The incidence of depression on college campuses is very high. Some studies put it at twice the national average. There are many reasons for this: stress level, being away from home, friends and familiar support systems, and the fact that many underlying mental illnesses first begin to appear in late teens and early adulthood. If you are in college and depressed, whether this is a new issue for you or one you dealt with in high school, the good news is that you’re not alone and there are good resources available to help you.
It’s easy to feel alone in college. Your campus may be much larger than your high school, your friends may attend somewhere else, and your family may be far away. It’s also easy to believe that everyone else is doing just fine and the problem is simply you. But it’s not. Between 10 and 15% of college students are depressed, and colleges have help available for them.
The first step is to ask for help. The best way to do this, if you can, is to go to the college counseling center. This is sometimes called things like “psychological services” or “behavioral health services,” or it may be part of the same clinic you go to when you have a bad cough or the flu. Call or walk in and say, “I’m feeling lousy and I’d like to talk to someone.” They’ve heard it before, and they know what to do.
You may not know where the counseling center is, or you may feel like you can’t go there. If so, there are other ways to ask for help. You can tell your advisor, a trusted professor, or the Dean’s office. There may be a depression hotline on your campus. You can call 2-1-1 and ask them where you can go.
Wherever you go for help, make sure you actually ask for help. “I feel lousy” is only part of the message. “I want you to help me” is the important other part. This is especially important if you are talking to other students. When a friend says, “I feel depressed,” a lot of friends respond by trying to cheer them up. There’s nothing wrong with this, but if you are depressed you need more specialized and consistent help. Tell your friend, “I think I’m depressed. Can you help me find help?” A good friend will, and may feel up to making some of the inquiries that feel overwhelming for you.
If you have a diagnosis of depression, you may be prescribed medication and/or recommended for psychotherapy. You may have strong opinions about one or both of these treatments. It’s very important that you communicate those opinions with the people who are recommending them. On the one hand, you don’t have to do something just because they say so. On the other hand, if you don’t tell them you’re not going to do what they said, they can’t give you other ideas or know that you still need help.
Once you and your provider have agreed to try a treatment, don’t stop it without consulting with them. Going “cold turkey” on your medication can cause serious problems. Quitting therapy without telling your therapist means they can’t help you find another option. Even if you’re feeling better, make sure you talk about making changes in your treatment with your provider before you do it.
You probably got to college by doing a lot more than the bare minimum in high school. When you’re battling depression, however, you may find you don’t seem to have the energy or motivation to do the wide range of activities you once did. Remember, that’s not a reflection on you, it’s a reflection on the depression.
That doesn’t mean you should give up on everything, however. It’s important to figure out which things you can “let go” and which you can’t. You probably need to get your school work done, eat your meals, take a shower and show up at your job. You probably don’t have to go to all your clubs, societies and activities if you don’t feel like it. If you give yourself permission to focus most on what absolutely has to get done and pull back from other things without feeling guilty, college can feel a lot less overwhelming.
College students with depression often run into trouble with drugs and alcohol. That’s because the feeling of being drunk or high can feel much better than the experience of feeling depressed. Sometimes, people don’t even realize they are using substances to get past their depression.
The problem with drugs and alcohol is that they may feel better in the short run, but when they wear off you’ll still be depressed, and you may have made either your mood or your circumstances worse. Then you’ll want more substances to numb those feelings, and the spiral continues.
If you’re not sure if drugs or alcohol are playing a role in your depression, here’s a simple test. Imagine that you were going to absolutely quit using for one week (or actually quit for one week and see what happens). When are the times it would be hardest and feel weirdest to be straight and sober? What makes those times hard? If you find yourself identifying the times when you are the most likely to feel anxious or depressed, then you are using alcohol and drugs to deal with your depression. It’s time to ask for help coming up with better ways to cope.
College is full of opportunities to do things for other people, from volunteer work to being the “life of the party.” If you are going to be successful in your battle against depression, however, the focus needs to be on you and your needs. Make sure you are taking care of yourself, from getting enough sleep to keeping your stress low, before you worry about anything else. Give yourself the breaks and resources you need, and keeping the depression at bay will be that much easier.