college essay on depression

327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples

When choosing a title about depression, you have to remain mindful since this is a sensitive subject. This is why our experts have listed 177 depression essay topics to help you get started.

🌧️ How to Write a Depression Essay: Do’s and Don’ts

🏆 unique titles about depression, 🥇 most interesting depression title ideas, 📌 good titles for depression essay, ✅ simple & easy depression essay titles, 🎓 interesting topics to write about depression, 📑 good research topics about depression.

• ❓ Research Questions for a Depression Essay

Depression is a disorder characterized by prolonged periods of sadness and loss of interest in life. The symptoms include irritability, insomnia, anxiety, and trouble concentrating. This disorder can produce physical problems, self-esteem issues, and general stress in a person’s life. Difficult life events and trauma are typical causes of depression. Want to find out more? Check out our compilation below.

A depression essay is an important assignment that will help you to explore the subject and its impact on people. Writing this type of paper may seem challenging at first, but there are some secrets that will make achieving a high grade much easier. Check below for a list of do’s and don’ts to get started!

DO select a narrow topic. Before starting writing, define the subject of the paper, and write down some possible titles. This will help you to focus your thoughts instead of offering generic information that can easily be found on Wikipedia. Consider writing about a particular population or about the consequences of depression. For example, a teenage depression essay could earn you excellent marks! If you find this step challenging, try searching for depression essay topics online. This will surely give you some inspiration.

DON’T copy from peers or other students. Today, tutors are usually aware of the power of the Internet and will check your paper for plagiarism. Hence, if you copy information from other depression essays, you could lose a lot of marks. You could search for depression essay titles or sample papers online, but avoid copying any details from these sources.

DO your research before starting. High-quality research is crucial when you write essays on mental health issues. There are plenty of online resources that could help you, including Google Scholar, PubMed, and others. To find relevant scientific articles, search for your primary and secondary topics of interest. Then filter results by relevance, publication date, and access type. This will help you to identify sources that you can view online and use to support your ideas.

DON’T rely on unverified sources. This is a crucial mistake many students make that usually results in failing the paper. Sources that are not academic, such as websites, blogs, and Wiki pages, may contain false or outdated information. Some exceptions are official publications and web pages of medical organizations, such as the CDC, APA, and the World Health Organization.

DO consider related health issues. Depression is often associated with other mental or physical health issues, so you should reflect on this in your paper. Some examples of problems related to depression are suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, and panic attack disorder. To show your in-depth understanding of the issue, you could write a depression and anxiety essay that shows the relationship between the two. Alternatively, you can devote one or two paragraphs to examining the prevalence of other mental health problems in people with depression.

DON’T include personal opinions and experiences unless required. A good essay on the subject of depression should be focused and objective. Hence, you should rely on research rather than on your understanding of the theme. For example, if you have to answer the question “What is depression?” look for scientific articles or official publications that contain the definition rather than trying to explain it in your own words.

DON’T forget about structure. The structure of your essay helps to present arguments or points logically, thus assisting the reader in making sense of the information. A good thing to do is to write a depression essay outline before you start the paper. You should list your key points supported by relevant depression quotes from academic publications. Follow the outline carefully to avoid gaps and inconsistencies.

Use these do’s and don’ts, and you will be able to write an excellent paper on depression! If you want to see more tips and tricks that will help you elevate your writing, look around our website!

