Anxiety and Depression Among College Students

By Parijat Bhattacharjee

Anxiety is excessive concern or worries. Sometimes it can be good, when someone needs to get tasks done. But if people spends too much time excessively worrying about things, and it starts to hamper their lives it becomes into a disorder.

According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental health problems on college campuses. Forty million U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, and 75 percent of them experience their first episode of anxiety by age 22, quotes the association notes.

A 2008 Associated Press and mtvU finds the following statistics from a survey of college students, “80 percent say they frequently or sometimes experience daily stress, 34 percent have felt depressed at some point in the past three months, 13 percent have been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as an anxiety disorder or depression, 9 percent have seriously considered suicide in the past year.”

Aldo E. Pena Moses, staff clinician at Stonehill College Counselling Services said more college students seem to be affected by anxiety than by depression.

Anxiety allows students to still function, and most of the anxious students are also most of the successful ones, he said.

“Worrying is part of our DNA. Anxiety is a great survival mechanism. You do not want to get rid of anxiety, you want to cope with it better,” said Moses.

Moses said students today are more anxious because they have not been forced to face the challenges as the past generations.

Some students are less skilled in practical things because their parents are very involved in their lives, and often make their decision, he said

 Students might be very driven, but what they are good at, are based on their achievements, rather than problem solving skills. “As a culture we are more scared than what we used to be,” he said.

An estimated 40 million American adults suffer from anxiety disorders but only about one-third of those receive treatment, according to Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Molly Bannister, a Stonehill senior said there has been a stigma in some circles of mental health problems, but it is getting better as celebrities are coming out to share their stories about mental health issues.

Bannister said Stonehill College does a good job at spreading the message that help is available if needed. College clubs like Active Minds, tries to educate people about mental health issues, she said.

Stonehill junior Praveen Jain said people are ignorant when it comes to mental health conditions. Statements like “snap if off” or “it is just a phase” are used while communicating with someone suffering from mental health disorders, he said. He said more awareness needs to be brought to the issue.

He said the Stonehill Counselling Center seems very welcoming with friendly staffs, they keep their meetings confidential, and he would be comfortable approaching them if needed.

Oftentimes anxiety disorder is accompanied by other disorders. Depression is another major mental health condition some college students suffer. When sadness, disinterestedness, hopelessness, or feelings like self-doubt become more prominent in one’s life, it turns into a serious medical condition, called depression.

Moses said anxiety and depression are related, they can be tied to genetics, and they differ from person to person. Anxiety is worrying about the future, while depression is sense of feeling stuck. “Every student has some elements of depression,” he noted.

Angelica Sincavage, a Stonehill senior, said college students are more likely to have anxiety disorders because they often multitask. Balancing between classes, clubs, social life remember to eat, take care care of themselves, financial status, and other factors can stress out students and lead to anxiety.

Madeline Fahey, another Stonehill senior, said students are under a lot of pressure to prove themselves in a competitive world.

Family and parents play an important role here.

Reference

http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/college-students

Interviewees: Angelica Sincavage’16,  Madeline Fahey’16, Molly Bannister’16, Praveen Jain’17, and Aldo E. Pena Moses.