Depression tops the list of student mental health issues at the University, and the number of students suffering from these disorders seems to be on the rise.
In an April 2002 study, the World Health Organization reported that by the year 2020, depression would be second only to heart disease as the leading cause of premature death and disability worldwide, and that depression is increasingly affecting young people.
Many University Health Center and Counseling and Testing Center experts concur with these findings, and have said that their own observations of the student body support these conclusions.
There are some proposed hypotheses for the phenomenon, but few clear answers.
“More of the general population is going to college than there used to be, and because of effective medications a lot of people who wouldn’t be attending school before are,” former University Health Center director Gerald Fleischli said. “It used to be only very high-functioning people were going to college.”
Now, with the advent of new medication, possibilities are open to those who struggle with heavy depression and anxiety.
The two interlocking aspects — a higher general population and more effective medication — could be contributing to the increase in the numbers of student clients attending the Counseling and Testing Center and the amount of people on medication.
Some say there may be other reasons for the perceived increase.
Counseling and Testing Center Director Robin Holmes remarked on what she called a steady increase in the number of students coming in, and the higher number of those who have full-blown depression.
“More people in general are much more willing to come in than 20 or even 10 years ago,” Holmes said. “Students are reporting more serious issues than ever before.”
Holmes said her colleagues across the nation had mentioned similar increases in depression and anxiety cases and the severity of those cases, and there may be a combination of reasons for it.
“I do think student life is particularly stressful and different than other times (in life),” she said. She listed stressors such as an increase in life decisions and increased academic and social pressure.
She said another reason might be the weak economy, which has decreased job opportunities for many college graduates and caused students to pursue advanced degrees or to prolong their stay in higher education, which can increase struggles with debts and finances.
Others said it is not student life, but the age group in which students fall that makes the time of life difficult.
Fleischli said the need to establish one’s identity and achieve independence from one’s family make the late teens and early 20s a difficult time.
Stress levels can also be affected by the university a student attends or their major of choice, Fleischli said, citing architecture and law as two of the most difficult subjects, and MIT as an institution with high suicide rates.
Senior staff therapist Ron Miyaguchi said that he believes that, while it is true that college adds a new level to students’ academic pressures after high school, it is family expectations and trouble with relationships that are the greatest source of stress for students.
Miyaguchi said that what impressed him the most about students was their resilience in times of stress. He said he has seen students surmount remarkable difficulties in college, and the rough history that has often come beforehand.
“The fact that they made it this far is impressive,” Miyaguchi said of students who struggle with mental illness. “You’d be amazed at the things students go through.”
The Counseling Center’s hours during the school year are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 346-3227 for more information.