• Understanding Teen Depression Impacts of depression on teenagers Depression is characterized by several effects; however, most of them impact negatively to the teens. For instance, a considerable percentage of teens use extra-curriculum activities such as sports and games, […]
• Report Writing About Depression There is concrete evidence that many people in Australia tend to believe that depression is the cause of all suicide deaths in the world, but this not true.
• Beck Depression Inventory, Its History and Benefits Therefore, the detection of depression at its early stage, the evaluation of the risks, and the definition of the level of depression are the main goals.
• Depression in the Lens of History and Humanities In terms of history, this paper analyzes the origin of depression and the progress made over the years in finding treatment and preventive mechanisms.
• Obesity Co-Occurring With Depression The assessment will identify the patient with the two conditions, address the existing literature on the issue, examine how patients are affected by organizational and governmental policies, and propose strategies to improve the patient experience.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Treating Depression CBT works on the principle that positive thoughts and behaviour heralds positive moods and this is something that can be learned; therefore, by learning to think and behave positively, someone may substitute negative thoughts with […]
• Depression and Grief in the “Ordinary People” Film At the end of the film, he is healed and ready to forgive his mother and stop blaming himself. I believe that the relationship between Conrad and his therapist, Dr.
• Depression: A Cognitive Perspective Therefore, the cause of depression on this line may be a real shortage of skills, accompanied by negative self-evaluation because the individual is more likely to see the negative aspects or the skills he lacks […]
• The Problem of Childhood Depression Thus, it is essential to explore the reasons for the disease and possible ways to treat depression in kids. In kids, the prevention of depression is fundamental to understanding the cause of the poor mood […]
• Emotional Wellness: The Issue of Depression Through Different Lenses As for the humanities lens, the increasing prevalence of depression causes the institution of religion to incorporate the issue into major confessions’ mindsets and messages.
• Social Networking and Depression The findings of the study confirmed that once an individual engages in social networking, his or her feeling of safety goes down and depression mood emerges meaning that a correlation between depression and social networking […]
• NICE Guidelines for Depression Management: Project Proposal This topic is of importance for VEGA because the center does not employ any specific depression management guidelines.
• PICO Analysis of Depression In other words, the causes of the given mental disorder can highly vary, and there is no sufficient evidence to point out a primary factor that triggers depression.
• Organizational Behaviour: Depression in the Workplace This paper will examine the impacts of depression on the employees’ work performance and attendance and look at how managers can deal with hidden depression in such employees. The particular factors that bring about such […]
• Case Study of Depression and Mental Pressure Alison believes that her illness is severe and taking a toll all the time, and the environment is worsening the condition.
• Teenage Depression: Psychology-Based Treatment This finding underlines the need to interrogate the issue of depression’s ontology and epistemology. Hence, there is the need to have an elaborate and comprehensive policy for addressing teenage depression.
• Depression, Grief, Loss in “Ordinary People” Film The coach is curious to know Conrad’s experiences at the hospital and the use of ECT. Towards the end of the film, Conrad reveals to the therapist that he feels guilty about his brother’s death.
• Anxiety and Depression Among College Students The central hypothesis for this study is that college students have a higher rate of anxiety and depression. Some of the materials to be used in the study will include pencils, papers, and tests.
• Loneliness and Depression During COVID-19 While the article discusses the prevalence of loneliness and depression among young people, I agree that young people may be more subject to mental health problems than other population groups, but I do not agree […]
• Postpartum Depression Analysis in “Yellow Wallpaper” In reality, postpartum depression is the disease that has to be treated with the help of specific medications and therapies that are appropriate for a patient.
• Using the Neuman Model in the Early Diagnosis of Depression In the history of the academic development of nursing theories, there are a variety of iconic figures who have made significant contributions to the evolution of the discipline: one of them is Betty Neuman.
• “What the Depression Did to People” by Edward Robb Ellis Nevertheless, the way the facts are grouped and delivered could be conducive to students’ ability to develop a clearer picture of the catastrophic downturn’s influences on the nation’s and the poor population’s mentalities.
• Biological and Social-Cognitive Perspectives on Depression The social-cognitive perspective states that the disorder’s development is influenced by the events in the patient’s life and their way of thinking.
• Depression Among University Students The greatest majority of the affected individuals in different universities will be unable to take good care of their bodies and living rooms.
• Depression and Melancholia Expressed by Hamlet The paper will not attempt and sketch the way the signs or symptoms of depression/melancholia play a part in the way Shakespeare’s period or culture concerning depression/melancholia, but in its place portrays the way particular […]
• Psychological Measures: The Beck Depression Inventory The BDI is used to evaluate levels of depression in patients and to observe the efficacy of other interventions such as antidepressants and electroconvulsive therapy.
• Depression in Older Adults The understanding and modification of the contributions of these factors is the ultimate goal of the clinicians who engage in the treatment of depression.
• Problem of the Depression in Teenagers Despite the lack of sufficient data on the variation of depression among young adults over the last 10 to 20 years in the US, from the literature review, the research identifies an increasing trend of […]
• Depression in the Elderly Depression in the elderly differs from depression in the young in a number of ways. Older people with depression are twice as likely to develop cardiac diseases, and the consequent increase in the risk of […]
• Depression Symptoms and Cognitive Behavior Therapy The tone of the article is informative and objective, throughout the text the authors maintain an academic and scientific mood. The structure of the article is well organized and easy to read.
• Proposal on Depression in Middle-Aged Women By understand the aspect of unhappiness among the young women; it will be easier for the healthcare institutions to formulate effective and appropriate approaches to reduce the menace in the society.
• Biological Psychology: Lesion Studies and Depression Detection The purpose of this article is to share the research findings and discussion on the new methodological developments of Lesion studies.
• Using AI to Diagnose and Treat Depression One of the main features of AI is the ability to machine learning, that is, to use data from past experiences to learn and modify algorithms in the future.
• Artificial Intelligence Bot for Depression By increasing the availability and accessibility of mental health services, these technologies may also contribute to the development of cognitive science practices in Malaysia.
• COVID-Related Depression: Lingering Signs of Depression The purpose of the article is to depict the research in a more approachable way, while the latter accentuates the importance of various factors and flaws of the results. While the former is more simplified, […]
• Depression and Anxiety Among African Americans Finally, it should be insightful to understand the attitudes of friends and family members, so 5 additional interviews will be conducted with Black and White persons not having the identified mental conditions. The selected mental […]
• Depression in Dialysis Patients: Treatment and Management If I were to conduct experimental research about the treatment and management of depression in dialysis patients, I would focus on finding the most effective and safe medication for the condition among adults.
• The Serotonin Theory of Depression by Moncrieff et al. The serotonin theory of depression is closely related to antidepressants since the advent of SSRIs played a significant role in the popularization of the theory.
• Avery’s Depression in “The Flick” Play by Baker The emotional and mental state of Avery, the only African-American character out of the three, is fairly obvious from the get-go when asked about why he is so depressed, the answer is: “Um.
• Depression: A Quantitative-Qualitative Analysis A decision tree can be used due to the nature of the research question or hypothesis in place, the measurement of the dependent or research variable, the number of groups or independent variable levels, and […]
• Depression Detection Tests Analysis The problem of the abundance of psychological tests leads to the need to compare multiple testing options for indicators of their purpose, features, and interpretations of the evaluation and validity.
• Nursing Care for Patients With COVID-19 & Depression The significance of the selected problem contributed to the emergence of numerous research works devoted to the issue. This approach to choosing individuals guaranteed the increased credibility of findings and provided the authors with the […]
• 16 Personality Factors Test for Depression Patient Pablos results, it is necessary to understand the interaction and pattern of the scores of the primary factors. A combination of high Apprehension and high Self-Reliance is a pattern describing a tendency to isolate oneself.
• Depression in a 30-Year-Old Female Client In the given case, it would be useful to identify the patterns in Alex’s relationships and reconsider her responses to her partner.
• Depression in Primary Care: Screening and Diagnosis The clinical topics for this research are the incidence of depression in young adults and how to diagnose this disorder early in the primary care setting using screening tools such as PHQ9.
• Major Depression and Cognitive Behavior Therapy Since the intervention had no significant effect on Lola, the paper will explore the physical health implication of anxiolytics and antidepressants in adolescents, including the teaching strategies that nurses can utilize on consumers to recognize […]
• Jungian Psychotherapy for Depression and Anxiety They work as a pizza delivery man in their spare time from scientific activities, and their parents also send them a small amount of money every month.S.migrated to New York not only to get an […]
• COVID-19 and Depression: The Impact of Nursing Care and Technology Nevertheless, combatting depression is a crucial step in posing positive achievements to recover from mental and physical wellness caused by COVID-19.
• Depression Disorder Intervention The researchers evaluated the socioemotional signs of mental illnesses in a sample of diagnostically referred adolescents with clinical depression required to undergo regular cognitive behavioral therapy in a medical setting.
• Financial Difficulties in Childhood and Adult Depression in Europe The authors found that the existence of closer ties between the catalyst of depression and the person suffering from depression leads to worse consequences.
• Activity During Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression Studies have shown that women’s mood and cardiorespiratory fitness improve when they engage in moderate-intensity physical activity in the weeks and months after giving birth to a child.
• Clinical Depression: Causes and Development Therefore, according to Aaron Beck, the causes and development of depression can be explained through the concepts of schema and negative cognitive triad.
• Aspects of Working With Depression It also contributes to the maintenance and rooting of a bad mood, as the patient has sad thoughts due to the fact that the usual does not cause satisfaction.
• Depression Among Nurses in COVID-19 Wards The findings are of great significance to researchers and governments and can indicate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among nurses working in COVID-19 wards in the North-East of England during the pandemic.
• Depression Associated With Sleep Disorders Y, Chang, C. Consequently, it directly affects the manifestation of obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and periodic limb movement disorder in people with depression.
• Depression in a 25-Year-Old Male Patient Moreover, a person in depression complains of the slowness in mental processes, notes the oppression of instincts, the loss of the instinct of self-preservation, and the lack of the ability to enjoy life.
• Aspects and Manifestation of Depression Although, symptoms of depression in young people, in contrast to older adults, are described by psychomotor agitation or lethargy, fatigue, and loss of energy.
• Complementary Therapy for Postpartum Depression in Primary Care Thus, the woman faced frustration and sadness, preventing her from taking good care of the child, and the lack of support led to the emergence of concerns similar to those in the past.
• Depression and Anxiety Clinical Case Many of the factors come from the background and life experiences of the patient. The client then had a chance to reflect on the results and think of the possible alternative thoughts.
• Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes and Depression Treatment The data synthesis demonstrates that carefully chosen depression and anxiety treatment is likely to result in better A1C outcomes for the patient on the condition that the treatment is regular and convenient for the patients.
• Technology to Fight Postpartum Depression in African American Women I would like to introduce the app “Peanut” the social network designed to help and unite women exclusively, as a technology aimed at fighting postpartum depression in African American Women.
• Complementary Therapy in Treatment of Depression Such practices lower the general level of anxiety and remove the high risks of manifestation of states of abulia, that is, clinical lack of will and acute depression.
• Social Determinants of Health and Depression Among African American Adults The article “Social Determinants of Health and Depression among African American Adults: A Scoping Review of Current Research” examines the current research on the relationship between social determinants of health and depression among African American […]
• Outcomes Exercise Has on Depression for People Between 45-55 Years According to the WHO, the rate of depression in the U.S.was 31. 5% as of October 2021, with the majority of the victims being adults aged between 45 and 55 years.
• The Postpartum Depression in Afro-Americans Policy The distribution of the funds is managed and administered on the state level. Minnesota and Maryland focused on passing the legislation regulating the adoption of Medicaid in 2013.
• Depression Among the Medicare Population in Maryland The statistics about the prevalence and comorbidity rates of depression are provided from the Medicare Chronic Conditions Dashboard and are portrayed in the table included in the paper.
• Depression as Public Health Population-Based Issue In regard to particular races and ethnicities, CDC provided the following breakdown of female breast cancer cases and deaths: White women: 128 new cases and 20 deaths per 100.
• Managing Mental Health Medications for Depression and its Ethical Contradiction The second objective is to discover ethical contradictions in such treatment for people of various cultures and how different people perceive the disorder and react to the medication.
• Aspects of Depression and Obesity In some cases, people with mild to severe depression choose not to seek professional care and instead try to overcome their depression with self-help or the support of family and friends.
• Antidepressant Treatment of Adolescent Depression At the same time, scientists evidenced that in the case of negative exposure to stress and depression, the human organism diminishes BDNF expression in the hippocampus.
• Online Peer Support Groups for Depression and Anxiety Disorder The main objective of peer support groups is connecting people with the same life experiences and challenges to share and support each other in healing and recovery.
• Depression in Adolescence and Treatment Approaches The age of adolescence, commonly referred to as children aged 10-19, is characterized by a variety of changes to one’s physical and mental health, as the child undergoes several stages of adjustment to the environment […]
• Emotional Encounter With a Patient With Major Depression Disorder I shared this idea with him and was trying to create the treatment plan, sharing some general thoughts on the issue.
• Childhood Depression in Sub-Saharan Africa According to Sterling et al, depression in early childhood places a significant load on individuals, relatives, and society by increasing hospitalization and fatality and negatively impacting the quality of life during periods of severe depression.
• Anxiety and Depression: The Case Study As he himself explained, he is not used to positive affirmation due to low self-esteem, and his family experiences also point to the fact that he was not comforted often as a child.
• Breastfeeding and Risk of Postpartum Depression The primary goal of the research conducted by Islam et al.was to analyze the correlation between exclusive breastfeeding and the risk of postpartum depression among new mothers.
• Nursing Intervention in Case of Severe Depression The patient was laid off from work and went through a divorce in the year. This led to a change in prescribed medications, and the patient was put on tricyclic anti-depressants.
• Screening for Depression in Acute Care The literature review provides EB analysis for the topic of depression to identify the need for an appropriate screening tool in addition to the PHQ-9 in the assessment evaluation process.
• Social Media Use and the Risk of Depression Thapa and Subedi explain that the reason for the development of depressive symptoms is the lack of face to face conversation and the development of perceived isolation. Is there a relationship between social media use […]
• Depression in the Field of a Healthcare Administrator According to Davey and Harrison, the most challenging part of healthcare administration in terms of depression is the presence of distorted views, shaped by patients’ thoughts.
• The Treatment of Adolescents With Depression While treating a teenager with depression, it is important to maintain the link between the cause of the mental illness’ progression and the treatment.
• Depression in the Black Community The speaker said that her counselor was culturally sensitive, which presumes that regardless of the race one belongs to, a specialist must value their background.
• Depression Screening in the Acute Setting Hence, it is possible to develop a policy recommending the use of the PHQ-9, such as the EBDST, in the acute setting.
• Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Neurobiology and Applications It is known that a violation of the functions of the serotonergic pathways leads to various mental deviations, the most typical of which is clinical depression.
• Treating Obesity Co-Occurring With Depression In most cases, the efficiency of obesity treatment is relatively low and commonly leads to the appearance of a comorbid mental health disorder depression.
• Treadmill Exercise Ameliorates Social Isolation-Induced Depression The groups included: the social isolation group, the control group, and the exercise and social isolation and exercise group. In the treadmill exercise protocol, the rat pups ran on the treadmill once a day for […]
• Depression and Anxiety Among Chronic Pain Patients The researchers used The Depression Module of the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale to interview participants, evaluate their answers, and conduct the study.
• The Difference Between Art Deco and Depression Modern Design By and whole, Art Deco and Depression differ in their characteristics and their meanings as they bring unlike messages to the viewers.
• Postpartum Depression in African American Women As far as African American women are concerned, the issue becomes even more complex due to several reasons: the stigma associated with the mental health of African American women and the mental health complications that […]
• The Depression Construct and Instrument Analysis For the therapist, this scaling allows to assess the general picture of the patient’s psychological state and obtain a result that is suitable for measurement.
• The Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on Depression in Adults Introduction It is hard to disagree that there is a vast number of mental disorders that prevent people from leading their normal lives and are quite challenging to treat. One such psychological condition is depression (Li et al., 2020). Since there is a social stigma of depression, and some of its symptoms are similar to […]
• Stress and Depression Among Nursing Students The study aims to determine how different the manifestations of stress and depression are among American nursing students compared to students of other disciplines and what supports nursing students in continuing their education.
• Depression in Diabetes Patients The presence of depression concomitant to diabetes mellitus prevents the adaptation of the patient and negatively affects the course of the underlying disease.
• Depression among Homosexual Males The literature used for the research on the paper aims to overview depression among homosexual males and describe the role of the nurse and practices based on the Recovery Model throughout the depression.
• Economic Inequality During COVID-19: Correlation With Depression and Addiction Thus, during the pandemic, people with lower incomes experienced depression and increased their addictive behaviors to cope with the stress of COVID-19.
