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Depression
Notes from Ground Zero in America's Depression Epidemic
Undergraduates Speak About Depression on Campus
Posted March 9, 2012
A few months ago, I wrote about runaway rates of depression on America's college campuses. My post was initially prompted by the release of an important survey, The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010," involving more than 200,000 incoming full-time students at four-year colleges. The data indicated that emotional health of college freshmen is dreadful, at its lowest point since this survey began collecting data 25 years ago. For example, the percentage of students who said their emotional health was above average fell to 52 percent. It was 64 percent in 1985.
Of course the most interesting question is: Why?And one interesting perspective on why would come from the students themselves. This semester, I am teaching Abnormal Psychology at the University of South Florida. When we reached the unit on mood disorders, it was natural to ask the students for their ideas about why depression is raging on America's college campuses. Below, I reproduce two very interesting, thought provoking student responses. Thanks to Catherine Raley and Jae Peiso for their thoughts, and for allowing me to share their responses with others.
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Catherine Raley
Generally a seventeen or eighteen year old experiences a high level of familiarity with their environment by living with family members, an invariable social life with a fixed friend group, or residing in the same town or geographic area during their formative childhood and adolescent years. This familial, social, and geographic consistency provides a level of comfort for an adolescent. A few months after high school graduation however, this same seventeen or eighteen year old accustomed to uniformity and reliability of environs can find themselves living alone, inundated with new experiences and people, or living in an unfamiliar city or state. This dramatic shift in relationships and environment can cause apprehension or a negative emotional state.
Depression is on the rise in college students on campuses across the nation. For many years college freshman dealt with this uneasiness and feelings of negativity. What is causing the rate of depression to increase if the social changes have been the same for generations? One proposed reason for the higher rates of depression in college students is that more adolescents who are entering college sought treatment for the disorder during their high school, middle school, or elementary years. Counseling programs are successful in helping these teens in their earlier years and are allowing them to not only graduate high school, but enter colleges. The students who sought treatment in the past were provided the skills and adequate help to reach a higher education; yet when they enter the environment of college, these students may no longer seek counseling or may not have the skills to deal with the new stressors and situations on college campuses. This reasoning posits that the levels of depression are not rising in college students, there happens to be more college students that have preexisting depression.
The National Institute of Mental Health lists a number of symptoms that could potentially cause depression in college students. Some of these symptoms are: living away from home, missing family and friends, feelings of being alone, and facing difficult work and assignments. Many of these indicators can conceivably lead to depression in college students (4). Each of these factors on their own may not cause depression, but it is more likely a combination of all of those factors that is making depression on college campuses more rampant. An additional constituent that may be adding to the higher rates of depression is the current economic climate. Students do not receive as much financial aid as they once did, tuition costs are higher, the employment rate for current graduates is at its projected nadir, and the price of gas has increased. For both college freshmen and those about to graduate, financial struggles and the inability to find a career-leading job may be a factor in depression.
Due to budget cuts, higher costs, and a poor economic state, current college students feel the need to work more hours than their predecessors. Traditionally, students held part time jobs or summer jobs to support themselves. In the present economy these jobs can be difficult to obtain; students may be unemployed and lacking finances, which can cause stress. Conversely, students may be working more hours to support themselves and pay their tuition. A higher rate of work hours leads to less time for school work and social activities, causing students to be less involved with either academic endeavors or student organizations, which can increase the feelings of isolation that many students experience. A combination of less sleep, a reduced amount of social activity, and money problems can cause a large increase in the amount of stress college students experience.
Though it is equivocal if a single factor causes depression, it is clear that a combination of several factors: more depressed students entering college, social changes, economic and money issues, decreased sleep, and more isolation all contribute to this epidemic on college campuses.
Work Cited
National Insitute of Mental Health. "Depression and College Students." NIMH.NIN.GOV. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-and-college-stud…- college-students.pdf>.
Jae Peiso
College students are a population regularly discussed and depicted in media as having the "good life". In fact, I remember being told that college would be the best years of my life and that everything after college would be a downhill slide into "real" adulthood. Many college students are thrust into the world of adulthood rather abruptly during late adolescence. College is, for many, the hardest adjustment to make and, despite the newfound freedom that many freshmen have been gnawing at the bit for, they feel out of their league in the new context of the university. A study from the American College Health Association (2004) reported 14.6% of college students have been diagnosed with depression -- this is a 4% increase from 2000.
Although one out of seven college students seems like very few -- it is important to note that not all students struggling with mental health issues seek help, leaving often the most desperate cases unnoted by studies like these. What makes the transition between high school and college so challenging? What makes it markedly different from other major transitions? I will argue that college students more than any other population are plunged into a world marked by newfound freedom and, as a result, a college student's skill level to self-regulate their lifestyle is a major proponent in maintaining their mental health.
In 2011, Park, Edmonson, and Lee's study correlating three aspects of self-regulation (emotion regulation, constructive thinking, & mastery) with freshmen college students found that while the students' skills in emotion regulation and constructive thinking (problem-solving) stagnated their first year, their mastery skills (locus of control) actually declined. Although the researchers found these results to be surprising, I think that they are easily explained by the changes a first year college student experiences.
Imagine that you have been playing the same Atari videogame for 18 years (highly unlikely); the videogame has levels that have become increasingly challenging but the rules are relatively the same, and you have been able to progress through the game with ease. Then suddenly someone hands you a Playstation 3® with a brand new game. You crack open the new game, pop it in, and armed with your Atari gaming skills you begin your new challenge. As soon as the videogame loads, you get a sinking feeling that maybe the old gaming skills that you brought with you are not sufficient for this new game. Similarly, when a new college student first arrives on campus, especially if said campus is far from the nest, s/he feels armed with skills that were appropriate for solving problems during childhood and may feel them to be insufficient for the challenges ahead. Now the student is faced with more adult problems and more coping options. Initially, an increase in coping options sounds optimistic but with the availability of healthy stress outlets like access to a gym and a whole slew of extracurricular activities, there is also an increase of access to new negative ways to cope-alcohol and illegal/legal drugs. Coupled with the new unexamined life, the freshman that lacks self-regulatory skills may be especially attracted to coping with substances.
Similarly, a student with poor self-regulation skills who isn't a drug user can be impacted by the abrupt lifestyle change. S/he may see a negative change in her/his diet, exercise and sleep patterns. The student who uses drugs is likely to struggle with these same issues. A change for the worse in diet, exercise and sleep can be disruptive to completing schoolwork (and physical health)-which in turn can result in negative teacher feedback (poor grades). Many college students come from a high school environment where they thrived easily and their perceived inability to keep up at the college level is a detriment to their self-esteem.
Students may enter college with high self-esteem and an internal locus of control to find that this new context challenges their ability to feel in control of themselves and their world. As a college student's life spirals out of control, a cycle can develop: feeling out of control of life leads to low self-esteem which leads students to choose the wrong sort of coping behaviors. Poor coping behaviors contribute to an unhealthy or irregular lifestyle, which tends to lead to low grades. This in turn feeds their low self-esteem and emphasizes external locus of control. As a freshman I struggled with self-regulation and depression and can testify that falling into a disruptive cycle that lends itself to depression is all too easy.
References:
Park, C. L., Edmondson, D., & Lee, J. (2012). Development of self-regulation abilities as predictors of psychological adjustment across the first year of college. Journal Of Adult Development, 19(1), 40-49. doi:10.1007/s10804-011-9133-z
National College Health Association (2004). American College Health Association Survey Shows Increase of Depression Among College Students Over Four-Year Period. http://www.acha-ncha.org/PR/pr_ncha_11_18_04.html.
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