A 2022 survey by Erudera found that 41% of students enrolled in higher degree programs in American colleges and universities considered dropping out of college due to high stress levels.

Another study at Boston University found that depression in college students has increased by 110% from 2013 to 2021.

India is not untouched by this phenomenon. One in seven children in India is struggling with depression and other mental health problems – and less than 1% of them get adequate medical support required to treat them.

Depression has become one of the most serious and important issues on college campuses across the country. College students are prone to depression due to a lot of potential factors such as stress with school, work, or finances, or possibly feeling isolated after moving away from friends and family. Students who move away from their hometown to study face a lot of problems and are more prone to depression and anxiety as it becomes hard for them to adjust to a new environment and people.

A college student should know how to differentiate depression from feeling sad or stressed occasionally. Depression is a serious but common and treatable medical illness. No one should have to suffer needlessly in silence.

Symptoms of Depression

Some of the common symptoms of depression are:

• A depressed mood (feeling sad, empty, or hopeless),
• Lack of interest or pleasure in activities that you used to enjoy, 
• Fluctuations in weight, 
• Difficulty with sleeping, 
• Low energy, 
• Feeling worthless, 
• Feeling guilty, 
• Difficulty concentrating, 
• Difficulty making decisions, 
• Feeling irritable, 
• Feeling restless, and/or 
• Feeling suicidal.

The symptoms of depression can cause difficulty in the day-to-day functions of a person, and as symptoms become increasingly unmanageable, students may even begin to feel suicidal. 

Suicidal feelings need to be addressed right away. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that suicide is the second largest leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-34. Anyone who is feeling suicidal needs to know that this is a serious symptom of depression. 

You are not alone and you do not need to cope with suicidal feelings alone. If you are feeling suicidal please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – iCall – at 9152987821 which offers free and confidential crisis support for suicide prevention from Monday to Saturday – 10 am to 8 pm.

How to Get Over Depression When You Are In College?

Traditionally, when we think of trying to manage depression, we think of engaging in therapy or taking medication. While those things are helpful and are often recommended for anyone with clinical depression, there are many other things that can also be helpful that are sometimes overlooked. Additionally, there are many ways to deal with depression that have better long-term outcomes (and lower relapse rates) than psychotherapy or medication alone.

Here we have listed some tips on how one can deal with depression and get their life back on track:

1. Keep Track of Absenteeism or Change in the Grade Behaviour of Students

The institute, teachers and parents should keep a regular check on students. If they are bunking more classes; have stopped interacting with their friends and teachers; or seem to be hostile, cold, rude, disrespectful, and antisocial all of a sudden; or their behaviour in class is changing, they might be depressed or suffering from other mental health problems.

At SMS Varanasi, we have a Behavior Dynamics Lab where we offer counselling to students and guide them on how to overcome their challenges and pave their path to success.

2. Engage in Psychotherapy

No one should cope with depression alone. Trained and licensed mental health professionals can support and help you find relief from your symptoms. Psychotherapy can help individuals identify what issues are contributing to their symptoms of depression and what is the best way to address these issues.

When depression in college students is on the rise, all the stakeholders should learn how to support them and what things to consider while choosing a therapist for them. The National Institute of Mental Health outlines several factors you might want to take into consideration, such as the type of psychotherapy or specialties that the therapist offers. 

Research has shown that the relationship between the therapist and client is central to positive change in therapy. If you have been to therapy before and you didn’t find it helpful, don’t assume that it can’t ever be helpful; it may be that the therapist was not a fit for your situation.

Many college campuses provide on-campus counselling centers for students to access help at the campus. Therapists on college campuses are often hired for their ability to connect with and support college students. If you are in such a college, one of the reasons why you should access counselling services through your school is that if your depression or any other mental health challenge is impacting your ability to engage in your studies successfully you can request special accommodations. 

We encourage you to begin your search for a therapist with your campus counselling center. Information about how to access it should be available on your college or university’s website. If you would prefer to meet with a therapist or counselor off campus for any reason a good place to start your search is to find a good therapist in your area.