• Depression in the Black and Minority Ethnic Groups The third sector of the economy includes all non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary, philanthropic, and charitable organizations and social enterprises specializing in various types of activities, which did not find a place in either the public or […]
• A Description on the Topic Screening Depression If there is the implementation of evidence-based care, a reduction in the proportion of disability for patients with depression would be expected. A proposal was written describing the need for screening depression patients of nearly […]
• “Disclosure of Symptoms of Postnatal Depression, …” by Carolyn Chew-Graham Critique In light of hypothesizing the research question, the researchers suggest that health practitioners have the ability to create a conducive environment for the disclosure of information.
• Depression – Psychotherapeutic Treatment Taking into account the fact that the specialist is not able to prescribe the medicine or a sort of treatment if he/she is not sure in the positive effect it might have on the health […]
• Depression as a Major Health Issue The purpose of the study was to examine the implications of cognitive behavior approaches for depression in old women receiving health care in different facilities.
• Effective Ways to Address Anxiety and Depression Looking deep into the roots of the problem will provide a vast and detailed vision of it, and will help to develop ways to enhance the disorders.
• Einstepam: The Treatment of Depression The treatment of depression has greatly revolutionized since the development of tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors in the 1950s. In the brain, it inhibits the NMDA receptors and isoforms of NOS.
• The Potential of Psilocybin in Treating Depression First of all, it is essential to understand the general effects of psilocybin on the brain that are present in the current literature.
• Depression Among High School Students The major problem surrounding depression among adolescents is that they are rarely diagnosed in time and therefore do not receive treatment they need.
• Depression: Diagnostics, Prevention and Treatment Constant communication with the patient and their relatives, purposeful questioning of the patient, special scales and tests, active observation of the patient’s appearance and behavior are the steps in the nursing diagnosis of depression.
• Depression and Anxiety Intervention Plan John’s Wort to intervene for her condition together with the prescribed anti-depressant drugs, I would advise and educate her on the drug-to-drug relations, and the various complications brought about by combining St. Conducting proper patient […]
• Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Therapy On the other hand, behavioral therapy relies on the assumption that “both abnormal behavior and normal behavior are learned”. The two approaches are thus highly complementary, as while humanistic therapy aims at perceiving and resolving […]
• The Use of Psychedelic Drugs in Treating Depression This study aims to establish whether depressive patients can significantly benefit from psilocybin without substantial side effects like in the case of other psychedelic drugs.
• Postpartum Depression Among the Low-Income U.S. Mothers Mothers who take part in the programs develop skills and knowledge to use the existing social entities to ensure that they protect themselves from the undesirable consequences associated with the PPD and other related psychological […]
• The Beck Depression Contrast (BDI) The second difference between the two modes of the BDI is in the methodology of conducting the survey. This is where the interviewer first gets the history of the patient to try and get the […]
• Depression: Description, Symptoms and Diagnosis, Prognosis and Treatment A diagnosis is made in situations where the symptoms persist for at least two weeks and lead to a change in the individual’s level of functioning.
• Psychedelic Drugs and Their Effects on Anxiety and Depression The participants must also be willing to remain in the study for the duration of the experiments and consent to the drugs’ use.
• VEGA Medical Center: The Quality of Depression Management This presentation is going to provide an overview of a project dedicated to the implementation of NICE guidelines at the VEGA Medical Center.
• Anxiety and Depression in Hispanic Youth in Monmouth County Therefore, the Health Project in Monmouth County will help Hispanic children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 to cope with anxiety and depression through behavioral therapy.
• Anxiety Disorders and Depression In her case, anxiety made her feel that she needed to do more, and everything needed to be perfect. She noted that the background of her depression and anxiety disorders was her family.
• Clinical Case Report: Depression It is possible to assume that being in close contact with a person who has depression also increases the probability of experiencing its symptoms.
• Interventions for Treating Depression after Stroke Inherently, the link between depression and stroke can be analyzed on the basis of post-stroke depression that is identified as the major neuropsychiatric corollary of stroke.
• Depression: The Implications and Challenges in Managing the Illness At home, these people lack interest in their family and are not be able to enjoy the shared activities and company of the family.
• Expression Symptoms of Depression A major finding of the critique is that although the research method and design are appropriate to this type of study, the results may be speculative in their validity and reliability as the researchers used […]
• Researching Postnatal Depression Health professionals suggest that the fluctuations in the level of hormones cause changes in the chemical composition of the brain. The researcher has stated that the sample was selected from the general practitioners and health […]
• The Older Women With Depression Living in Long-Term Care The researchers used the probability-sampling method to select the institutions that were included in the study. The health care professionals working in the nursing homes were interviewed to ascertain the diagnosis of depression as well […]
• Medical Evaluation: 82-Year-Old Patient With Depression Her extreme level of weakness unfolded when the patient admitted that she lacked the strength to stand on her feet and to head back to her sleeping bed on a disastrous night.Mrs.
• Depression in Adults: Community Health Needs The challenge of depression in the elderly is the recognition of signs and symptoms or the frequent underreporting of the symptoms of depression in adults over the age of 65.
• The Discussion about Depression in Older Patients Depression is often identified as the most prevalent psychiatric disorder in the elderly and is usually determined by symptoms that belong to somatic, affective, and cognitive categories.
• Depression in Older People in Australia Although a good number of depressed elderly patients aspire to play an active role in the treatment decision-making process, some prefer to delegate this role to their doctors.
• In-Vitro Fertilization and Postpartum Depression The research was conducted through based on professional information sources and statistical data collected from the research study used to further validate the evidence and outcome of this study.
• Depression: Screening and Diagnosis What he tries to do is to live a day and observe the changes that occur around. What do you do to change your attitude to life?
• Depression in Australia. Evaluation of Different Factors In attempts to identify the biological causes of depression, the researchers focus on the analysis of brain functioning, chemical mediators, their correlations with the neurologic centers in the brain, and impact on the limbic system […]
• Mental Health Paper: Depression The prevalence of mental health conditions has been the subject of many studies, with most of these highlighting the increase in these illnesses.
• The Two Hit Model of Cytokine-Induced-Depression The association between IL-6 polymorphism and reduced risk of depressive symptoms confirms the role of the inflammatory response system in the pathophysiology of IFN-alpha-induced depression.
• Ante-Partum & Postpartum Exposure to Maternal Depression The researchers engaged in the research work on this particular study topic by approaching it on the basis of maternal behavior and circumstances, as they connect to depressive conditions in their own lives and the […]
• Depression in Australia, How Treat This Disorder According to The World Health Organization, depression is defined as a disorder in the mental health system that is presented with feelings of guiltiness, low concentration, and a decrease in the need for sleep.
• Steroid Use and Teen Depression In this manner, the researcher will be in a position to determine which of the two indicators is strongest, and then later, the indicators can be narrowed down to the most basic and relevant.
• Depression Among Minority Groups Mental disorders are among the major problems facing the health sector in America and across the world in the contemporary society.
• Aspects and Definition of Depression: Psychiatry This is the personal counseling of a patient with the doctor, and it is one of the very best processes. In the case of a physician dealing with a mental patient, the most preferable way […]
• Dual Illness – Depression and Alcohol Abuse The intention of the research paper is to assess if indeed there is an association between alcoholism as manifested by Jackson, and a case of depression.
• Depression and Paranoid Personality Disorder Bainbridge include: The analysis of paranoia and anxiety caused by substance abuse reveals that the diagnosis can be correct based on the symptoms, but the long-lasting nature of the symptoms rejects this diagnosis in favor […]
• Antidepressant Drugs for Depression or Dysthymia These are the newer form of antidepressant that are based on both the principle of serotonin reuptake prevention and norepinephrine action.
• The Relationship of Type 2 Diabetes and Depression Type 2 diabetes is generally recognized as an imbalance between insulin sensitivity and beta cell function We have chosen a rural area in Wisconsin where we can focus our study and select a group of […]
• Teenage Depression and Alcoholism There also has been a demonstrated connection between alcoholism and depression in all ages; as such, people engage in alcoholism as a method of self medication to dull the feelings of depression, hopelessness and lack […]
• “Relationships of Problematic Internet Use With Depression”: Study Strengths and Weaknesses One of the study strengths is that the subject selection process is excellently and well-designed, where the subjects represent the study sample, in general.
• Depression Treatment: Biopsychosocial Theory More to the point, the roles of nurses, an interprofessional team, and the patient’s family will be examined regarding the improvement of Majorie’s health condition.
• Postpartum Depression and Its Impact on Infants The goal of this research was “to investigate the prevalence of maternal depressive symptoms at 5 and 9 months postpartum in a low-income and predominantly Hispanic sample, and evaluate the impact on infant weight gain, […]
• Postpartum Depression: Statistics and Methods of Diagnosis The incorporation of the screening tools into the existing electronic medical support system has proved to lead to positive outcomes for both mothers and children.
• Comorbidity of Depression and Pain It is also known that dysregulation of 5-HT receptors in the brain is directly related to the development of depression and the regulation of the effects of substance P, glutamate, GABA and other pain mediators. […]
• Hallucinations and Geriatric Depression Intervention Sandy has asserted further that the cleaners at the residence have been giving him the wrong medication since they are conspiring to end his life with the FBI.Mr.
• Changes in Approaches to the Treatment of Depression Over the Past Decade In spite of the fact that over the past decade many approaches to the treatment of depression remained the same, a lot of new methods appeared and replaced some old ones due to the development […]
• Management of Treatment-Resistant Depression The significance of the problem, the project’s aims, the impact that the project may have on the nursing practice, and the coverage of this condition are the primary focuses of this paper.
• Depression and Anxiety in Dialysis Patients However, the study indicates the lack of research behind the connection of depression and cognitive impairment, which is a significant limitation to the conclusive statement.
• Adolescent Grief and Depression In looking for an activity that may help him or her keep away from the pain he or she is experiencing, the victim may decide to engage in sexual activities. Later, the adolescent is also […]
• Suicide and Depression in Students Students who belong to racial and ethnic minorities constitute the group of risk connected with high depression and suicidal rates and it is the primary task of health teachers to reduce suicidal rates among all […]
• Depression Disorder: Key Factors Epidemiology refers to the study of the distribution and determinants of health related events in specific populations and its applications to health problems.
• Depression Effects of School Children However the present difficulties that he is going through being a 16 year old; may be associated to a possible cause of Down syndrome complications, or the feelings and behavioral deficiency he associates to the […]
• Depression, Hallucination, and Suicide: Mental Cases How they handle the process determines the kind of aftermath they will experience for instance it can take the route of hallucinations which is treatable or suicide which is irreversible thus how each case is […]
• Depression, Its Perspective and Management Therefore this paper seeks to point out that stress is a major ingredient of depression; show the causes, symptoms, highlight how stresses is manifested in different kinds of people, show how to manage stress that […]
• Daily Living, Depression, and Social Support Activities of Elderly Turkish People Navigating the delicate and often convoluted maze of the current issues affecting the elderly has continued to present challenges to the professionals in the field especially with the realization that these issues and needs are […]
• The Theory of Personality Psychology During Depression The study concerns personality pathology, and the results of the treatment given to patients who are under depression, and how personalities may have adverse effects on the consequences of the cure.
• Depression and the Media Other components of the cognitive triad of depression are the aspect of seeing the environment as overwhelming and that one is too small to make an impact and also seeing the future as bleak and […]
• Poor Body Image, Anxiety, and Depression: Women Who Undergo Breast Implants H02: There is no difference in overt attractiveness to, and frequency of intimacy initiated by, the husband or cohabitating partner of a breast implant patient both before and after the procedure.
• Reducing Anxiety and Depression With Exercise Regardless of the type of results achieved, it is recommendable for people undergoing mental problems like depression and anxiety to exercise regularly.
• Stress, Depression and Psychoneuroimmunology
• A Critical Evaluation of Major Depression
• Depression, Substance Abuse and Suicide in Elderly
• Adult Depression Sufferer’s and Withdrawal From Family and Friends
• Depression: Helping Students in the Classroom
• Major Depression: Treating Depression in the Context of Marital Discord
• Family Therapy for Treating Major Depression
• Adverse Childhood Experiences Cause Depression
• Depression and Alzheimer’s Disease
• Rumination, Perfectionism and Depression in Young People
• “Gender Differences in Depression” by Nolen-Hoeksema
• Anxiety and Depression Disorders
• Beck’s Cognitive Therapy Approach to Depression Treatment
• Cannabis Abuse Increases the Risk of Depression
• Depression: Risk Factors, Incidence, Preventive Measures & Prognostic Factors
• Depression Diagnostics Methods
• Concept Analysis of Loneliness, Depression, Self-esteem
• Teen Suicide and Depression
• Depression and Diabetes Association in Adults
• The Correlation Between Perfectionism and Depression
• Geriatric Dementia, Delirium, and Depression
• Dementia, Delirium, and Depression in Older Adults
• Dealing with Depression in the Workplace
• Depression in People With Alcohol Dependence
• Depression and Anxiety Due to School and Work-Related Stress
• Creating a Comprehensive Psychological Treatment Plan: Depression
• Experimental Psychology. Bouldering for Treating Depression
• Depression and Psychotherapy in Adolescence
• Postpartum Depression: Treatment and Therapy
• Atypical Depression Symptoms and Treatment
• Dementia, Delirium, and Depression in Frail Elders
• Depression & Patient Safety: Speak Up Program
• Mindfulness Meditation Therapy in Depression Cases
• A Review of Postpartum Depression and Continued Post Birth Support
• Psychodynamic Therapy for Depression
• Depression Screening in Primary Care for Adolescents
• Freud’s Depression: Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions
• Optimal Mental Health Approaches: Depression & Anxiety
• Depression as a Psychological Disorder
• Great Depression in “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty
• Depression in Adolescents and Interventions
• Bipolar Disorder: Reoccurring Hypomania & Depression
• Postpartum Depression: Understanding the Needs of Women
• Major Depression Treatment During Pregnancy
• Patients’ Depression and Practitioners’ Suggestions
• Traditional Symptoms of Depression
• Social Media Impact on Depression and Eating Disorder
• Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents
• Depression Studies and Online Research Sources
• Drug Abuse and Depression Treatment
• Depression Explanation in Psychological Theories
• Food Insecurity and Depression in Poor Families
• Peer Popularity and Depression Among Adolescents
• Alcohol Abuse, Depression and Human Trafficking
• Depression Assessment Using Intake Notes
• Depression in Adolescents and Cognitive Therapy
• Diagnosing Depression: Implementation and Evaluation Plan
• Beck Depression Inventory: Evaluation Plan
• Depression in Iranian Women and Health Policies
• Depression Patients and Psychiatrist’s Work
• Depression Patients’ Needs and Treatment Issues
• Suicide and Depression: Connection, Signs and Age
• Health Promotion: Depression Awareness in Teenagers
• Depression and Cancer in Caucasian Female Patient
• Depression in Patients with Comorbidity
• Depression After Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment
• Depression and Psychosis: 32-Year-Old Female Patient
• Postpartum Depression and Acute Depressive Symptoms
• Women with Heart Disease: Risk of Depression
• Postpartum Depression and Its Peculiarities
• Exercises as a Treatment for Depression
• Depression Treatment Changes in 2006-2017
• Depression in Elders: Social Factors
• Depression Among High School Students
• False Memories in Patients with Depression
• The Canadian Depression Causes
• Widowhood Effects on Men’s and Women’s Depression
• Teen Website: Fish Will Keep Depression Away
• Bipolar Expeditions: Mania and Depression
• Obesity and Major Depression Association
• Fast Food, Obesity, Depression, and Other Issues
• Depression in the Future Public Health
• Depression: Patients With a Difficult Psychological State
• Depression: Pathophysiology and Treatment
• Stress, Depression, and Responses to Them
• Beck Depression Inventory in Psychological Practice
• Supporting the Health Needs of Patients With Parkinson’s, Preeclampsia, and Postpartum Depression
• Depression and Its Causes in the Modern Society
• Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Application
• Yoga for Depression and Anxiety
• Sleep Disturbance, Depression, Anxiety Correlation
• Depression in Late Life: Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Postpartum Depression and Comorbid Disorders
• Arab-Americans’ Acculturation and Depression
• Relationship Between Depression and Sleep Disturbance
• Child’s Mental Health and Depression in Adulthood
• Parents’ Depression and Toddler Behaviors
• Managing Stress and Depression at Work Places – Psychology
• Job’ Stress and Depression
• Depression Measurements – Psychology
• Methodological Bias Associated with Sex Depression
• Relationship Between Sleep and Depression in Adolescence
• The Effects of Depression on Physical Activity
• Psychological Disorder: Depression
• Depression and Workplace Violence
• The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression, Anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress for Women After Spousal Emotional Abuse
• Depression Diagnosis and Theoretical Models
• The Impact of Exercise on Women Who Suffer From Depression
• Evolutionary Psychology: Depression
• Effect of Social Media on Depression
• Poly-Substance Abuse in Adolescent Males With Depression
• How Does Peer Pressure Contribute to Adolescent Depression?
• How Do Genetic and Environmental Factors Contribute To The Expression of Depression?
• Depression and Cognitive Therapy
• Cognitive Treatment of Depression
• Book Review: “Breadwinning Daughters: Young Women Working in a Depression- Era City, 1929-1939” by Katrina Srigley
• Depression: A Critical Evaluation
• Psychopharmacological Treatment for Depression
• “Breadwinning Daughters: Young Working Women in a Depression-Era City” by Katrina Srigley
• Depression in female adolescents
• Interpersonal Communication Strategies Regarding Depression
• Depression: Law Enforcement Officers and Stress
• Social Influences on Behavior: Towards Understanding Depression and Alcoholism Based on Social Situations
• Depression Experiences in Law Enforcement
• Childhood Depression & Bi-Polar Disorder
• Depression Psychological Evaluation
• Concept of Childhood Depression
• Correlation Between Multiple Pregnancies and Postpartum Depression or Psychosis
• Depression and Its Effects on Participants’ Performance in the Workplace
• Catatonic Depression: Etiology and Management
• The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) Measure
• Depression: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
• Depression Levels and Development
• Depression Treatment: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
• Concept of Depression Disorder
• Does Divorce Have a Greater Impact on Men than on Women in Terms of Depression?
• Oral versus Written Administration of the Geriatric Depression Scale

