Mental health disorders are serious conditions which can in turn affect one’s thinking, mood, and behavior.
These types of illnesses and disorders are not taken as serious due to them not being as concrete as physical illnesses, however they are just as detrimental.
Depression is the most common mental illness amongst young adults ranging from the ages of 15-24 and college students are particularly susceptible to depression.
Based on The National College Health Assessment from the American College Health Association (ACHA) 30% of college students reported they felt so depressed that it was nearly impossible for them to properly function.
The top 5 characteristics of depression are low mood, loss of interest in things you once enjoyed partaking in/doing, poor concentration, feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of harming yourself.
After taking personal accounts of college students (both former and current), these were some of their responses regarding depression throughout their college years in terms of identifying it, identifying what was causing it, overcoming it, etc:
My 4th semester of college was my breaking point. I had changed my major like 3 times already and still felt lost & not passionate about what I was majoring in. So I began to become unmotivated which led me to becoming depressed. I was sad because I had friends so focused on their studies & genuinely loving what they were studying and I wanted to feel like that but I didn’t. So then I turned to my friends that were going down the same path I was and found comfort in not being the only one but at the same time I felt bad knowing I was letting not only my parents down but myself as well. It was definitely a hard mental battle I faced but ultimately I did what I felt was best at the moment and took some time off.
– Jada. S (SUNY Broome)
When I first got to college I felt such a sense of loss. I felt excited, I was emotional, I had anxiety and I was a little depressed and I say that because even though I was in a new environment and I was doing something that I love to do I still felt a sense of like am I making the right decision to leave everything I know behind? So it was a little tough for me to make it through the first couple weeks. There were times where I would just sleep in my room all day and not leave at all… but I eventually came to the realization like OK I need to change my life I need to come out of this in a healthy way. As far as overcoming it, I did so by praying… My faith is really important to me by praying but also like being active so going to different clubs like on campus, getting connected to different groups on campus and trying different events in the city to make myself more acclimated to where I’m at that’s what I did.
– Aja. W (Fashion Institute of Technology)
I started my college career at St. John’s and transferred to Old Westbury Spring semester of my sophomore year. Just having to adapt to new surroundings and people in itself after having already done so was stressful for me. On top of that I had to retake certain classes because certain credits didn’t transfer over. It was just a hard adjustment and when the pandemic happened transitioning to online classes was so hard. I felt myself not even wanting to continue with school, everyday I contemplated just dropping out. In addition to that I had a lot of family and life issues in general I was handling so I was extremely overwhelmed. Depression is very real and it presents itself in so many different ways… a lot of people, even the ones I was closest with couldn’t even tell what I was going through.
– Tyler. J (SUNY Old Westbury)
It is important to be aware of the signs of depression and how it can mask itself in other ways. Making sure college students have the proper resources and support is key in helping to both potentially prevent depression, or help one to navigate themselves out of it.
Depression Hotline: (844)-624-0094
