Depression in College Students — Facts and Learnings

Published in

RUBEX Blog

5 min readMar 15, 2020

To start with, let me share a personal experience. I am usually an optimistic person, and my buddies are with me every time. One time, I had a lousy week at college, and I was unhappy and alone. But I didn’t believe this would mean I am depressed too, right! I had these dark feelings with a helpless and hopeless outlook on my life. I hated myself with inappropriate guilt. I was continuously asking myself what’s the point of doing all this and had no idea what’s going on. Usually, I got to play basketball in the evening, but that week I just lost interest in doing my favorite things. Many more aspects like getting tired early, couldn’t sleep well, etc. came to me, which never happened before.

These things were very odd, so I started to read to know the outcomes if a person is facing these issues. Then I came to know these are the symptoms of being depressed. It was difficult for me to accept it, but I was depressed as most of the college students were during the time of placements. Even if you are experiencing any of these events happening to you, don’t feel guilty and do what I did to help myself out of this sadness because depression in college students is normal.

So before taking any step further, do know what exactly you are going through.

Hey! What is Depression?

So basically, depression in college students is a natural mental illness that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in the student’s mentality. It’s called in different things like major depressive disorder, major depression, clinical disorder.

Some Depressing Numbers on Depression in College Students…

Recent studies have indicated that one out of four students who visit the University health center for routine cold or sore throat turns out to be depressed.

44 % of Indian college students reported feeling depression symptoms.
Four out of five young people who contemplate or attempt suicide exhibit clear warning signs.
The average age of onset for many mental health conditions is the typical college age range from 18 to 24.

Dude, I’m Sad. Does that mean I’m Depressed?

There is a significant discrepancy between being sad and being diagnosed as depressed. Sadness is a normal human emotion that everybody experiences from time to time, and it’s also a feeling that tends to ratify. Clinical depression, on the other hand, is something that perseveres, lingers, and hangs on for a longer time. Though the symptoms are similar, depression doesn’t go away, and it seems more severe in a lot of ways.

How does a person tell if they are sad or in a clinical depressive state?

College students and depression have stayed together for a longer period than any other age group.

For a college student, it depends on how we are involved with someone who may be exhibiting these types of symptoms. It’s essential to recognize that sometimes we have to see those indications in other people. We have to look for isolated behavior in others or anything that is out of character.

In extreme depressive state conditions, students might have suicidal thoughts too. A college student undergoing depression might make statements like “things might be better if I just weren’t here.” or giving away possessions. This really might be a warning sign that something is not quite right.

Symptoms of depression in college students

Being in a depressed mood on most days

A mood disorder comes under major depression, which influences the feeling of life.

The most widespread symptom is having a hopeless and helpless opinion on your life.

Other sentiments may be worthlessness, self-disgust, and inappropriate remorse.

Loss of interest or fun in most activities

Depression can take the joy and happiness out of the things you love. A loss of attention or isolation from activities that you earlier looked forward to — hobbies, sports, or spending time with friends.

Significant weight loss or gain.

This one is a physical indication of depression. Weight loss or gain is common due to the amount of stress we carry. It is a noticeable symptom that goes by a saying that “nowadays, you look too thin, you must be depressed. What happened?”

Fatigue or low energy almost every day

Always feeling extremely tired, which stops you from doing things that you enjoy. One of the most enfeebling indications of depression is the severe sensation of fatigue. This leads to uncontrolled sleeping.

Sometimes insufficient sleep steers to anxiety.

The DSM(Diagnostic Statistical Model) states that you need at least five of these for two weeks to be considered in depression. This is because it is an extended amount of time you feel this way.

Causes of mental health issues in college students

The combination of college students and depression produce more mental health issues than in any other state.

Often when you start in college, you assume that you can do things all on your own. So it’s not being intimidated or afraid to say I don’t understand or I do need somebody to connect with.

In a survey,

80% of students felt overwhelmed by the workload.
45% felt things were hopeless.

Students worrying about having low grades, which can affect their future is one of the significant causes of depression in college students.

People need to hear what mental health is and also how to overcome it. You don’t have to feel guarded all the time, and you could be upfront with how you think.

Prevalence of depression in males or females

Depression tends to be significantly higher in females. However, in men, anger and irritability can be significant signs of depression. To help with men’s mood, they can be looked out for substance abuse, which is very involved with mental illness.

How to solve this problem?

College students and depression together creates a big problem but together only they form a solution.

You can always go to your family practitioner and discuss the issue in detail if you’re comfortable with that person.
Medication is an option, and your family doctor can help you with that.
Contact mental health agencies that specialize more in this kind of problem.
In extreme conditions, you should go to counselors and psychiatrists to do appropriate evaluations and recommend necessary treatment.
Catch these problems as fast as possible so that it doesn’t get out of control that hospitalization is needed.
Social support is always helpful, like being around the people who care about us.

Conclusion

I feel like at this point of time in our world and in our society, we need to be taking care of each other. Talking about the past and fearing about the future is normal. Worrying about tests coming up or thinking if I am going to be able to finish the semester is regular. But if it’s all-consuming and tends to interfere with daily life, then that’s when it becomes a problem.

Published on behalf of RUBEX, an ed-tech initiative that offers live classes on-demand. You can take our subjective tests to check your preparation level, clear doubts live with our subject matter experts or even request for a counseling session. Visit www.rubex.in.