❓Research Questions for a Depression Essay

• Does Poverty Impact Depression in African American Adolescents and the Development of Suicidal Ideations?
• Does Neighborhood Violence Lead to Depression Among Caregivers of Children With Asthma?
• Does Parent Depression Correspond With Child Depression?
• How Depression Affects Our Lives?
• Does Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Have an Effect on Depression Levels in Elderly Women?
• How Can Overcome Depression Through 6 Lifestyle Changes?
• Does Maternal Depression Have a Negative Effect on Parent-Child Attachment?
• Can Providers’ Education About Postpartum Depression?
• Can Vacation Help With Depression?
• How Children Deal With Depression?
• Can Diet Help Stop Depression and Violence?
• Does Depression Assist Eating Disorders?
• Does Depression Lead to Suicide and Decreased Life Expectancy?
• Can Obesity Cause Depression?
• Can Exercise Increase Fitness and Reduce Weight in Patients With Depression?
• Does Fruit and Vegetable Consumption During Adolescence Predict Adult Depression?
• Does Depression Cause Cancer?
• Does Money Relieve Depression?
• Does the Average Person Experience Depression Throughout Their Life?
• Are Vaccines Cause Depression?
• Does Social Anxiety Lead to Depression?
• Does Stress Cause Depression?
• How Bipolar and Depression Are Linked?
• Does Postpartum Depression Affect Employment?
• Does Postpartum Depression Predict Emotional and Cognitive Difficulties in 11-Year-Olds?
• Does Regular Exercise Reduce Stress Levels, and Thus Reduce Symptoms of Depression?
• Does the Natural Light During Winters Really Create Depression?
• How Can Art Overcome Depression?
• How Anxiety and Depression Are Connected?
• Does Positive Psychology Ease Symptoms of Depression?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 24). 327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/depression-essay-examples/

"327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples." IvyPanda , 24 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/depression-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples'. 24 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples." February 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/depression-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples." February 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/depression-essay-examples/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "327 Depression Essay Titles & Examples." February 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/depression-essay-examples/.

• Mental Disorder Essay Topics
• ADHD Essay Ideas
• Anxiety Essay Topics
• Bipolar Disorder Research Ideas
• BPD Research Ideas
• Addiction Essay Topics
• Alcoholism Essay Titles
• Bullying Research Topics
• Conflict Research Topics
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Topics
• Disease Questions
• Burnout Questions
• Hyperactivity Disorder Research Ideas
• Insomnia Questions
• Eating Disorders Questions

Essays About Depression: Top 8 Examples Plus Prompts

Many people deal with mental health issues throughout their lives; if you are writing essays about depression, you can read essay examples to get started.

An occasional feeling of sadness is something that everyone experiences from time to time. Still, a persistent loss of interest, depressed mood, changes in energy levels, and sleeping problems can indicate mental illness. Thankfully, antidepressant medications, therapy, and other types of treatment can be largely helpful for people living with depression.

People suffering from depression or other mood disorders must work closely with a mental health professional to get the support they need to recover. While family members and other loved ones can help move forward after a depressive episode, it’s also important that people who have suffered from major depressive disorder work with a medical professional to get treatment for both the mental and physical problems that can accompany depression.

If you are writing an essay about depression, here are 8 essay examples to help you write an insightful essay. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

• 1. My Best Friend Saved Me When I Attempted Suicide, But I Didn’t Save Her by Drusilla Moorhouse
• 2. How can I complain? by James Blake
• 3. What it’s like living with depression: A personal essay by Nadine Dirks
• 4. I Have Depression, and I’m Proof that You Never Know the Battle Someone is Waging Inside by Jac Gochoco
• 5. Essay: How I Survived Depression by Cameron Stout
• 6. I Can’t Get Out of My Sweat Pants: An Essay on Depression by Marisa McPeck-Stringham
• 7. This is what depression feels like by Courtenay Harris Bond

8. Opening Up About My Struggle with Recurring Depression by Nora Super

1. what is depression, 2. how is depression diagnosed, 3. causes of depression, 4. different types of depression, 5. who is at risk of depression, 6. can social media cause depression, 7. can anyone experience depression, the final word on essays about depression, is depression common, what are the most effective treatments for depression, top 8 examples, 1.  my best friend saved me when i attempted suicide, but i didn’t save her  by drusilla moorhouse.

“Just three months earlier, I had been a patient in another medical facility: a mental hospital. My best friend, Denise, had killed herself on Christmas, and days after the funeral, I told my mom that I wanted to die. I couldn’t forgive myself for the role I’d played in Denise’s death: Not only did I fail to save her, but I’m fairly certain I gave her the idea.”

Moorhouse makes painstaking personal confessions throughout this essay on depression, taking the reader along on the roller coaster of ups and downs that come with suicide attempts, dealing with the death of a loved one, and the difficulty of making it through major depressive disorder.

2.  How can I complain?  by James Blake

“I wanted people to know how I felt, but I didn’t have the vocabulary to tell them. I have gone into a bit of detail here not to make anyone feel sorry for me but to show how a privileged, relatively rich-and-famous-enough-for-zero-pity white man could become depressed against all societal expectations and allowances. If I can be writing this, clearly it isn’t only oppression that causes depression; for me it was largely repression.”

Musician James Blake shares his experience with depression and talks about his struggles with trying to grow up while dealing with existential crises just as he began to hit the peak of his fame. Blake talks about how he experienced guilt and shame around the idea that he had it all on the outside—and so many people deal with issues that he felt were larger than his.

3.  What it’s like living with depression: A personal essay   by Nadine Dirks

“In my early adulthood, I started to feel withdrawn, down, unmotivated, and constantly sad. What initially seemed like an off-day turned into weeks of painful feelings that seemed they would never let up. It was difficult to enjoy life with other people my age. Depression made typical, everyday tasks—like brushing my teeth—seem monumental. It felt like an invisible chain, keeping me in bed.”

Dirks shares her experience with depression and the struggle she faced to find treatment for mental health issues as a Black woman. Dirks discusses how even though she knew something about her mental health wasn’t quite right, she still struggled to get the diagnosis she needed to move forward and receive proper medical and psychological care.

4.  I Have Depression, and I’m Proof that You Never Know the Battle Someone is Waging Inside  by Jac Gochoco

“A few years later, at the age of 20, my smile had fallen, and I had given up. The thought of waking up the next morning was too much for me to handle. I was no longer anxious or sad; instead, I felt numb, and that’s when things took a turn for the worse. I called my dad, who lived across the country, and for the first time in my life, I told him everything. It was too late, though. I was not calling for help. I was calling to say goodbye.”

