Depression is a severe mental disorder that negatively affects the feelings of an individual, how the individual reacts to different things in the society and their cognitive abilities (Nelson and Liebel, 2018). Depression tends to affect people from all diverse groups in the community. However, depression in colleges has grown to become a significant issue in significant colleges in our nation and other parts of the world. Depression tends to negatively affect the educational progress of students who suffer from depression. Depression among students in colleges tends to affect the social lives of students adversely. College students are more likely to suffer from depression due to factors such relating to the financial school life, work-related issues.
Symptoms of depression in college students.
• Pessimism among college students.
• College students having insomnia
• Fatigue among the college students.
• Poor concentration among students
• Restlessness among students.
• Persistent headaches.
• Poor eating habits.
• Suicide thoughts among students.
• Low self-esteem among students.
• Poor social habits.
Causes of depression in college students
The first significant cause of depression among college students are matters relating to love affairs (Nelson and Liebel, 2018). Love relationships are usually common among various colleges in our nation. Love bonds involve the students to dedicate much of their time, emotions and not to forget money to sustain these college love affairs. The students always keep the interests of their partners at heart in their daily life activities. Most of the college students in love relationships are still prepared to go an extra mile to protect their partners. However, these relations are usually prone to breakups. The relationship break-ups among college students affect the thoughts, emotions, and social life of students negatively. The relationship break-ups make the students suffer both emotionally and psychologically. The students who suffer heartbreaks hold on to the sad feelings. The students’ education and social life they undergo in colleges negatively. However, girls in college students tend to experience severe depression when they are heartbroken with the partners. The depression causes students to face insomnia, others lock themselves up in their rooms and cry the whole day and not to forget some go to an extreme extent of trying to commit suicide.
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The other primary cause of depression is failing of exams by students. College students always undergo depression due to the pressure that comes with failing of the examinations. The parents and society are still quick to judge when the students fail in their study. For this reason, students are always pressured to work hard and pass their exams. Some students who fail in their exams tend to be affected psychologically negatively affected by the issue. Most students always tend to cry over the matter while other students tend to feel that they are failures in the society.
The other leading cause of depression among college students is the issue of students being homesick (Nelson and Liebel, 2018). Most colleges tend to admit students from diverse groups and their homes are far from the colleges they study. Students in colleges usually miss family members, friends, and their social lives. The students typically cling to the memory of their homes. Homesick leads to most students locking themselves crying while other students go an extra mile to engage in drugs and others simply become reluctant to socialize with their peers.
Increased responsibility in colleges is also a significant factor that causes depression among college students (Nelson and Liebel, 2018). Most students while in high school were still under the protection of their parents who covered all their responsibilities. In the admission of the students in colleges, changes occur as the scholars are required to go an extra mile to cover the expenses they incur in schools. The pressure that comes with the hustle for cash to cover for their cost tends to bring immense stress among students. Students who lack the adequate resources to cater for their needs feel depressed as they cannot afford to satisfy their requirements. The students to feel immense pressure in managing their school lives and their work lives.
The other cause of depression among college student is the addiction to drugs and other substance. A section of the college students indulges in the use of narcotics in their daily lives. College students engage in these drugs as a way to deal with the pressure that comes with the coursework. Students who indulge in excessive substance use end up being depressed as the drugs negatively affect them psychologically.
Ways of dealing with depression among college students
Student avoids drugs and other substance abuse (Dexter et al., 2018). Alcohol consumption has grown to become a norm in the various cultures. Most people usually shy off from talking about the adverse effects of alcohol consumption among college students. College students to create constructive peer groups that will help the students in building the morals of students in the various colleges. The students should be advised to avoid the drugs while in schools to curb the cases of depression that arise due to drug and substance abuse. The college's administration is also required create measures that will limit students from the use of drugs in these colleges.
Creating healthy social relationships (Dexter et al., 2018). College students should be able to build strong relationships that will play a significant role in dealing with cases of depression. Social groups provide the essential support the students need. The students can share their personal experiences and friends can give them support by giving them adequate advice they require. However, it has been proved that most students suffer internally from stress due to poor relationships. Healthy social relationships also enable students to guide each other on the various issues they undergo in the colleges.
Exploring therapeutic strategies (Dexter et al., 2018). Severe cases of depression may require the college students to seek the adequate medical attention in the hospitals. Therapists can assess the problem the college students are undergoing. A therapist can help the students by giving professional advice and engaging in medical talks to determine the possible issues that are affecting the students. Through these constructive counseling sessions, depression that the college student is undergoing is monitored and treated.
Students are setting healthy boundaries. The feeling of students degrading themselves by having guilty conscious and feeling worthless can be dealt with by setting robust standards. An individual is always required to make himself feel good about himself and know his real worth to ensure he/she feels proud of himself or herself. The setting of healthy boundaries will enable an individual to always the pleasure of doing everything with absolute happiness. An individual is required to set long-term goals which will have a relatively positive effect on his life in college. The long-term goals set by the individual will help the individual to deal with the negative energy that might lead to depression in the students’ school life.
Engaging in mental exercises. The college students should be able to be conscious in the present activities that are in their environment. Students need to participate in practices that will lead to the relaxation of their minds. Colleges students can achieve this by doing frequent nature walks, attending yoga classes, doing regular exercises and also engage in the various hobbies they enjoy.
Conclusion
All in all, depression is a mental disorder that can adversely affect the learning progress of a college student. The students need to identify the symptoms of depression at an early stage and identify the potential treatment they can apply to deal with the grief.
References
Dexter, L. R., Huff, K., Rudecki, M., & Abraham, S. (2018). College Students’ Stress Coping Behaviors and Perception of Stress-Effects Holistically. International Journal of Studies in Nursing , 3 (2), 1.
Nelson, J. M., & Liebel, S. W. (2018). Socially desirable responding and college students with dyslexia: implications for the assessment of anxiety and depression. Dyslexia , 24 (1), 44-58.
