Why Today’s College Students Are Dealing With Depression More Than Ever?
Nowadays, people are more concerned about their mental health because mental
disorders have increased. As campus advisers Erica Riba and Diana Cusumano say “according to
the latest estimates from World Health Organization, more than 300 million people are now
living with depression. Depression and anxiety are prevalent problems in colleges across the
country,” this shows that many people are dealing with depression, and a wide majority of them
are students. There are a lot of people dealing with depression, and student are a big part of this
depressed community. But, what is depression?
Some days I feel like I don’t have energy to do anything, so I linger in bed till my mom
forces me out of bed; on these days I feel down on myself; I do nothing, and my day will be
completely waisted. Fortunately, this is not everyday for me, but there are people that feel this
way most of the times. What is this feeling? Is it depression?
Depression is a mental illness that negatively affects the mood of the person, the way he
or she thinks and acts. Depression symptoms are: feeling sad, tired, worthless, lose of
enthusiasm, change in appetite, and change in sleeping habits; if these symptoms lasted for more
than two weeks the person is diagnosed with depression. Although depression is dangerous and
can lead to suicide, it is treatable.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who worked as the 22nd United States secretary of Health and
Human Services, said “the proportion of students experiencing suicidal ideation has grown from
six percent in 2007 to 11 percent in 2017. The percentage of students receiving psychotherapy
has jumped from 13 percent to 24 percent over the same period.” These numbers can show how
fast depression is growing among college students, which can lead to suicide. But, students are
assumed to have their best time in college finding out who they are and making their path to the
future, but this can get stressful and make them depressed. Each student who goes through
depression has different backgrounds and reasons. But, the most common reasons why students
get diagnosed with depression are: stress, social media, and new environment.
First off, the most important factor that causes depression among college students is
stress. Almost all of the college students panic at least once in a semester during the finals.
Maintaining good grades, being active at school, work, finance and relationships altogether can
cause a lot of stress for students. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who was the 22nd head of the United
States Department of Health and Human Services, says “Today’s young adults seem to arrive at
college with less resiliency and a lower appetite for risk and failure,” which can result in a lot of
