College Depression: Warning Signs and Statistics

Giving credit where credit is due. This blog comes from Therese J. Borchard

. Belief Net: Beyond Blue

Statistics You Should Know About College Depression

Since it is going back-to-school season, I thought I'd educate you on some alarming statistics about depression among college students. Here are the facts, just the facts:  

• One out of every five young people and one out of every four college students and adults suffer from some form of diagnosable mental illness.

• About 19 precent of young people contemplate or attempt suicide each year.

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people ages 15-24, and the second leading cause of death in college students ages 20-24.

• Over 66 percent of young people with a substance use disorder have a co-occurring mental health problem.

• Teens diagnosed with depression are five times more likely to attempt suicide than adults.

• Over two-thirds of young people do not talk about or seek help for mental health problems.

• 44 percent of American college students reported feeling symptoms of depression.

• From 1980 to 1986, the suicide rate for African-American males ages 15-19 increased more than 100 percent.

• Four out of every five young people that contemplate or attempt suicide exhibit clear warning signs.

• 80-90 percent of people that seek the necessary form of mental health treatment can function the way they used to.

• Stereotypes are one of the largest barriers preventing young people from seeking the help they need.

• An estimated 5 million young females suffer from eating disorders each year, and eating disorders are the deadliest mental illness, claiming more lives than any other illness.

Warning Signs of College Depression

Changes in feelings such as fear and anger are a normal part of life. Personal situations, such as a family divorce, loss of a job, or strained relationships with family or friends can cause emotional stress, thus making a person feel sad or blue. These are not unusual reactions.

However, certain thoughts and feelings associated with some experiences may be warnings of more serious problems and the need for mental health intervention. It is not always easy to spot these warning signs, or figure out what they mean, so qualified mental health professionals should be consulted in order to make an accurate diagnosis.

The following feelings and experiences may be warning signs that you or a friend may be dealing with more than just everyday stress:

* finding little or no pleasure in life
* feeling worthless or extremely guilty
* crying a lot for no particular reason
* withdrawing from other people
* experiencing severe anxiety, panic or fear
* having very low energy
* losing interest in hobbies and pleasurable activities
* having too much energy, having trouble concentrating or following through on plans
* feeling easily irritated or angry
* experiencing racing thoughts or agitation
* hearing voices or seeing images that other people do not experience
* believing that others are plotting against you
* wanting to harm yourself or someone else

 If you recognize one or more of these signs -- in yourself, or someone you know -- PLEASE, SEEK HELP.

One of Beyond Blue followers had this edited comment to make. I feel his insight is quite relevant.

Joe Gonzalez

September 2, 2010 7:10 AM

Adolescence is a very trying time. The child is stretching, physically, mentally and spiritually to pass over from childhood to young adulthood. This period has many trials and tribulations. Rebellion from established authority, peer pressure, fads, an utter misunderstanding of what the adult world is really about (or gross misconceptions), and an instinctive, natural urge to break free and be one's own person. ( Be it man or woman.) Cast upon this are passing ideological figures weaved into the minds of the young by minds, slightly less older than them. Hordes of these are malignant thoughts, so now, you have the recipe for personal catastrophes. 

College is much more demanding, and generally more impersonal than High School, where many of these tendencies start to rear their unsettling heads. The pressures of college are accompanied by the subconscious and conscious questions that plague many young adults.

" Where is this leading me?  I don't really want to have a 'place' in a world that's so self-serving, inhospitable, egotistical and greedy. Does this college mean that it'll prepare me for a place in a cubicle where I'll probably spend the best part of my life? Perhaps hauling in a decent salary, but a salary to what end?  I really don't know what my vocation is, and here I'm being rushed to pick a career."

The popular here are the brutes with a devil-may-care attitude. The studious are laughed off as eggheads. The decent and well-brought up, the ones with ethics and a moral sense, are put down. The world that awaits me is a dog-eat-dog chaos, where everything is upside down. The truly important questions in life are ignored for ephemeral and superfluous achievements. Given all of this - it's much more common than suspected - but isn't studied enough by competent authorities. All the pressure in college is to ' Succeed, succeed, succeed ', at whatever the cost. It can and often does, bring about a breakdown. 

Nobody understands these breakdowns, especially family, " Why ? You should be doing fine, you've got everything you need and more."  They don't understand the immense pressure cooker collegians are going through. Some parents and college counselors talk theory. " You should be better adjusted." " You have the IQ to make it through." " Why are you becoming withdrawn? " There are nary, little effective answers. If that pressure cooker doesn't let off the steam it needs, it's going to blow, and blow with such force as to bring the whole edifice down. 

Our bluntly imposed national philosophy of " Full steam ahead, a wonderful world and life awaits you " is belied by the student's real, but unexpressed Spirit. Whence come all the difficulties, the deepening psychological infirmities, and the young adult's mistaken belief of a very, sad way out. Suicides are preventable. I hope I have added something of aid to this problem, and how-to-do-it better with this comment.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2010/09/warning-signs-of-college-depre.html#ixzz0yNbsTJj6