Post-Baccalaureate Blues
Graduating from college is a time of great joy, and sometimes a lot of anxiety. While many are anxious to finally cross the stage and get their diploma, the unknown of what comes after graduation day can be pretty terrifying, especially for those without concrete next steps. So many of the conversations I had with individuals after graduation surround how strange not being in school felt, for those that loved their time in undergrad as well as those that hated it. This strange feeling was especially prominent among those that weren’t immediately enrolling in graduate school or into the workforce. About 1 in 5 individuals reports dealing with some form of mental health condition, and a growing number of students admit to feeling anxiety around what life will look like after graduation. With the way social media is structured, it can get very easy to think we’re all alone in facing the post college slump. Everyone’s having a hot girl/boy/non-binary summer and from the images circulating appear to be #LivingTheirBestLife. But sometimes that’s far from the truth. Though not yet an official diagnosis, psychologists and other mental health practitioners are beginning to recognize post-college depression as a very real condition plaguing those in their early to mid twenties. It’s characterized as a period of intense sadness, isolation, loss of motivation, and helplessness in the weeks to months following graduation. But what is happening that causes this depression?
Imagine having something that’s been a core part of your existence for 15 years end without any sort of transition instructions or exit counseling to help with what will fill that gap. That’s more or less what happens to students after they leave undergrad. Children from the age of 5 on are given a daily schedule that centers around school and academic related tasks, such as completing homework and studying for tests. This age period is a critical one for child development, and most of the development occurs in conjunction with the education system. The type of early childhood education environment has been proven in many instances to be one of the biggest contributors to hitting specific cognitive development milestones, such as mastering language skills and learning how to socialize with others. When adults ask kids to describe who they are often the first things that comes out of their mouth is what year they are in school. This focus on education continues for those that matriculate to undergrad, as they are now living at school. From 5 until about 22 or 23, the things individuals are trained to excel at center around academics and scholarly activity. Self-worth slowly becomes synonymous with what we are able to produce and what others in academic spaces deem acceptable. We become conditioned to constantly prove our worth in the form of awards and achievements, exemplary test scores and thesis papers. And then graduation comes, and the need to do these things abruptly stops, with nothing else necessarily filling this gap. The shift from being a full-time student to out of school completely can be more jarring than expected for young adults. That paired with the over $30,000 in debt the average student graduates with can make life post-graduation less than appealing. It can be difficult for graduates to explain their developing depression to loved ones, who perceive graduation as strictly a good thing. With all the celebrations it can be difficult to explain bouts of frustration and anxiety, which can make new graduates feel even more isolated from those around them.
The present structure of most post-secondary institutions often further aggravates the struggle new graduates face. Only in recent years have universities begun to acknowledge the solid chunk of their students battling with feelings of anxiety, isolation, and depression. This lack of acknowledgment impacts the resources available for students to get help, and often keeps many from getting the assistance they need. When students come forward with their experience, they run the risk of being dismissed by advisors or professors, many of whom don’t acknowledge mental health concerns as actual concerns worthy of addressing. Most institutions additionally don’t have firm repercussions for this lack of acknowledgment by professors. This adds a cutthroat nature to many academic spaces, and feelings of depression and anxiety become things that students joke about. Phrases like “this class is so depressing I could just die,” or “I’ve been so anxious I can barely eat” become so commonly thrown around that feeling shitty, for lack of better words, is normalized. This normalization contributes to those with these experiences dismissing their pain and staying quiet, and the cycle continues itself. The academic skills emphasized in the post-secondary setting don’t always translate into needed life skills. Many individuals graduate and aren’t sure of what they are doing or how to figure it out. Anxiety about what to do without school at times leads individuals to enroll in grad school before they are ready, which contributes to the burnout rate many graduate students experience.
The lack of break from academics can also be detrimental to young adults in need of time to figure out who they are outside of the school system. Taking a gap year before going to college or during college is pretty common in several countries outside the U.S., namely those in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Recent studies have shown that doing some form of a gap year, either before college or in between college years, may improve graduation rates, quality of time while in undergrad, and job satisfaction post graduation.
The gap year can provide time for financial stability, deciding on a future career path, and general self identity exploration, time that often isn’t available while being a full time student. Unfortunately, taking a gap year(s) before entering or during college is still highly stigmatized in the U.S., and this stigma forces many students to push through their undergraduate years in a fog of mental unwellness. By the time these adults graduate, the full brunt of their poor mental health hits them in the face, as the distractions of class and extracurriculars are no longer present. With graduation also comes the removal of a constant friend group to talk to about what one may be feeling. The physical isolation and lack of social support has been shown to be a major contributor to the onset and progression of depression, and can prevent young adults from talking openly with family and friends about their experiences. Affordable resources for new graduates are often far and few in between, as most therapy options have a pretty hefty co-pay cost.
The 18–24 age range is the range at which mental health illnesses are most likely to manifest. The onset of health conditions during this age range is heightened for those coming from academic spaces, and less than half of those dealing with a mental illness access treatment services. Lack of treatment is detrimental in the long run, which makes recognizing signs and being supportive of individuals going through the post college slump essential. For those going through post college depression, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone in battling this, and that there are organizations working to provide resources and highlight the mental health needs of college students, such as ULifeLine. Talk to those close to you about what you’ve been experiencing, and seek help from a professional if it’s an available option. Acknowledging post college depression as real is essential to addressing and eliminating the aspects of our society and education system that contribute to this depression manifesting in young adults.
