College students are particularly more likely to suffer from depression than people at any other age. The “college lifestyle” can be extremely detrimental to an individual’s mental health and happiness. Lack of sleep, poor eating habits, and lack of exercise are common among all college students, and make an individual more susceptible to depression. Common social issues that students struggle with, such as; pressure to get good grades, pressure from parents and teachers, breakups, and roommate conflicts are also a recipe for mental health disaster.
1 out of every 4 college students suffers from depression, and 75% of the students that suffer do not seek help. Why is this, might you ask? Mental health struggles are being brushed under the rug by students, due to the social stigma mental illnesses have come to possess. In college, students feel an obligation to be having “the time of their lives.” Students easily become caught up in socializing and keeping up with popularity. As a result, individuals who suffer from mental illness feel ashamed to admit that “something is wrong with them.”
Mental health challenges are viewed by young adults as “problems.” It is difficult for those who suffer to admit and understand how they are feeling. Towards the end of highschool, I suffered severe periods of depression and refused to acknowledge my feelings and get help, for fear that something was wrong with me. My sophomore year of college it caught up to me, and I hit a wall. I felt numb. I walked around campus in an absentminded daze, I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. I didn’t even want to eat, I had stopped feeling hungry. Soon enough I was failing to pay attention to the people and things that I cared about, simply because I couldn’t muster up the ability to do so. To make it worse, I was scared to tell anyone how I felt. “You’re depressed? Whats wrong with you? Stop feeling sorry for yourself, shouldn’t you be having fun?” I was terrified of what people would think and say, that admitting to being depressed would label me as “crazy,” “messed up,” or “seeking attention.”
I avoided getting help for my depression so much that I ended up dropping out of school last spring. Recent studies have shown that I wasn’t the only student who did this. Majority of college students who reported being depressed coped with their feelings by dropping out of school, or abusing alcohol and drugs. I was lucky enough to have a strong support system between my friends and family. After I left school I got the help that I needed; I started going to therapy, prioritizing my living habits, and focusing on my own goals and priorities. After months of hard work I finally felt like myself again, I got my feet underneath me and went back to school. Some students aren’t as lucky as I am. Suicide has become the third leading cause of death among college students in America, and depression is the biggest contribution of suicide.
The stigma on mental health needs to go away, students should not feel ashamed to admit to struggling with health challenges, mental or physical. I hope that reading this helps other students who have suffered, or are suffering in the same ways I have. Mental health illnesses are common, and certainly nothing to fear. Seeking external help and accepting my feelings has been my best decision to date. My life has made a complete 360 since last year and I’ve never been happier.