Student Depression In College

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As more students enter universities for college programs, the number of students that fit under the criteria for depression increases as well. In a recent survey done by UCLA, the assessment of college students’ overall emotional health is at an all-time low. According to the survey, which was taken by 153,000 first-time freshmen who entered 227 four-year private and public colleges and universities, nearly 10 percent of respondents reported that they frequently felt depressed. It’s the highest percentage of students reporting feeling that level of depression since 1988 (New par.6). According to the 2011 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, 91% of directors reported a trend toward a greater number of students with severe psychological …show more content…
Coming to college, especially if the school is out of the state the student currently resides in, is a geographical shift with exposure to cultures and identities that are unfamiliar. Being introduced to factors of identity, anything from faith to sexuality, can create confusion to a student’s identity and bring a great source of anxiety to the students trying to discover all the intersections of themselves. A main issue of geographical shifts, especially farther from home, is the depression that’s noticed by the lack of community. There are plenty of people who get homesick, but in extreme cases there are students who rarely leave their residence halls and end up clinging to their friends from home. According to a 2003 survey from UCLA, researchers found that social exclusion may cause as much distress in a pain center of the brain as an actual physical injury (Kadison 13). Exclusion from others, especially in newer environments, is harmful to survival and can cause as much emotional pain as physical pain …show more content…
College is the time in a student’s life where they have the most freedom, as they don’t have as many adults monitoring them. This, though positive at times, can lead into more serious concerns if taken to extremities. Many movies about college lifestyles display parties containing alcohol and romance, which follows through to students’ perceptions of how college is supposed to be and that anything that isn’t is unordinary and wrong. National surveys find that about two in five U.S. undergraduates engage in heavy drinking, which is typically defined as having five or more drinks in a row at least once in a two-week period (Ross 1). The overall transition to college is difficult for many students, especially when it comes to a student’s first interaction with alcohol. According to survey data compiled, 45.3 percent of freshmen nationally can be classified as heavy drinkers (Ross 1). Times of high risk for alcohol and other drug abuse problems include the early fall, when first-year students are establishing behavior patterns that will be difficult to change, and the January return to campus. If someone drink heavily and regularly, like many college students, it’s likely to develop some symptoms of depression. Some students may use drink to try and improve their mood or mask their depression, but ultimately the alcohol lowers the amount of serotonin in the brain and fails to regulate
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