“One out of every four.. college students suffer from some form of mental illness” A recent U.K. study found that the current generation of university students are at a greater risk of anxiety and depression than their predecessors. The study by the Royal College of Psychiatrists found that many students are unprepared for university life and face higher debt and fewer job prospects than previous generations of students. Many students will simply drop out of school. In addition to dropping out, depressed students are at a greater risk of developing problems such as substance abuse. In fact, more than two-thirds of young people
with substance abuse issues also suffer from a diagnosable mental illness such as depression. Depressed college students are more likely to binge drink, smoke marijuana, and participate in risky sexual behaviors to cope with emotional pain than are their non-depressed peers. Sometimes the tunnel vision brought on by depression means that you do not realise how much you’re being affected. In this case, it can be friends, family or others who point out that you’re different or that something isn’t right.
If our coping strategies problems with chronic are working well, and if anxiety or anger and/ the threats and challeng- or when we can start to es are not overwhelm- get depressed. Particuing, we can deal with lar stress points occur the situation and move at the beginnings and on. However, if the situ- ends of academic years, ation is more complex, especially at the start or our coping strategies and towards the end of aren’t effective, this nor- the academic year. These mal stress response can times of increased stress go into overdrive or get can represent a tipping overloaded. A period of point when coping rechronic stress can quite sources can become often be the starting overwhelmed – a recent point for things esca- study* found that student lating. This is when we suicides more commonmay start to experience ly occur at these times.