According to the study “The American Freshman 2014: College Norms,” published in The New York Times on Thursday, Feb. 5, college freshmen are reporting a 3.4 percent increase in depression rates compared to the past five years.
The survey, conducted by the University of California, canvassed 150,000 students. Five years ago, only 6.1 percent of these students reported feeling frequently depressed. In the past year, that number has risen to 9.5 percent. Additionally, the number of students who feel overwhelmed and stressed due to school work and other commitments has also spiked, rising from 27.1 percent to 34.6 percent.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) lists several signs and symptoms of depression. These symptoms include insomnia or hypersomnia (having too much sleep), a change in appetite, a loss of interest, and an increase in sadness or crying, among many others. However, according to specialist professor of psychological counseling Gary Handler, this is not always a problem that can be diagnosed. For a diagnosis to be made, the person must be showing at least five of these symptoms within the same two-week period. They must also show a change from the previous level of functioning.
There are a number of reasons accounting for this increase. According to George Kapalka, Chair of the Department of Psychological Counseling, the increase may have been caused by economic factors. He said, “More may be worried about paying for college, getting a job after graduation, and they may also feel more pressure from parents to do well, as parents may feel more of a financial squeeze when thy pay for their kids’ college education and living expenses.” He also believes that students may become more stressed because they are often working while attending school.
According to Kapalka, this stress on college students is not “new” – for years, students have been paying more for degrees with no guarantee that they will find a job after graduation. In an attempt to have a better resume, students often find themselves becoming more involved in activities, enrolling in more difficult classes, and applying for more internships.
Freshmen students are doing all this while also transitioning to a new phase of their lives, especially those that live on campus. According to associate psychology professor David Payne, “A sizable percentage of freshmen have always had difficulty adjusting to the freedom of college compared to high school.”
Payne also mentioned that there are no parents to keep track of homework and studying, and students are often trying to make new friends while staying in touch with their friends from home.
Franca Mancini, Director of the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, believes that these issues could have been in existence before the transition to college, and thinks that the change in environment and lifestyle could either bring these issues back to the forefront or make them worse. “We know that when you have a major life event and you transition from one environment to another, there’s a high probability that any underlying issues that were present, even if they had been resolved in that four year period in high school, are going to manifest again because of the transition itself,” said Mancini.
This could also be accountable for the spike in reported depression rates. According to Mancini, changes in habits as a potential cause for this; many students are getting less sleep than usual, and are in charge of handling their own schedules for what may be the first time. This can raise stress levels in students, which in turn can lead to the development of depression and anxiety – two of the issues that are most commonly seen by Mancini and her colleagues.
Julie Schaaff, a first-year advisor and health and physical education lecturer, believes this transition is what raises stress levels in students. As a professional who primarily oversees health study and biology majors, she often notices first-year students taking sixteen or seventeen credits per semester. Schaaff believes the difficulty of these classes, in addition to the transition to college, can account for the spike in students who report feeling overwhelmed.
These feelings of being overwhelmed can sometimes lead to depression, which could account for the rise in those numbers as well. A biology major who wished to remain anonymous listed her course schedule as one of the things that made her transition to college difficult. “It was hard at first, keeping up with the assignments and the readings,” the student said. “The exams were difficult at first too, and I had trouble getting enough sleep because I was working all the time.”
To avoid this feeling of being overwhelmed and avoiding potential depression, junior biology student Joe Schuld recommends that students “don’t take too many things at once.” He said, “A lot of people tend to over-commit themselves and then have difficulty focusing on the important things.”
Freshman student Elizabeth Roderick avoided this by getting organized right from the beginning of the year. “I made an effort to go out and join clubs and get involved on campus,” she said, addressing how she made friends. To stay on top of her classes, she put a white-board calendar on her wall. “It’s where I put all my important meetings and deadlines, so nothing slips through the cracks,” she said.
The spike in depression rates in freshman students can be attributed to several things, ranging from having too much work to having or from the idea of transitioning being too taxing.
Depression, while often hard to deal with, is treatable. Students with depression and other issues are more than welcome to visit the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, found on the third floor of the student center. All counseling is free to students and strictly confidential.
IMAGE TAKEN from sterlingacademy.com