Gochoco describes the war that so many people with depression go through—trying to put on a brave face and a positive public persona while battling demons on the inside. The Olympic weightlifting coach and yoga instructor now work to share the importance of mental health with others.

5.  Essay: How I Survived Depression   by Cameron Stout

“In 1993, I saw a psychiatrist who prescribed an antidepressant. Within two months, the medication slowly gained traction. As the gray sludge of sadness and apathy washed away, I emerged from a spiral of impending tragedy. I helped raise two wonderful children, built a successful securities-litigation practice, and became an accomplished cyclist. I began to take my mental wellness for granted. “

Princeton alum Cameron Stout shared his experience with depression with his fellow Tigers in Princeton’s alumni magazine, proving that even the most brilliant and successful among us can be rendered powerless by a chemical imbalance. Stout shares his experience with treatment and how working with mental health professionals helped him to come out on the other side of depression.

6.  I Can’t Get Out of My Sweat Pants: An Essay on Depression  by Marisa McPeck-Stringham

“Sometimes, when the depression got really bad in junior high, I would come straight home from school and change into my pajamas. My dad caught on, and he said something to me at dinner time about being in my pajamas several days in a row way before bedtime. I learned it was better not to change into my pajamas until bedtime. People who are depressed like to hide their problematic behaviors because they are so ashamed of the way they feel. I was very ashamed and yet I didn’t have the words or life experience to voice what I was going through.”

McPeck-Stringham discusses her experience with depression and an eating disorder at a young age; both brought on by struggles to adjust to major life changes. The author experienced depression again in her adult life, and thankfully, she was able to fight through the illness using tried-and-true methods until she regained her mental health.

7.  This is what depression feels like  by Courtenay Harris Bond

“The smallest tasks seem insurmountable: paying a cell phone bill, lining up a household repair. Sometimes just taking a shower or arranging a play date feels like more than I can manage. My children’s squabbles make me want to scratch the walls. I want to claw out of my own skin. I feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is a solitary candle about to blow out at any moment. At the same time, I feel like the pain will never end.”

Bond does an excellent job of helping readers understand just how difficult depression can be, even for people who have never been through the difficulty of mental illness. Bond states that no matter what people believe the cause to be—chemical imbalance, childhood issues, a combination of the two—depression can make it nearly impossible to function.

“Once again, I spiraled downward. I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t work. I had thoughts of harming myself. This time, my husband urged me to start ECT much sooner in the cycle, and once again, it worked. Within a matter of weeks I was back at work, pretending nothing had happened. I kept pushing myself harder to show everyone that I was “normal.” I thought I had a pattern: I would function at a high level for many years, and then my depression would be triggered by a significant event. I thought I’d be healthy for another ten years.”

Super shares her experience with electroconvulsive therapy and how her depression recurred with a major life event despite several years of solid mental health. Thankfully, Super was able to recognize her symptoms and get help sooner rather than later.

7 Writing Prompts on Essays About Depression

When writing essays on depression, it can be challenging to think of essay ideas and questions. Here are six essay topics about depression that you can use in your essay.

Depression can be difficult to define and understand. Discuss the definition of depression, and delve into the signs, symptoms, and possible causes of this mental illness. Depression can result from trauma or personal circumstances, but it can also be a health condition due to genetics. In your essay, look at how depression can be spotted and how it can affect your day-to-day life. 

Depression diagnosis can be complicated; this essay topic will be interesting as you can look at the different aspects considered in a diagnosis. While a certain lab test can be conducted, depression can also be diagnosed by a psychiatrist. Research the different ways depression can be diagnosed and discuss the benefits of receiving a diagnosis in this essay.

There are many possible causes of depression; this essay discusses how depression can occur. Possible causes of depression can include trauma, grief, anxiety disorders, and some physical health conditions. Look at each cause and discuss how they can manifest as depression.

There are many different types of depression. This essay topic will investigate each type of depression and its symptoms and causes. Depression symptoms can vary in severity, depending on what is causing it. For example, depression can be linked to medical conditions such as bipolar disorder. This is a different type of depression than depression caused by grief. Discuss the details of the different types of depression and draw comparisons and similarities between them.

Certain genetic traits, socio-economic circumstances, or age can make people more prone to experiencing symptoms of depression. Depression is becoming more and more common amongst young adults and teenagers. Discuss the different groups at risk of experiencing depression and how their circumstances contribute to this risk.

Social media poses many challenges to today’s youth, such as unrealistic beauty standards, cyber-bullying, and only seeing the “highlights” of someone’s life. Can social media cause depression in teens? Delve into the negative impacts of social media when writing this essay. You could compare the positive and negative sides of social media and discuss whether social media causes mental health issues amongst young adults and teenagers.

This essay question poses the question, “can anyone experience depression?” Although those in lower-income households may be prone to experiencing depression, can the rich and famous also experience depression? This essay discusses whether the privileged and wealthy can experience their possible causes. This is a great argumentative essay topic, discuss both sides of this question and draw a conclusion with your final thoughts.

When writing about depression, it is important to study examples of essays to make a compelling essay. You can also use your own research by conducting interviews or pulling information from other sources. As this is a sensitive topic, it is important to approach it with care; you can also write about your own experiences with mental health issues.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

FAQs On Essays About Depression

According to the World Health Organization, about 5% of people under 60 live with depression. The rate is slightly higher—around 6%—for people over 60. Depression can strike at any age, and it’s important that people who are experiencing symptoms of depression receive treatment, no matter their age. 

Suppose you’re living with depression or are experiencing some of the symptoms of depression. In that case, it’s important to work closely with your doctor or another healthcare professional to develop a treatment plan that works for you. A combination of antidepressant medication and cognitive behavioral therapy is a good fit for many people, but this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone who suffers from depression. Be sure to check in with your doctor regularly to ensure that you’re making progress toward improving your mental health.

If you’re still stuck, check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

Amanda has an M.S.Ed degree from the University of Pennsylvania in School and Mental Health Counseling and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. She has experience writing magazine articles, newspaper articles, SEO-friendly web copy, and blog posts.

View all posts

Depression: Should I Talk about My Mental Illness in My Application?

Written by Mary Sue Youn on September 2nd, 2017

• college admissions advice ,
• college applications ,
• First of all, know that you are not alone. According to recent studies by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health anxiety and depression are the most common mental illnesses seen by college counseling centers. In fact, there has been a 30% increase in counseling center utilization on campus over the last five years. Please know that many students struggle with similar issues and colleges are accustomed to these inquiries.
• Don’t be afraid to talk about your struggles in your application. Students dealing with mental illness in high school have often demonstrated tremendous fortitude in overcoming their challenges and carrying on with their schooling. However, frequent absences or substantial dips in grades are noticed during an application review. As an admissions officer, I strongly preferred to hear the reasons behind these anomalies directly from the student, rather than their teacher or guidance counselor. In fact, our counseling center showed us that students who could openly talk about their mental illness and advocate for themselves and what they needed were much more likely to have positive outcomes in the college setting. I particularly advise students to write about their depression if there was a significant change in grades or time away from school while undergoing treatment. Contrary to popular belief, mental illness was not seen in the admission office as a reason to deny the student, but provided necessary context for the admission reader about that student’s high school experience.
• Do realize that you are more than your mental illness—and your main essay should reflect that. The main personal statement of your application should be an expression of your unique personality and interests. Are you a scientist, a writer, an artist? Are you funny, do you love to debate, or are you a meticulous researcher? Your main essay should reflect the wonderful qualities that you bring to any college campus, not only your depression. A statement about your treatment for depression is usually most appropriate for the Additional Information section on the Common Application , or for a supplemental essay in a college’s own portion of the application. Keep the statement short (1-2 paragraphs at most), and focus on the coping skills you’ve developed from treatment that will serve you well in college.
• Be aware of campus resources before you head off to college officially. Ask questions about counseling centers when you visit campus, or give them a call if you are unable to visit. Many campuses provide individual or group therapy on campus, while others refer students to work with therapists local to the area. Even if you are not currently experiencing depressive symptoms, it is important to know what’s available should your depression reoccur during the stresses of college life. The National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) has a wonderful college guide resource to get you started .

amet, adipisicing elit sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt?

Follow these pre-application steps to help your student stay on track for admissions success., related resources.

Read | Posted on March 27th, 2024

A Deep Dive on Union College

Read | Posted on March 20th, 2024

Should I Attend Admitted Student Day; Listener Q&A

Read | Posted on March 13th, 2024

Standardized Tests; Choosing Your College; Financial Aid Appeals

Browse categories.

• Applying For Financial Aid
• Choosing The Right College
• College Admissions Consulting
• College Applications
• College Coach Mentionables: News & Events
• College Entrance Exams
• College Essays
• College Loan Advice
• College Visits
• Finding Scholarships
• How To Pay For College
• Meet a College Finance Expert
• Meet An Admissions Counselor
• Uncategorized

Interested?

Call 877-402-6224   or complete the form for information on getting your student started with one of our experts.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• World J Psychiatry
• v.12(7); 2022 Jul 19

Influencing factors, prediction and prevention of depression in college students: A literature review

Xin-qiao liu.

School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. nc.ude.ukp@uiloaiqnix

School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China

Wen-Jie Zhang

Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Wen-Juan Gao

Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

Corresponding author: Xin-Qiao Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Education, Tianjin University, No. 135 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, China. nc.ude.ukp@uiloaiqnix

The high prevalence of depression among college students has a strong negative impact on individual physical and mental health, academic development, and interpersonal communication. This paper reviewed the extant literature by identifying nonpathological factors related to college students' depression, investigating the methods of predicting depression, and exploring nonpharmaceutical interventions for college students' depression. The influencing factors of college students' depression mainly fell into four categories: biological factors, personality and psychological state, college experience, and lifestyle. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 has exacerbated the severity of depression among college students worldwide and poses grave challenges to the prevention and treatment of depression, given that the coronavirus has spread quickly with high infection rates, and the pandemic has changed the daily routines of college life. To predict and measure mental health, more advanced methods, such as machine algorithms and artificial intelligence, have emerged in recent years apart from the traditional commonly used psychological scales. Regarding nonpharmaceutical prevention measures, both general measures and professional measures for the prevention and treatment of college students' depression were examined in this study. Students who experience depressive disorders need family support and personalized interventions at college, which should also be supplemented by professional interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy and online therapy. Through this literature review, we insist that the technology of identification, prediction, and prevention of depression among college students based on big data platforms will be extensively used in the future. Higher education institutions should understand the potential risk factors related to college students' depression and make more accurate screening and prevention available with the help of advanced technologies.

Core Tip: This study reviewed the extant literature by identifying nonpathological factors related to college students' depression, investigating the methods of predicting depression, and exploring nonpharmaceutical interventions for depression among college students. The influencing factors can be categorized into students’ demographic characteristics, college experience, lifestyle, and social support. For the prediction of depression, methods such as machine algorithms and artificial intelligence have been employed together with the traditional psychological scales. This study summarizes general and professional measures that can be taken for the prevention and treatment of college students' depression.

