College is supposed to be the greatest time of your life, right? Between the rockin’ parties, tens of thousands of cute guys, great gal pals who always have your back and endless opportunities for new experiences, why wouldn’t these four years be epic?
Whether you are a freshman still navigating your way through one of the biggest transitions of your life or a senior trying to secure a real world job, stress and frustration are going to be a big part of your college life. The college lifestyle alone – trying to soak in every second of the amazing social scene while at the same time focusing on getting an A on that next bio test, writing articles for the school newspaper, and applying to as many summer internships as humanly possible – can cause daily stress. But how do you know when your pent up stress has turned into something more serious?
According to a 2009 poll by mtvU, one out of every ten college students reported signs of moderate to severe depression. Depression is a serious medical condition affecting thousands of collegiettes across the country. Knowing when to seek help is key to your wellbeing as well as your ability to enjoy college. If you think your stress might be escalating into something more serious, read on. Her Campus is here to help you take a step back from any sadness, frustration, or anxiety and figure out what’s going on.
So What Exactly is Stress?
Collegiettes have all experienced stress at some point in our lives. Whether you pulled an all-nighter to finish that 10-page research paper or had a fight with your boyfriend last weekend, surely you have felt the anxiety-ridden sensation of stress pumping through your veins.
Nedra Lee Friedman, a Clinical Specialist in Psychiatric Nursing, explains stress as, “usually taking more of a form of anxiety, which could get in the way of concentration, lead to overeating, binge drinking, and other things that are symptoms of someone being nervous and overwhelmed, especially at school. However, students experiencing stress are still able to do what they need to do.”
If you are still functioning normally on a day-to-day basis, then you are most likely experiencing the expected stress that goes along with being a college kid. Stress from friend drama, schoolwork, and finding that killer internship might increase feelings of anxiety as well as heighten your emotions, but the important thing is that your daily productively is not hindered.
Stress can also be overcome using a variety of strategies and stress management techniques. Katherine, a freshman at Northwestern University, has her own ways of dealing with stress that she learned while attending a super competitive high school. “A lot of times I get paralyzed by the amount of stuff I have to do. There’s just so much of it and I can’t see myself ever finishing it. When that happens, I think it’s best to just jump right in and start something. Say, ‘I’m going to do my Spanish exercises,’ then do them. Don’t think about anything else. Once you finish, you’ll have one task done and you’ll have already started your work, so it won’t seem so overwhelming anymore!”
If that’s Stress, then what’s Depression?
While stress is not the most enjoyable experience, it can easily be managed. However, if your stress becomes all-consuming and begins to affect your overall enjoyment of college, then something more serious might be going on.
Jordan, a sophomore at Boston College, has experienced anxiety since being at college and explains, “Anxiety is more of a fixation over certain things whereas depression is overwhelming and all-consuming.”
So how do you know if what you thought was stress is actually something more serious, like depression? Friedman explains, “People will withdraw socially, lose interest in things, might not go to classes, and not get their work done. More likely than not, depression is more of a withdrawal. With it comes isolation and losing interest in things. It is not about daily drama.”
It is important to realize that depression doesn’t always take the same form. Friedman outlined two common types of depression: agitated and vegetative. “Agitated depression is when a person exhibits increased irritability and restlessness. Vegetative depression is the opposite. People suffering from vegetative depression don’t want to get out of bed, don’t want to socialize, may stop eating, and they generally withdraw.”
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Determining When to Seek Help
If independently working through your stress and resulting unhappiness doesn’t seem to be working, then it might be time to enlist some help. Deciding when to seek help is the hardest part. Many people who unknowingly suffer from depression write their unhappiness off as something else, maybe stress, exhaustion, or just a bad month. If you think you might be suffering from depression, or you know someone who you are genuinely concerned about, here are 10 signs that indicate a more serious problem. If any of these signs are really exaggerated, Friedman recommends talking to someone, whether it is a family member, close friend, RA, university counseling service, therapist, or anyone else who you trust will want to help.
