Depression Among College Students

According to the National College Depression Partnership (NCDP), in a population of 18 million college students, around 2.35 million may deal with serious depression while attending college. The proportion of college students with clinical depression rose from 10 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2005, notes the NCDP.

Symptoms

• As with the general population, the two main symptoms of depression among college students are depressed mood and loss of interest in activities, University of Michigan (UM) researchers point out.

Effects

• UM professor of health management and policy, Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, notes that depression among college students leads to poor academic performance. Eisenberg claims that a college student with depression has a GPA 13 percent lower than one who is not depressed. Couple depression with anxiety and that number jumps to about 50 percent.

Impact

• The NCDP reports that 52.4 percent of students in a 2006 study said they felt hopeless one to 10 times during their school year. Almost 37 percent percent said they were so depressed it was difficult to function, while 9.3 percent said they contemplated suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, contends Michigan State University (MSU).

Identification

• NCDP schools, as of February 2010, identified more than 2,300 students with clinical depression and referred them for help.

Intervention

• MSU is part of the NCDP. In an 18-month period after joining the consortium, MSU screened more than 10,000 students for depression. Students who were screened saw significant improvements in their depression after intervention.