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of depression among college students has gradually increased in recent years, even exceeding that of the general public, which has become a global phenomenon[ 1 ]. Mounting research has focused on the topic, and the consensus is that the high prevalence of depression among college students cannot be ignored. For instance, in Asia, a follow-up survey and analysis based on 1401 undergraduates in China over four consecutive years showed that approximately 20% to 40% of undergraduates suffered from depression, anxiety and stress to different degrees, and approximately 35% of them had higher depression levels than the normal population[ 2 ]. An online survey based on 7915 freshmen students at Hong Kong University in China showed that 21%, 41% and 27% of individuals had moderate or higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively, far exceeding the average in the general population[ 3 ]. The median prevalence rate for depression among 15859 college students in six ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) was 29.4%, and 7% to 8% of students committed suicide; despite the high prevalence of mental illness, their willingness to seek professional help was relatively low[ 4 ]. Among 642 college students in Saudi Arabia, the proportions of moderate depression, anxiety and stress were 53.6%, 65.7% and 34.3%, respectively[ 5 ]. In Africa, among 1206 Nigerian college students, 5.6% had mild depression, and 2.7% suffered severe depressive disorder[ 6 ]. In North America, 53% of 1455 American college students reported that they had experienced depression since the beginning of college, and 9% said they had considered suicide since the beginning of college[ 7 ]. Thirty percent of 7800 Canadian undergraduates reported that their psychological stress increased, and the degree of depression was significantly higher than that of the general population[ 8 ]. In Europe, more than one-third of college students from three higher education institutions in the United Kingdom suffered from long-term mental health diseases, the prevalence rate of which was higher than the average level of national surveys, and the scores of the eight dimensions of mental health, measured by the MOS 36-item short-form health survey, were all significantly lower than those of local peers aged 18 to 34[ 9 ]. In Oceania, 21.8% of 751 Australian college students reported depression, and their depression scores were higher than the standard scores of the general Australian population[ 10 ].

The global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 brought in additional pressure and challenges for the prevention and treatment of depression among college students. Many reports worldwide voiced that college students had a greater probability of struggling with higher levels of depression after the pandemic. The data show that after the outbreak of the pandemic, acute stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were widespread among Chinese college students, and the incidence rate was significantly higher than before[ 11 ]. The prevalence rates of moderate depression and suicide-related symptoms among 212 Japanese college students were 11.7% and 6.7%, respectively[ 12 ]. Among 2031 American college students, 48.14% suffered from moderate to severe depression, 38.48% experienced moderate to severe anxiety, 18.04% had suicidal thoughts, and 71.26% reported that their stress/anxiety levels increased during the pandemic[ 13 ]. More than a quarter of Swiss university students had depressive symptoms during the pandemic, which was much higher than that of the general population and higher than that before the pandemic[ 14 ].

The transition from high school to university is full of tension and adaptation. It is a critical period for the shift from late adolescence to adulthood or emerging adulthood, which is neither adolescence nor young adulthood but theoretically and empirically distinct from both periods[ 15 ]. Arnett stressed that this is a stage full of self-exploration, instability, possibility, self-focus, and something in between[ 16 ]. At this phase, individuals will face the challenges of identity and role transformation and more diversification and complexity from families and institutions. Specifically, compared with middle schools, universities put forward higher requirements for freshmen's independence and self-regulation, such as the independence of living in a new place, the autonomy of learning patterns, and the complexity of social networks. However, confronted with these challenges, college students entering the campus for the first time often wander between independence and dependence. On the one hand, they are eager to enjoy new freedoms; on the other hand, it is difficult to eliminate their attachment and economic dependence on their parents; thus, they are often in a state of "pseudo independence"[ 17 ].

In summary, compared with teenagers and adults, college students are the key group at significantly higher risk of poor mental health. A series of factors, including family, college, studies, and social interactions, are likely to induce college students' depression. However, few publications have reviewed the literature on risk factors for college students’ depression. Given that most studies examined individual risk factors based on samples from a certain country or region, this paper reviewed the extant literature related to college students' depression and aimed to systematically present the nonpathological factors, predictions and nonpharmaceutical interventions for college students' depression to provide a reference for stakeholders worldwide.

NONPATHOLOGICAL INFLUENCING FACTORS OF DEPRESSION

The related factors can be roughly divided into four categories: biological factors, personality and psychological state, college experience, and lifestyle. The literature review presented the specific risk factors under four categories in Table ​ Table1. 1 . Subsequently, this paper explained certain factors with controversial research conclusions.

Factors related to depression in college students

Some studies have asserted that the risk of depression in female college students is significantly higher than that in male students[ 24 , 26 , 40 , 41 ]. The possible mechanism lies in physiological differences between the sexes (such as genetic vulnerability, hormone, and cortisol levels), differences in self-concept, and different role expectations from society leading to different emotional responses and behavior patterns. Females are more likely to internalize their negative feelings, whereas males resort to externalizing behaviors such as smoking and alcoholism[ 42 - 44 ]. However, some analyses did not find significant sex differences[ 28 , 45 , 46 ]. Other studies have shown that men have a higher prevalence of depression[ 20 , 47 ]. This may be ascribed to their conservative attitudes toward mental health counseling and treatment under certain social expectations. For instance, women are more help-seeking than men and therefore tend to have more diagnoses and treatment. In particular, gregarious women are more likely to discuss their difficulties with others, such as family and friends, as a form of coping. Nevertheless, considering that societal expectations for men might be different, with those who express vulnerable emotions being regarded as weak, the depressive symptoms of men may manifest as anger and excessive indulgence in smoking and drinking, which are more acceptable masculine expressions in society[ 43 , 44 ].

Year of study

Most studies have found significant differences in the depression level of college students in different years of their education, although some found the difference to be insignificant[ 28 ]. Some research has suggested that undergraduates with lower grades suffer more from depression, which can be attributed to separation from relatives and friends, social adaptation, academic pressure, and increased investment in social activities. A survey of Chinese students showed that the highest scores for depression, anxiety and stress all appeared in the first three years of college, and students’ mental health status was relieved in the fourth year with the passage of time[ 48 ]. A survey of medical students in Saudi Arabia found that students' depression levels continued to rise from the first year of enrollment, reached maximum intensity in the third year, and then dropped significantly with graduation in the last year[ 22 ]. However, other studies found that compared with other undergraduates, senior students had a higher risk of depression. The graduation year is a critical period for individuals to further their studies or go into society, and students are faced with many new stressors, such as graduation pressure, pressure from grades and applications to other institutions, difficulties in future career planning and employment discrimination in the labor market[ 49 ]. Compared with undergraduates, postgraduates may be exposed to greater pressure in obtaining financial security, stable employment, getting married and other aspects of life, which results in a higher risk of depression[ 19 , 41 ].

The depression issues of college students can largely be attributed to their lifestyles. First, the lack of regular physical activities increases the risk of depression[ 11 , 14 ], particularly for individuals whose amount of weekly physical activity fails to meet the standards of the World Health Organization[ 20 ]. Second, substance abuse, such as excessive smoking, alcohol abuse[ 6 , 12 , 21 ], or alcohol intake[ 33 ], can cause depressive disorders, and it should be noted that their relationship might be bidirectional. Studies have shown that individuals with depression are more likely to drink obsessively to relieve their negative emotions due to their poor self-control, which will in turn trap them in a vicious cycle between excessive drinking and depressive disorders[ 32 ]. Third, unhealthy sleeping habits such as daytime sleepiness[ 20 , 34 ], poor sleep quality[ 21 ], and short[ 35 ] or long sleep duration[ 10 ] may lead to depressive symptoms. Fourth, unhealthy nutritional habits are also among the crucial factors that are strongly correlated with depression[ 36 ]. From the perspective of dietary structure and nutritional habits, individuals with depression often report excessive intake of high-fat snacks and margarine/butter/meat fat and inadequate intake of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein[ 30 ]. Overeating[ 14 ] and skipping breakfast[ 10 ], especially for males, are also related to depressive disorders.

Network usage

Relevant studies have indicated that depression in college students is associated with their time spent on the internet[ 50 , 51 ]. Those who suffer from internet addiction and dependence are more likely to struggle with depression[ 52 ], and phubbing (a portmanteau of the words “phone” and “snubbing”) has been proven to be a mediator of the relationship between depression and problematic internet use[ 53 ], mainly focusing on social networking and entertainment[ 54 ].

Social software

Some researchers believe that social software, as a complementary mode of providing social support, can provide more help for people with low social support, thus reducing the occurrence of depression[ 55 ]. However, there is increasing recognition that social networks, especially the excessive use of social media, are closely related to depression[ 56 - 60 ]. Regarding the possible contributing factors, first, individuals who frequently use social software are more likely to have a fear of missing out, and they are always worried that they will miss some important information if they do not refresh the social platform dynamics frequently. This persistent social anxiety will increase the risk of depression[ 61 ]. Second, college students who are addicted to social media are more likely to have a comparison mentality when checking the status updates of others on social network platforms, especially when they feel that others' lives are better than their own, which can result in symptoms of depression[ 62 ]. Third, it is quite impossible for those who struggle with depressive disorders to establish satisfactory interpersonal relationships in virtual space since they usually maintain poor relationships in the real world. The lack of expected support from social networks undoubtedly aggravates their depression[ 63 ].

In addition, because the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the depression of college students worldwide, we further analyzed the influencing factors of college students' depression against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, apart from the general factors mentioned above: (1) Given that COVID-19 is highly contagious and uncertain, the higher risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 is closely related to individuals’ level of depression. Research has indicated that individuals who live in high-risk areas for COVID-19, have close contact with the COVID-19 virus, or have acquaintances or relatives infected with COVID-19[ 19 , 41 ] often have a higher prevalence of depression; (2) Considering that the internet serves as the main channel for college students to obtain information about COVID-19, those who browse the internet for a short time will not suffer from too much anxiety because of the small amount of information they receive. Meanwhile, students surfing the internet for a long time will be able to obtain more accurate details about COVID-19, which can prevent misunderstanding relevant information. Nevertheless, individuals with shorter browsing times often have a higher risk for depression given that they may be easily misled by the rumors and have limited time to verify the authenticity of relevant information[ 64 ]; (3) Academic stress increases the degree of depression of college students with the closure of schools, the challenges of online courses and the risk of graduation delay[ 13 , 65 ]; (4) Financial pressures include the impact of the pandemic on family economic resources[ 49 ] and the increasing uncertainty of individuals about future employment[ 13 ]; (5) Environmental changes, home study, self-isolation, isolation from relatives and friends, decreased exercise frequency, uncertainty of school reopening, regular temperature measurement, wearing masks for a long time, cancellation of package deliveries and take-out supplies and other forced changes in daily study and living habits all increase the risk of depression among college students[ 13 , 49 ]; (6) There is less family support, social support and deteriorating family relations[ 65 ]; and (7) Social confidence wanes. Research has shown that the prevalence of depression also increases when individuals lack confidence in the government[ 66 ].