3. Explore Medication Options

If you are experiencing symptoms of depression, it is generally a good idea to talk with your primary care provider about this. Your doctor can help you rule out or treat any medical issues that may be contributing to symptoms of depression. 

Nurse practitioners, doctors, and psychiatrists can all prescribe medication to treat depression. After talking with you about your specific symptoms your medical provider may request that you try meeting with a mental health therapist before starting medication. 

Sometimes psychotherapy is not enough for more severe forms of depression and your doctor may decide that medication would be helpful. Fortunately, advances in medicine have provided a number of drugs that can be effective in treating depression. The Mayo Clinic outlines several common medications for treating depression.

4. Practice Mindfulness Exercises

If you are succumbing to a depressive episode as a college student, you must try this first. 

Mindfulness can be defined as staying aware and conscious about the present moment. While it sounds simple, being mindful is not simple it can take a great deal of time and practice to develop the ability to be conscious and connected in the present moment. 

College students may find themselves managing so many different commitments (classes, work, friends) at a time that it may be hard for them to stay connected and focused on one thing when they have so much on their minds.

However, there is still hope because there are many ways to go about learning and practicing mindfulness exercises such as: 

• meeting with a therapist who emphasizes mindfulness, 
• going to a yoga class – some classes emphasize mindfulness more than others, 
• reading about different mindfulness exercises and practicing them on your own, 
• listening to audio mindfulness meditations, and 
• attending a meditation class or retreat. 

As reports show, meditation is a mindfulness practice that has been shown to help people manage depression. There is a model of therapy called Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy that an individual can engage in by working with a therapist. Also, there are countless mindfulness exercises that people can practice on their own at home.

5. Spend Time in Nature

It may seem like a very simple idea but spending time in nature has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression. There is a model of therapy built around the philosophy that spending time in and connecting with nature will improve your mental health. This is called ecotherapy and is also known as green therapy or nature therapy. There is a lot of research to back up ecotherapy.

The benefits of spending time outdoors in nature have been looked at by researchers all over the world. In Japan, there is a custom called forest bathing, which essentially means spending time around trees.

Even a 30-minute walk in a green setting has been shown to have an impact. Many college campuses are located in beautiful settings with easy access to walking or hiking trails. Finding time to sneak away even once a week could have a significant impact on your mental health.

And if you are in school in a big city where you don’t get much connection to nature, it may be even more important for you to find time to make a trip to the country, the coast, or the mountains every once in a while just to get a dose of what nature has to offer. 

An added benefit of spending time in nature is that usually while in nature, people often indulge in some form of exercise or other, such as walking, hiking, running, skiing, or swimming, which also helps reduce depression.

6. Exercise

Exercise has countless physical health benefits such as strengthening your heart, lowering blood pressure, reducing body fat, and improving strength. Exercise has also been shown to have numerous mental health benefits including reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. College students can also benefit from the impact that exercise has on the brain including improved memory and thinking skills.

Research has proven the benefits of exercise for treating mild to moderate depression but it is often under-utilized. It may be hard as a college student experiencing depression to imagine finding the motivation or time to exercise. The good news is that colleges and universities often invest in recreational resources for students. 

Most colleges and universities offer campus recreation centers with gyms stocked with stationary bikes and treadmills as well as weight rooms, basketball courts, and swimming pools. Most colleges and universities also offer exercise classes and intramural sports that you can join.

If getting to the gym feels like too much to start with, simply walking to class rather than taking the bus or driving could give you the emotional boost you need. Active reports that walking for 30 minutes three to four times a week can improve your mood, and that even “if a 20-minute power walk at lunchtime is all you manage, after six weeks it could be comparable to a course of psychotherapy”. When you exercise you produce endorphin which leads to increased feelings of well-being.

Exercise can be anything that you enjoy doing, so if you don’t feel like hitting the gym or going for a run then call a friend and go for a walk or get a group of friends together for a round of disc golf or another group sport. Connecting with friends while walking or playing a game will take your mind off the exercise, and will give you the added benefit of social support.

7. Strengthen your Social Connections

Going to college often means moving away from friends and family and starting a new life in a new town or city and meeting all new people. This can be hard and overwhelming at first and is one of the leading causes of the onset of depression in college students. Putting time and energy into meeting new people and developing friendships is important for your mental health.

