Depression Among Incoming College Freshmen: Causes and Challenges

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Depression can cause incoming college freshman many problems in their new lifestyle. The transition from high school to college is a very big change in their life’s. Some students have to take the journey to a whole other town, city, or even to another state. The distance from home, family, and friends, can cause students to be in a depressed state. The new atmosphere of college is very exciting to students; but at times very scary. For some students, adapting to classes and all of their homework can get overwhelming thus that can cause depression. It is clear to see that college freshman are thrown many obstacles, but depression is a hard one to avoid. Having your loved ones wake you up every morning for school and preparing you for your day for 17-18 years is something you become accustomed to in life. Within a year you can go from that to having just an alarm waking you up. Becoming homesick is a main cause for depression in college students. Giving up your friends that you have grown up with and learning how to make new friends also adds to the cause of depression. Isolation is a leading cause …show more content…

Having to adapt to a new place and new people can intimidating to some. Anxiety plays a huge role in some students lives, and with anxiety also comes depression. Every college student at some point in time feels down and stressed in school and life. Dori Hutchinson, director of services at BU’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, says that “When your mood state interferes with your ability to function in school is when a student is claimed depressed”. Trying to escape this curse can be frustrating and sometimes can feel hopeless to fix. Many colleges offer help for students with this problem. Linda Smith, director of BU’s Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders, says that programs like cognitive-behavioral treatment can put students back on track to living a healthy and much happier

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