1. Change in Sleeping Habits
One of two extremes might come about when it comes to the sleeping patterns of someone suffering from depression. Friedman explains, “People will either sleep too much or can’t sleep at all when they are depressed. This is different from a person who is feeling tired because of stress. A stressed person won’t decide to go sleep for an entire day, whereas someone who is depressed will.”
2. Change in Eating Habits
Overeating is very common in depressed individuals. Feelings of depression might bring on episodes of binge eating, which will just lead to more feelings of depression stemming from shame and embarrassment. It can also go the other way with a depressed individual eating less than they should. Either way, help should be sought.
3. Social Isolation
Having alone time is sometimes very necessary in an environment where collegiettes are surrounded by people at all hours. However, when isolation becomes the norm and social activities become nonexistent, depression might be the cause. Friedman gave the example of a student who really loved to get together with her friends to watch movies. Depression set in and this student no longer wanted to go watch movies with her friends. Her friends constantly invited her and she constantly declined. This is a sign of social isolation.
4. Inability to Complete Schoolwork:
Being able tocomplete schoolwork on time is vital to success at college. If tests are being failed, papers are being turned in a week after the deadline, and problem sets seem like an impossible task, then something might be wrong.
5. Inability to Concentrate
Being able to focus is also vital to success at school as well as in a social setting. Extreme distractedness or lack of focus will affect daily functioning and can be a sure sign of depression. Nicole, a sophomore at Boston College, suffers from depression and can attest firsthand to having difficulty concentrating. “When you are depressed your thoughts tend to be consumed by everything that is going wrong or anything that you think is going wrong. So when I am reading I may be looking at the words, but not taking anything because I can’t concentrate on anything else except what is bugging me at the time.”
6. Uncharacteristic Drinking or Drug Use
We all know college is a time of experimentation, but if a person’s actions are uncharacteristic it might be due to depression. Friedman explains, “Let’s say somebody was not oriented to drinking and drugs in high school and then they start in college – not in an experimental way, but in a way that is interfering with their ability to function normally – that is a problem to watch out for.”
7. Changes in Taking Care of Oneself
We all have days where putting on makeup and planning a perfect outfit just isn’t going to happen. That all-nighter you pulled last night is the perfect excuse for donning sweats and rocking a high pony. However, if someone stops caring how they look and abandoning their flawless grooming habits for a prolonged period of time, it might be a sign of depression.
8. Thoughts of Hurting Oneself or Suicide
This is a serious sign and should not be overlooked. If a person is having any thoughts of suicide or harming themself, help should be sought immediately. Friedman warns, “another thing that can happen with depression, especially with college kids, is cutting. It isn’t necessarily suicidal, but it is a result of feelings that are too much too handle – it’s a release.”
9. Loss of Interest
Also known as Anhedonia, this is a telltale sign of depression. Someone suffering from depression will slowly lose interest in things that used to excite them. Maybe they used to be really into running and now they have no desire to hit the pavement or even go to the gym.
10. Feelings of Helplessness and Hopelessness
Friedman emphasized the point that feelings of hopelessness or helplessness go hand in hand with depression. As Meghan, a senior at Appalachian State, shares, “I struggle with clinical depression, and I would tell girls that, from my own experience, there is one telltale sign that your stress has become something more. When you’re sad or stressed, you don’t feel good or okay. When you’re depressed, you can’t imagine ever feeling good or okay again. Depression, to me, is indicated in the biggest way by the absence of hope.”
If you’re unsure whether your constant stress and sadness is serious, the best thing to do is to take precautionary measures by getting yourself checked out. Exorbitant amounts of stress and/or days of depression are going to affect what should be an amazing college experience. Depression is a serious issue and can completely affect your social and emotional life if it is not treated. Missing every weekend party and constantly hibernating in your room will leave you feeling blue and that isn’t how a fabulous collegiette should have to spend four prime years of her life. If your blue feelings are lasting more than two weeks and interfering with your ability to function on a day-to-day basis, then make an appointment with a psychiatrist at your student health center who will help you return to your old, happy and hopeful self!
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