Stress can exacerbate symptoms of depression. It is important to know that social connections can reduce the impact of stress. If you are feeling depressed it is likely that you may not be engaging in all the activities you once were. This can lead to isolation from family, friends, and other peer support. 

Students suffering from depression point out that “Depression thrives in conditions of social isolation and loneliness”. Breaking this isolation and reaching out to others for support is a powerful way in which one can fight depression.”

There are many ways that college students can strengthen their social connections such as: 

• putting together a study group for a class they enjoy or one they find really hard that stresses them out, 
• setting a time with their roommates for a weekly dinner date, 
• joining an on-campus club or intramural sports team, and/or
• finding an on-campus organization that promotes community service and connect with others while giving back to the community. 

Emails and phone calls with family and longtime friends who you feel know you well can be uplifting

8. Improve your Nutrition

Everyone knows that when you eat well you feel well. However, when you are in college, it can be hard to find the time to eat nutritious food, let alone the time to shop for, prep, and cook healthy foods. But eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard or overwhelming. Even the simple act of trying to add more healthy nutrient-rich foods into your diet will cancel out some of the other less helpful foods.

Simple snacks that don’t require any prep, and travel easily are a saviour. Like apples and almonds are perfect to-go snacks for busy college students. 

And when you think about the time and energy that depression can take away from your life, it makes the decision to put the time into eating healthy food seem simple.

Sometimes nutritional deficiencies can contribute to symptoms of depression. So checking with your doctor to see if you should add any vitamins to your diet is always a good idea. As a report suggested “Understanding nutrition, depression, and mental illness, ” nutritional neuroscience is an emerging discipline shedding light on the fact that nutritional factors are intertwined with human cognition, behaviour, and emotions. They go on to report that individuals experiencing depression are also not necessarily getting the carbohydrates, proteins, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that they need.

9. Avoid Drug and Alcohol Use

Talking about alcohol use in college can be hard to explain because it has become a big part of the culture. Drinking in college, even underage drinking, has become quite normative. It is important for college students to understand the potential negative health impacts of drug and alcohol use in college. Students who are experiencing symptoms of depression could benefit from avoiding drug and alcohol use.

Alcohol, substance abuse and depression often go hand in hand. Frequently, people who are struggling with depression will turn to drugs or alcohol for help relaxing, getting their mind off things, having fun, or forgetting about their troubles. 

Most colleges and universities are starting to recognize the negative impact that drug and alcohol use has on their students and their campus culture and are working hard to reduce substance abuse and provide support to students who are struggling. 

Many colleges have recognized the need to educate students and make them attend seminars to help them realize the harmful effects of drugs on a student, it can be a quick relief to the depression but in the long run, it is simply harmful. If left untreated, drug and alcohol abuse can quickly escalate to the disease of addiction.

10. Set Healthy Boundaries

One symptom of depression is a feeling of worthlessness or excessive guilt. Sometimes, when we feel worthless or guilty, we have a hard time saying no or setting boundaries that are in our best interest. We are more worried about what the other person wants or needs than what we want or need. 

In college, we might feel pressure to say yes to everything due to a sense of pressure to “enjoy every moment” or “seize the day.” We may feel we need to say yes to every study group, every party, or every time a friend asks us for help with something. However, this approach can backfire. In an effort to try to enjoy and do everything, we may be left unable to enjoy or do anything.

Setting good boundaries is like setting good goals. We recognize that we can only do so much, so we make a conscious effort to commit to the things that fill us up and bring us joy. This may mean choosing to go for a long run and then to bed early over going to a party that your friend really wants you to go to with her. It can be hard to disappoint people by saying no or setting a boundary especially if we already feel inexplicably worthless or guilty.

Conclusion

Dealing with depression in college students can be a challenging and complex thing to navigate. It is important for college students to understand the signs of depression, seek help, create a support system, practice self-care and relaxation techniques, eat nutritious foods, avoid drugs and alcohol use and set healthy boundaries. 

These strategies will help them cope with depression while also leading a balanced lifestyle in college.