible for themselves before leaving their home. Students who are dependent are most likely to have been helped by their parents who took an overprotective or extreme interest in the life of their children. Many students do not get the help they need to become independent and being overwhelmed may lead a student to commit suicide, fail, or even drop out during college. If a student fails, his or her self-esteem can be permanently damage, and the consequences can effect an entire lifetime. Students must receive more helped by college administrators and professors and influence them to self-mange better. It is understandable that some people do not want colleges to help more because they want the students to do mista...
According to an article by Josephine Marcotty in Minneapolis’ Star Tribune from April 10, college students lead “hyper-enriched lives,” said Greg Kneser, dean of students at St. Olaf College. That’s what makes this generation of students distinct from its predecessors, he said. That is why more students who cannot cope with these feelings end up at college counseling centers with “increasingly serious mental-health problems.” 15 to 20 percent of college students nationally were diagnosed with depression. The second most common diagnosis was severe anxiety. According to the article, it is not unusual for mental-health issues to become apparent during a student’s college years.
Nancy D. Brener and Lisa Cohen Barrios from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Sohela Sabur Hassan from the University of Texas at Houston conducted this experiment to see what percentage of college undergraduate students had contemplated suicide within the past 12 months. A survey was sent to a nationally representative sample of undergraduate students to assess the correlation between substance abuse and suicidal ideation. This was the first study to examine such behavior of a nationally representative sample.
Depression is an equal opportunity disorder, it can affect any group of people with any background, race, gender, or age. Depression is a sneak thief that slips quietly and gradually into people’s lives - robbing them of their time, and their focus. At first, depression may be undetectable, but in the long run a person could become so weighed down that their life may feel empty and meaningless. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who commits suicide is depressed, but majority of people who commits suicide do so during a severe depressive episode. There are over 300 million people in the world today who suffer from depression. Depression has affected people for a long as records have been kept. It was first called out by the famous Greek philosopher Hippocrates over 2,400 years ago. Hippocrates called it “melancholia”. Many times we think of depression as one disorder alone, when in fact there are many different types of depression. The different types of depression are major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, atypical disorder, adjustment disorder, and depressive personality disorder. All types of depression share at least one common symptom. It is commons from the person who suffers from any form of depression to feel an unshakable sadness, anxious, or empty mood. Major depressive disorder also known as unipolar depression or recurrent depressive disorder is the most severe depressive disorder out of all of the depressive in my estimation. Major depressive disorder is a condition in which affects a person’s family, work or school life, sleeping, eating and general health. It is important to emphasize that we can understand the mechanics of this disorder and how it affects people with major depressive disorder.
The reasons for this thoughts may be vary from person, for some might get depressed because of poor performance in the college and others may be affected by peer pressure and, in fact, there are countless possible reasons of why they people get depressed. Nonetheless, a suicide will definitely traumatize others-parents, life partners, siblings, the suicide eyewitnesses, friends and, if the victim received professional assistance, their psychiatrists. This situation is ‘unfair’ because one’s action of taking owns life create a dark memory of the incident, thus traumatizing others close to them. An article from Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior
Many first year college students face problems as they enter a new educational environment that is very different than that of high school. However, the common problem is that many first year students become stressed. For many students, college is supposed to be the most fun time of their life; however, their fun can be restricted if it is limited by stress and other mental illnesses. According to the National Health Ministries (2006), stress is caused by “greater academic demands,” the feeling of being independent from family, “financial responsibility,” homesickness, being exposed to meeting new people, peer pressure, “awareness of one’s own sexual identity,” and the abuse of drugs and alcohol (p. 2). However, the causes to first year students’ stress mainly include academic demand, parents, finance, and peer pressure.
Depression is a serious mental health illness which affects an individuals’ mind, body and mood. It is a chronic and lifelong health condition (NICE, 2006) thought to be caused by a number of biological factors including neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain and an element of genetic vulnerability; these are often in addition to psychosocial factors such as the occurrence of undesirable life events, limited social network options, poor self esteem and the occurrence of any adverse life events during a persons’ lifetime (Bernstein, 2006). Depression can have an impact on a persons’ ability to do many things including working, engaging with others, participating fully in family life or maintaining relationships, and it can also impact on a person...
Depression was once believed to affect mainly adults for various reasons. It was hardly ever seen in minors or college students. Today depression is more common in younger populations mainly college students. There are many things that can trigger depression in college students, such as the environment, anxiety, and the fear of failure. All these things can contribute to depression in college students and sometimes cannot be seen. Many college students will never seek help, and many wont ever admit that they struggle with it.
Many campuses offer counseling centers, which have seen many more people over the past few years. In the past 35 years, the suicide rate for college campuses has tripled (Oswalt 1995). This shows that there is a clear need for something to be addressed within the college community. Recent surveys show that about 10-15% of college students are depressed (Lindsey 2009). Depression can be a debilitating illness, especially when many students attend college away from their close friends and family.
College can be a very stressful time for many young people as they transition into adult hood. Sometimes the stress can be so much it can often lead into depression. With depression, a person may not show any signs on the outside, but could be begging for help on the inside. With depression, a person may result to self- harm. Factors that may affect chances of self- injury include academic status, alcohol use, and drug use.
College students face strenuous workloads daily, causing them to feel more pressure about their schoolwork and academics and resulting in anxiousness. About 50% of college students today are suffering from depression, a larger number than most believe, but not all reveal that they have a depressive issue (Deroma, Leach, Leverett 325). Researchers suggest that academic stress plays a big role in a college student’s depression. Most people know that college is a lot harder than high school ...
academic failure, financial stableness, not reaching the goal that is desired and many more. According to the National Association for Suicide Prevention everyone has different reasons for being depressed and the extent of that depression will also vary from person to person. Some common causes of depression that have been found to lead to college suicide are not feeling loved or understood, the feeling of rejection, trouble with friends and family, or the feeling of being “no good”, and not reaching the academic standards (42). Kay Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University said in the Universi...
The college population often blame themselves for the wrongdoing that is going on all over the world around them which creates the idea that killing themselves will solve these said problems. Students who are depressed often think about suicide and in turn attempt to perform this action. In most cases some parents are aware of the mental state of their child, but usually feel uncomfortable expressing their thoughts on the topic. This is a result of parents believing that when they communicate to their child about suicide they will potentially get embarrassed and attempt suicide just to avoid the conversation from repeating. If the student knows that someone cares they may realize what they have done to themselves and begin to try and fix it and form a better