Since it is going back-to-school season, I thought I’d educate you on some alarming statistics about depression among college students. Here are the facts, just the facts:
One out of every five young people and one out of ever four college students or adults suffers from some form of diagnosable mental illness.
About 19 precent of young people contemplate or attempt suicide each year.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people ages 15-24, and the second leading cause of death in college students ages 20-24.
Over 66 percent of young people with a substance use disorder have a co-occurring mental health problem.
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“Teens diagnosed with depression are five times more likely to attempt suicide than adults”.
-But many studies show that Teens with depression, even severe depression, are far less likely to be diagnosed and treated than adults with depression. Therefore, this statistic is probably reflecting that the teens who are indeed diagnosed with depression are much worse off than adults diagnosed with depression. For example, many teens with depression may not be diagnosed UNTIL they attempt depression.
Under diagnosis is a HUGE problem.
As parents we have the ability and responsibility to do what we can to minimize depression in our kids. Maybe you have to live with depression in the first place to be able to see the potential for it in your kids. We just took our 21 year old daughter to University – 3 hours away from home. It will be her 3rd year but her first year away. She is transferring from a local University partnership program to the full University campus. I kept her home for the 1st two years because I knew that too much change at once would be too overwhelming for her.
What I don’t understand about our society is that we take our children who, at the age of 16, are just now considered responsible enough to drive a car – but not old enough to leagally drink or smoke, rip them away from home and throw all the responsibility of being an adult on them. Not only do we place them in a new city – often it is a different state or province. Then they have to learn what University or College is all about – heavy demands in school work, they also now have to make new friends, sometimes get a job, pay for many of their own bills, learn how to not bow to peer preasures and be content that their family is no where near to support them. Is it really a surprise that these kids are becoming depressed?
Even with the gradual progression that my daughter took- she is having a really difficult time. She does not like change to begin with – even as a toddler she took a painfully long time to adjust to new situations. The transition this weekend of moving her took two full days of my time. Taking her around her new campus, getting her student card, taking her grocery shopping and getting her room ready so that she was, not happy, but comfortable. Supporting her with the knowledge that I know she can do this, and yes, it is hard to be in a new place but this is part of growing up. I made sure that I was there for her – her mental health is vitally important to me – I don’t want her suffering the way I have. It is important that we are all there for our kids. This is not a drop-and-run-the-other-direction once they go to school. They are still kids with little life experience and we are expecting them to become adults virtually overnight with little preparation for life. It is important to teach our kids how to cook for themselves, shop for food, manage their money, do their laundry etc… so that it minimizes the stress of everything else. I am sure that I will be doing a lot of driving this fall and winter to be there for my daughter in support of her to help her transition into adulthood. Not every child needs this, but judging by the stats, there are more who do need the support than is being realized.
Most statements are only about 50% corect, depends where info comes from, PLEASE are young adults need more encouragement than that, think about it.
Sheila, that is 100%… I could’t agree more!
I couldn’t agree more. As a college student, I’m around people who suffer from depression everyday and they all have different reason why. It could be from homesickness, test, or even financial problems. In order to prevent college depression, it’s up to the student to seek help…