PREDICTING DEPRESSION

Traditional depression prediction methods are based on various self-rated psychological scales, such as the 21-item depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS). A growing body of research on the reliability and validity of the DASS-21 scale has been published from throughout the world (such as in Britain, Portugal, The Netherlands, Italy, the United States, and Nepal), all of which show that the DASS-21 is a mature tool that can accurately measure the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in adult clinical and nonclinical samples and identify and screen people at high risk of depression[ 67 - 70 ]. Similar to the DASS-21, the prediction reliability and validity of the SDS scale for depression have also been confirmed and recognized by relevant studies[ 71 - 73 ]. These are screening tools, and when elevated scores are detected, further evaluation is needed by a clinician. Moreover, the measurement often needs to rely on the patient's own active consultation and cooperation, which is costly, time-consuming, and inaccurate, and there is a risk of social stigma for patients. In recent years, with the progress of science and technology, a series of more advanced methods of depression risk prediction and identification, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, has emerged, which can deeply learn all types of social and behavioral characteristics of people with potential mental illness risk based on big data and then accurately simulate, identify and predict who they are. Typical methods include support vector machines, decision trees, naïve Bayes classifiers, K-nearest neighbor classifiers and logistic regression[ 74 ]. More specifically, support vector machines are applied to classify handwritten digits and organize cancer tissue samples using microarray expression data[ 75 , 76 ]. Decision trees serve as a hierarchical classifier, employing certain rules to divide the predictor space. The naïve Bayes classifier is based on Bayes’ theorem and is employed to predict class membership probabilities. K-nearest neighbor classifiers are instance-based learning classifiers that compare a new datapoint with the k nearest sample datapoints, regarding the class with the nearest neighbors to the new datapoint as the class of the datapoint. Logistic regression, as a probabilistic linear classifier, directly estimates class probabilities with the logit transform[ 74 ].

The gait feature analysis method based on machine learning has been developed as a supplementary tool to identify depression among college students. Relevant research found that the gait of depressed and nondepressed college students showed significant differences. The specific gait performance of depressed patients included reduced walking velocity, arm swing, vertical head movement and stride length, increased body sway and a slumped head posture. When the above series of features were applied to classifiers with different machine learning algorithms, the accuracy of depression screening and recognition reached 91.58%[ 77 ]. A study collected 121 campus behaviors of college students, including basic personal information, academic achievements, poverty subsidies, consumption habits, daily life, library behaviors, and eating habits, and found that 25 campus behaviors are related to depression, such as failing exams, having bad eating habits, increasing night activities, decreasing morning activities, and seldom participating in social activities (such as eating with friends). On this basis, a depression recognition method was developed by combining machine learning algorithms[ 78 ]. There is also research and development of a machine learning method to identify depression based on college students' smartphone and fitness tracker data ( e.g. , Bluetooth, calls, location, campus map, phone usage, steps, sleep), which extracts many features that can effectively identify depression, such as long-term inactivity and restless sleep at night; the recognition accuracy of this method for college students' depression can reach over 80%[ 79 ].

In addition, it is worth noting that social software has increasingly become a nonpathological risk factor for depression among college students. Addiction to social software is often more likely to induce depression, while college students at high risk of depression are more inclined to vent their negative emotions and relieve stress on various online social platforms. In this way, social network behavior analysis was developed based on machine learning as another effective way to identify and predict depression[ 80 , 81 ]. Through mining, emotion analysis and emotion recognition of personal user information data on social network platforms, we can capture the abnormal behavior patterns of people with depression, among which the most frequently used communication methods are text, emoticons, user log-in information and pictures. The selected research usually uses classic off-the-shelf classifiers to analyze the available information and combines words, such as National Research Council Canada (NRC) Word-Emoticon Association Lexicon, WordNet-Affect, Anew, and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count tool. It is challenging to analyze the combination of temporal information and different types of information[ 82 ]. For example, some studies have conducted text analysis on the Sina Weibo data of Chinese college students. First, the behavioral differences between depressed and nondepressed individuals in language style, emoji usage, number of Weibos, followers and so on were obtained. Then, a deep neural network was applied to feature extraction and dimension reduction for college students with depression, and input data suitable for the classifier were constructed. Finally, a deeply integrated support vector machine was introduced to classify the input data, and more stable and accurate depression identification was realized[ 83 ]. Some studies collected historical behavior data of American college students using Google search and YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that there were strong correlations between depression and the following online behavior changes: long use sessions (multiple comprehensive activities with short time intervals), more online activities in the middle of the night or even staying up late, and searching for more authentic and realistic topics related to work, money or death, which verifies the feasibility of building a machine learning model based on individual behavior signals to predict college students' depression[ 84 ].

Generally, machine learning has been widely used in a series of mental health risk predictions about college students' depression, stress[ 85 ] and suicidal behavior[ 86 , 87 ]. Big data brings many benefits to the prediction of psychological states by reducing the subjectivity of human judgment or human operations to a certain extent and relieving the concerns of patients about possible social stigma and discrimination. In other words, big data and machine learning result in no prejudice in predictions. Thus, confirming depression through data and behavioral performance may be the developing trend in identifying and predicting depression among college students and an even broader population in the future. However, issues such as data privacy and data protection are unavoidable. The government needs to set stricter privacy protection policies, while a more extensive collection of personal data needs to be confirmed and approved by the collectors.

NONPHARMACEUTICAL PREVENTION OF DEPRESSION

Both general and professional measures for the prevention and treatment of depression were explored in this study. The former emphasizes the importance of multi-subject participation in the prevention and treatment of depression among college students, while the latter focuses on measures with the theoretical support of professional disciplines such as psychology.

General intervention measures

The general interventions are summarized in Table ​ Table2 2 and can be coarsely categorized into support from family, interventions by colleges and universities, cultivation of personal lifestyles, and resilience therapy.

High level of family support

A high level of family support can be used as a buffer against the influence of a high-stress reaction to prevent the development of depression[ 91 ]. In a study of 62 patients who recovered from depression, a high level of perceived emotional support from their families indicated that family support, especially emotional support, was very important for the relief and even rehabilitation of depression[ 92 ]. However, it should be noted that family support and perfect family functioning depend more on objective characteristics related to family socioeconomic status, such as parents' level of education[ 93 ]. In addition, some studies have found that the role family support plays in the prevention and treatment of depression also depends on the levels of perceived stress reactivity of individuals. Specifically, family emotional support can significantly alleviate the symptoms of depression when the perceived stress reactivity is low, but when the individual shows a high level of the perceived stress response, the effect of family emotional support in preventing depression will be greatly reduced[ 94 ].

The intervention from colleges and universities

Prior literature has shown that the faculties, peers, and social clubs on campus can help alleviate the negative effects of online games on depression. Students may seek social support from their teachers, peers, or psychological counseling centers to prevent addiction to online video games that may lead to depressive disorders[ 38 ]. Therefore, colleges and universities should build mental health services involving faculty, students, and psychological counseling centers. In addition, some studies have indicated that the implementation of related courses and projects in universities, such as resilience programs (including goal-building, mindfulness, and resilience skills), might be effective in improving college students' mental health[ 95 ].

Cultivation of healthy lifestyles

Apart from external support from family and intervention by higher education institutions, the prevention of depression also needs to rely on the patient's own efforts. Studies have shown that healthy lifestyles, including proper physical exercise, healthy sleep and diet, and regular sun exposure, can help prevent or reduce the occurrence of depression in college students[ 96 ]. For instance, students with a consistent sleep schedule and sufficient sleep duration are less likely to suffer from depression. Meanwhile, regular sun exposure aids in the synthesis of vitamin D in the body, which is crucial to release fatigue and change the negative moods that individuals with mild or moderate depression may experience[ 46 ]. Proper physical activities are also important for stress and depression relief among college students[ 97 , 98 ]. Additionally, improving diet and overall nutrition is also an effective way to treat depression[ 99 ]. In particular, eating breakfast on time helps reduce the risk of depression[ 46 ]. Certain nutrients, including zinc, magnesium, B vitamins, and cooking fats, have also been proven to be associated with depressive symptoms[ 100 - 102 ]. Therefore, colleges and universities can help prevent the occurrence of depression in college students by providing a regular diet with an adequate intake of vitamins and nutrients[ 103 ].

Resilience therapy

Some research has shown that resilience therapy can help individuals maintain mental health in the face of negative emotions and stressful events, thereby reducing the occurrence of depression[ 104 ]. Others have also found that it can reduce depressive symptoms by modulating the effects of timing and sleep quality on depression[ 105 ].

Professional intervention measures

Cognitive behavioral therapy, which aims to change individual thoughts and behaviors, has been the most widely used treatment method for depression thus far[ 106 - 110 , 113 - 115 ]. Mindfulness intervention programs[ 111 ] based on cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectal behavior group therapy[ 112 ] can effectively alleviate the depressive symptoms of college students.

In recent years, a growing number of online technologies have been applied to the treatment of depression among college students thanks to the rapid development of internet technology and mobile terminal devices[ 116 - 120 ], and some of the technologies were even skillfully combined with cognitive behavioral therapy[ 121 , 122 ]. For example, there are many apps that incorporate elements of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. A study from Switzerland revealed that apps such as MoodKit, MoodMission and MoodPrismying can successfully deliver ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) based on cognitive behavioral therapy principles to users through smartphones, thereby improving their well-being and effectively reducing the symptoms of depression. The study also noted that EMI has been generally accepted by users of different ages, sex, educational backgrounds and occupations and is expected to provide scalable global mental health solutions[ 123 ]. Compared with behavioral cognitive therapy and online interventions, the efficacy of traditional educational/personalized feedback interventions in the past has been slightly inferior. Some projects have evaluated the effectiveness of mailing personalized standardized alcohol surveys for college students' depression prevention, but unfortunately, there is no obvious improvement[ 124 ].

LIMITATIONS

Limitations of this study include the following. First, this paper analyzed relevant literature written in English, but research in other languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, German, and Italian, was not included. Second, the paper is a narrative review of extensive studies including the influencing factors, prediction, and prevention of depression in college students. We did not undertake explicit methods such as systematic reviews, nor did we involve substantial clinical results and corroborate the evidence in prior literature such as retrospective reviews. The study merely presents studies in the pertinent field by summarizing their main conclusions, which cannot be directly applied to clinical treatment.

This paper reviewed the extant literature by identifying nonpathological factors related to depression among college students, investigating methods of predicting their depressive symptoms, and summarizing nonpharmaceutical interventions. The nonpathological related factors of college students' depression mainly fell into four categories: biological factors, personality and psychological state, college experience, and lifestyle. The outbreak of COVID-19 exacerbated the severity of depression among college students worldwide and posed grave challenges to the prevention and treatment of depression, given that the coronavirus spread quickly with high infection rates, changing the daily routines of college life and creating financial stress, academic stress, and long-term home isolation. Regarding the prediction of vulnerability to depression, machine algorithms and artificial intelligence based on big data have emerged in addition to the commonly used psychological scales. A series of big data, such as text, pictures, video and audio, based on individual social network behaviors was widely discussed and applied to identify and predict college students' depression. Regarding preventive measures, both general measures and professional interventions were discussed for the prevention and treatment of college students' depression, which required not only help from family, professionals, and institutions (cognitive behavioral therapy and online therapy) and society but also the individuals themselves through the cultivation of healthy habits.

Technology based on the internet and big data platforms will become more widely used in the future to identify, predict, and prevent depression among college students. Higher education institutions should clearly understand the potential risk factors related to college students' depression and employ advanced technology for more accurate screening and prevention. They should also work on increasing access to resources and clinical support considering the common difficulties in making appointments and long-term waits for psychological consultation.

