Causes Of Depression & Anxiety In Teens/ Among College Students

Nowadays, severe mental disorders have become one of the most common illnesses in teens and among college students. It is now even more popular than it was 10 years ago. There is a great number of young people looking for treatment for anxiety as well as depression. According to a study, psychiatric medicines are now being used by many students. This percentage has increased about 10% over the last decade. College can be tough and stressful. Teens and students can easily face with depression while trying to juggle work, school, family and friends as well as figure out what to do with their lives. If you are experiencing frequent, uncontrollable and intense depression which stands in the way of your daily life, you are likely suffering from depressive disorders since they are signs and symptoms of it. What are the causes of depression & anxiety in teens/ among college students? In this article, you will discover major causes of depression in order to effectively prevent it.

Causes Of Depression And Anxiety In Teens Or Among College Students

1. Definition Of College Depression

definition of college depression

Depression is described as an illness which is the root of all consistent feelings of sorrow as well as lack of interest. It is not a medical diagnosis. It is a mental illness that many patients have to deal with during college.

There are many causes of college depression, such as pressure, challenges and anxieties which make students feel overwhelmed. They are probably feeling homesick since this is their first time to live on their own. They are perhaps struggling to adapt to schoolwork or a new schedule, trying to adjust to life with new friends and new roommates, figuring out how to blend in. Main causes of depression can also come from intimate relationships and money. In some college students, difficulties in coping with these sudden and dramatic changes during the transition phase from adolescent to adulthood can unmask as well as trigger depression.

2. Forms Of Depression

forms of depression

– Major depression: this form is usually showed by a set of symptoms. Having these symptoms, you may have difficulties in working, eating, sleeping as well as enjoying meaningful and pleasurable activities. This episode can appear once or many times during the sufferer’s life. The symptoms of this form of depression include anxiety, emptiness, sadness, low energy, fatigue, lack of pleasure or interest in daily activities, sleep troubles, dramatic weight as well as appetite changes, feelings of guilt, hopelessness and worthlessness, constant thoughts of suicide, death as well as suicide attempts, troubles making decision, concentrating or remembering, irritability and excessive crying, constant chronic pains which cannot be explained by other physical conditions.

– Dysthymia: this form of depression is less intense than the previous one. It includes long term symptoms which are not as severe. However, experiencing this type can keep you from getting the most out of your own ability and from feeling energetic.

– Bipolar illness, also known as manic depressive illness: this form of depression is characterized by depression cycles that interchange elation cycles with increased activity, which is called mania. Patients will experience dramatic and rapid mood swings which appear gradually over time. The up phase, also known as manic phase, usually includes insomnia, increased activity and energy, reckless or impulsive behavior (sexual promiscuity included), grandiose notions. These manic symptoms are usually controlled by medication. Recurrence of both manic as well as depressive episodes prevention is also possible by using medication.

3. Sudden And Dramatic Changes

sudden and dramatic changes

It is awfully stressful to go to college, especially for those who have been overprotected by their families or have trouble adapting and seeking support mostly from adults. It is usually just a rite of passage. However, that usually comes along with much adjustment and adapting difficulty. This cause is not even new, it has been noted as a part of this for a very long time.

4. Intense Pressure

intense pressure

Financial stress has been known as a great barrier to college students, even much greater than it used to be in the past. However, there are many opinions pointing out that the pressure to succeed is even worse. When they are still in high school, there has already been horrible grade inflation. Plus the overprotection from their parents, it is understandable that students gradually grow the expectation that straight and be easy to achieve in college. However, it is difficult to get good grades in college. Therefore, students may have failure to meet their own expectations. Moreover, they will have to struggle to compete with their peers and this leads to enormous stress among college students.

5. Increased Accessibility To College

increased accessibility to college

In the past, it was hard to get to college since only a selected group of students was qualified. Nowadays, massive changes have been made in order to make college a more accessible place to a much wider range of students. Therefore, college has become even more diverse. Those who are suffering from mental health as well as medical difficulties have much more access to support and accommodations. The severity as well as level of difficulties showed on the college campus has increased. One possible reason for this is that more people are able to get in college, which hardly happened before in the past.

6. Shifting Gender Ratios

shifting gender ratios

Males as well as females tend to have similar mental health profiles. However, the profiles of the kind of mental health problems they are suffering from are different. Males have the tendency to experience externalizing problems, which includes substance use as well as violence. On the other hand, women tend to go through issues which relate to anxiety, stress and depression. However, women are likely to be more open to talk about their problems than men. In the last 30 years, there has been a great shift in the gender ratios of students which is followed by an increased portion in different levels of anxiety and depression. This happens because there have been more women in college.

7. Lack Of Efficiency In Handling Mental Health Issues

lack of efficiency in handling mental health issues

College counseling centers are often flooded with demand which causes many people to wonder if they are properly equipped to take care of the dramatic changes in mental health needs. Moreover, there have been numerous opinions from many people about how universities are dealing with this situation since they tend to use more problematic and defensive ways to response to these challenges. However, this is certainly not a major cause of depression among college students, but as college counseling centers are a part of this process, they have to be noted as an emerging problem.

8. Increased Responsibility

increased responsibility

Having get in college means that students have to face with even more responsibility than they ever had to before. They have to simultaneously deal with different difficulties such as financial responsibility, academic demands and time management troubles which are extremely stressful. Having experienced to this large amount of stress, it is very easy to suffer from depression in teens and college students.

9. Addiction As Well As Substance Abuse

addiction as well as substance abuse

In many universities, it is obvious to see that common parts of student life consist of alcohol as well as drug use. In order to find a way out of academic pressures or to blend in with others, students have the tendency to use drug and alcohol. Some even begin to develop substance addictions which lead them to experience depression.

10. Downward Spiral

There are many factors which contribute to depression and an effect called “downward spiral” occurs very often. For instance, those who choose to get rid of stress and anxiety caused by academic pressures by using drugs may easily become addicted. With that situation continues to go on over time, it is very likely that their depression will become worse.

11. Get Help/Treatments

If you think that you may be experiencing depression, make sure that you discuss this problem with a qualified mental health expert, who is able to evaluate your condition. If you feel anxious or hesitate about this, you can absolutely bring along a close friend of yours for more support.

You can relieve from symptoms of depression in a short time by using effective treatments for depression. Psychotherapy as well as antidepressant medication have become the most common treatment for this. Moreover, you can definitely use a combination of both treatments, which is the best option for patients depending on how severe their conditions are.

get help treatments

People have different ways to respond to their treatments. If you do not feel better after a time of trying the treatments, start to discuss with your expert to see whether you should try other treatments or to get another opinion. Besides, you can manage to help yourself get better by doing exercise regularly and having healthy diets to make you feel better and healthier.

That is the end of the article about causes of depression & anxiety in teens/ among college students. Hopefully after reading this article, you will discover about causes of depression in teens/among college students in order to find an effect way to prevent or get rid of it. If you find this article of causes of depression & anxiety in teens/ among college students useful, please let us know by leaving a comment down the section below. If you have any questions related to this article, please feel free to contact us any time you need. Besides, there are also more Health related articles from the site vkool, please make sure that you pay sometimes to visit them. We will make sure that you will find some meaningful and useful things to apply to your own life.

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