Have you ever considered the stress the average college student goes through? Or the many difficulties they face while studying for their careers and the problems these mental health issues can lead to?
Depression among college students is high with 36.4 percent reporting some kind of depression including feeling helplessness, overwhelmed, sadness, hopelessness, and powerless. A survey conducted by the Association of University and College Counseling Center directors in 2013 stated that depression is the main cause of college dropout students. If untreated, it can lead to serious problems later in life, including taking one’s own life. Depression can be extremely hard to treat. Some options are the Anxiety Depression Association of America, Institute of Mental Health, and Ulifeline which is a project of the JED foundation. They were created to provide resources to help deal with issues of depression.
Another mental health concern that affects many college students is anxiety. However, exhibiting anxiety symptoms alone doesn’t necessarily mean they have an anxiety disorder. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) occurs when the anxiety is frequent enough to interfere with a student’s everyday life. GAD causes a tremendous amount of stress and fear. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), 40 million adults over the age of 18 are affected by an anxiety disorder. Seventy-five percent of college students experience some sort of anxiety before the end of college.
Improper treatment of anxiety and/or depression may lead to an increased number of suicide incidents. As many as 39,518 suicides were reported in 2011 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and suicide rates have been on the rise. In 2013, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and the second leading cause of death among college students.
A certain amount of stress and anxiety is a normal part of life; however, severe mental issues are affecting many college students. Most colleges have counselors, who can provide help and refer treatments, that you can go to.
This article originally appeared at Simpson Street Free Press, and was written by Brandon Alvarez, a former student writer and now a staff editor attending Madison College.