Furthermore, this paper proposed two prospects for the future development of nonpharmaceutical interventions for college students' depression. First, the risk of stigma should be minimized. Many traditional precautionary measures are used to help students identify whether they suffer from depression, including e-mail, posters, campus activities, pamphlets, and first aid training courses about mental health. However, these measures may result in further concerns about the risk of stigmatization and psychological worries of students[ 125 ]. Therefore, in the future, we should avoid stigmatizing issues in the prevention of depression among college students and pay more attention to personalization and privacy in the development and application of precautionary measures. Second, the importance of general measures for the prevention and treatment of college students' depression should be combined with professional interventions such as cognitive intervention therapy and other evidence-based treatment. A meta-analysis showed that apart from cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based interventions, other measures, such as art, exercise, and peer support, are also effective in relieving depressive symptoms in college students[ 126 ].

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Han T for his contribution to the language editing of the first draft of this study.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Provenance and peer review: Invited article; Externally peer reviewed.

Peer-review model: Single blind

Peer-review started: February 27, 2022

First decision: April 18, 2022

Article in press: June 22, 2022

Specialty type: Psychiatry

Country/Territory of origin: China

Peer-review report’s scientific quality classification

Grade A (Excellent): 0

Grade B (Very good): B

Grade C (Good): C, C, C

Grade D (Fair): 0

Grade E (Poor): 0

P-Reviewer: Kaur M, United States; Radhakrishnan R, New Zealand; Rose AF, United States; Tanabe S, Japan S-Editor: Gao CC L-Editor: A P-Editor: Gao CC

Contributor Information

Xin-Qiao Liu, School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. nc.ude.ukp@uiloaiqnix .

Yu-Xin Guo, School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China.

Wen-Jie Zhang, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.

Wen-Juan Gao, Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.

• Companies & Schools

Should you discuss mental health issues in your college essay?

by Erica L. Meltzer | Oct 20, 2018 | Blog , College Essays | 6 comments

Image ©Nickshot, Adobe Stock

Note, January 2022: This post was written in 2018, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously, many things have changed since then, not least the amount of psychological pressure that many high school students have experienced. Clearly, some of the boundaries and expectations surrounding acceptable/advisable topics for admissions essays have shifted, and applicants undoubtedly have more leeway in discussing mental-health issues than they did in the past. That said, I would still caution against making this subject the exclusive focus of your essay(s). If it happens to be relevant—and it very well might be, given the events of the last couple of years— then you should focus on discussing it in a mature way that conveys qualities such as empathy and resilience, and that demonstrates your ability to reflect insightfully on what may have been very difficult situations.  

As regular readers of my blog may know, I periodically trawl the forums over at College Confidential to see what’s trending. Recently, I’ve noticed a concerning uptick in the number of students asking whether it’s appropriate for them to write about mental health issues, most frequently ADD and/or anxiety, in their college applications.

So the short answer: don’t do it.

The slightly longer version:

If you’re concerned about a drop in grades or an inconsistent transcript, talk to your guidance counselor. If these types of issues are addressed, the GC’s letter is the most appropriate place for them. If, for any reason, the GC is unable/unwilling to discuss them and the issues had a significant impact on your performance in school that unequivocally requires explanation, you can put a brief, matter of fact note in the “is there any additional information you’d like us to know?” section, but think very carefully about how you present it. Do not write your main essay about the issue.

The full version:

To understand why these topics should generally be avoided, you need to understand what information colleges are actually seeking to gain from the personal statement. Although it is technically a personal narrative, it is, in a sense, also a persuasive essay: its purpose is to convey what sets you apart from the thousands of others with equally good grades and scores, and to suggest whether you have qualities that make you more likely to thrive at university x than the other 10 or 15 or even 20 applicants clamoring for that spot.

Now, whether such thing can actually be determined from 650 words (with which some students receive significant help) is of course questionable; however, the bottom line is that, adcoms are looking for students who will be successful in college. Discussing one’s inability to focus or intense aversion to social situations does not exactly inspire confidence, even if a student insists those problems have been overcome. Leaving home, dealing with professors and roommates and more challenging classes… Those are all major stressors. There is a tacit understanding that of course some students will flame out, have breakdowns, etc., but adcoms are understandably hesitant to admit anyone who is already at a higher risk for those issues. You want them to be excited about the prospect of admitting you, not debate whether you’ll really be able to handle college. (In fact, I had multiple students with various issues who were not truly ready for college and who did flame out — colleges have good reason to take these things seriously.)

This concern goes beyond any particular student’s well-being: graduation rates get factored into rankings, and every student who doesn’t make it through drags that statistic just a little bit lower. If a student does develop serious problems while on campus, there are also potential legal/liability issues involved, and no school wants to deliberately court those.

Besides, if your grades are iffy, it is extremely difficult not to sound as if you are making excuses. You are much better off talking about an experience or interest that will make them look past the transcript and think, “Hey, I really like this kid.” And the reality is that if your grades are that iffy, you’re probably not a competitive candidate at super-selective colleges anyway. These schools are looking for applicants who are on the way to fulfilling their potential, not for ones who need to explain away chronic underachievement.

In addition, one thing applicants — and sometimes their parents — have difficulty wrapping their heads around is the sheer number of applications the average admissions officer has encountered. Situations that may seem extreme and dramatic to adolescents who have recently confronted them may in fact have already been experienced — and written about — by thousands of other applicants. A 17-year old may believe that describing their anxiety in morbid detail will make them seem complex and introspective, but more likely it will only come off as overwrought and trite.

I know that might sound harsh, but please remember that admissions officers are coming at this process with no pre-existing knowledge of you as a person, only a few minutes to spend on your essay, and hundreds of other applications to get through. They are also under intense pressure to ensure that the appropriate demographics targets are being met and all the various institutional constituencies (coaches, development office, orchestra conductor) are being satisfied. They’re not ogres, and they’ll try to give you the benefit of the doubt, but if yours is the fifth essay about overcoming anxiety they’ve seen in the last 48 hours, they will look at it and reflexively think, “oh, another one of these.” That is not a first impression you want to make.

Now, are there exceptions? Yes, of course, but they are rare. In all the time I did college admissions work, I had exactly one student successfully discuss anxiety in an essay. It was, however, introduced in the context of a family tragedy that had profoundly shaped the student’s life; given that background, the discussion seemed natural and matter of fact rather than overdramatized. Even so, I made the student take a good week to think about whether that topic was truly the one they wanted to write about.

Ultimately, of course, the decision is yours, and the choice depends on the larger story you want to tell as well as your ability as a writer, but these topics are so difficult to pull off well that you are best off avoiding them if you can (particularly if you don’t have access to someone with a lot of admissions experience who can review your essay). Find another topic/ experience that you enjoy writing about (and that others are likely to enjoy reading about); that presents you as someone interesting and thoughtful; and that suggest you are ready to thrive in college.

If you really are concerned about your ability to function in college, most schools have plenty of resources for you to take advantage of (academic support, counseling center, etc.). But those are things to investigate after you get admitted. Before that, don’t go out of your way to fly red flags where none are warranted.

Why is Dyslexia ok to mention on an essay, but overcoming selective mutism is not?

Dyslexia is a learning disability that lends itself to proof that it has been overcome through excellent scores in reading and writing. It’s not easy to overcome or cope with dyslexia so an essay showing how a student did it demonstrates their tenacity and resourcefulness. Grades and scores are proof that the dyslexia will not be a problem in college, while the essay can highlight the characteristics that led to the student’s success and which will serve them well in college.

I wrote about how my dog helped me overcome me ending my life/depression and moving to another school is that too common

Thanks for the tips and perspective. It seems like common sense to me as a parent and tutor, but now I have an “established author” to cite!

I want to write about how depression had change me. But my grades and statistics are all great. Is this okay to write? My bad mental health somehow didn’t manage to get to the others parts of my life.

Is it okay to write about how despite psychosis I could manage to get good grades?

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Yes, add me to your mailing list.

Sign up for the Question of the Day

Question of the Day

Complete SAT/ACT Grammar Rules

Complete GMAT Sentence Correction Rules

AP English Comp Terms, Condensed

10 Tips for Acing SAT Reading

Commas With Names and Titles, Simplified

Why You Won’t Go to Harvard on a National Merit Scholarship

Recent Posts

• “However” vs. “though”: similar, but not the same
• Statement regarding the recent website outage
• Digital SAT math timing, Common Core, and the “deep understanding” trap
• “SAT® Vocabulary: A New Approach” for the Digital SAT is now available!
• Reading & Writing Comparison: Paper-Based SAT vs. Digital SAT

Posts by Category

• ACT English/SAT Writing (35)
• ACT Essay (8)
• ACT Reading (22)
• College Admissions (44)
• College Essays (2)
• English Proficiency Exams (1)
• Financial Aid (2)
• General Tips (35)
• Grammar (SAT & ACT) (27)
• Issues in Education (69)
• Parents (13)
• Phonics (26)
• Questions (1)
• Reading (SAT & ACT) (20)
• Reading Wars (7)
• SAT Critical Reading (Old Test) (52)
• SAT Essay (13)
• SAT Grammar (Old Test) (30)
• SAT Reading (12)
• SAT vs. ACT (5)
• Students (10)
• Test Optional (1)
• The Digital SAT (12)
• The Mental Game (18)
• The New SAT (59)
• The Science of Reading (9)
• Time Management (7)
• Tutor Interviews (9)
• Tutoring (27)
• Tutors (16)
• Uncategorized (10)
• Vocabulary (17)

Favorite Links

Barry Garelick on Common Core Math

Cogito Zero Sum

Hannah Arendt on The Crisis in Education

Critical Thinking: Why is it So Hard to Teach?

A Don’s Life (Mary Beard’s Blog)

Educational Jargon Generator

EduBabble Bingo

English is Not Normal

Everybody is Stupid Except You

The Fluency Factory

Gary Saul Morson on Anna Karenina

How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math

Letter Against Learning Styles

Mercedes Schneider’s EduBlog

MIT Admissions Blog

Reflections on Liberal Education

The Revenge of K-12 Education

Seven Myths About Education

Silent StopWatch (for standardized tests)

The Usefulness of Brief Instruction in Reading Comprehension Strategies

What David Coleman Doesn’t Know About Literature

Why a Great Individual is Better than a Good Team

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Shravya Kakulamarri in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

What are you required to disclose in your application.

• Should You Include Mental Health History in Your Application?

How to Talk about Mental Health in College Applications

Taking care of your health in college.

Many students wonder if they should discuss mental health or disability in their college applications. Mental health history or a disability might be an integral part of who a student is, but that doesn’t necessarily make it relevant to a college application. Keep in mind that it is actually illegal for colleges to ask for these types of details about your life because it can be considered discrimination. So, colleges will never directly ask if you’ve had any sort of mental health issue or if you’ve ever had a disability. Based on this reason alone, you are not required to disclose mental or physical health concerns on your application. 

Disclosing your mental or physical health is strictly a matter of personal choice. If you leave out this information, it is not lying and 100% within your legal right to do so. 

Should You Include Mental Health History in Your Application? 

Before you choose whether to disclose your history of mental health or disability, you should think about the purpose of a college application. Everything that you put in your college application should contribute to an overall positive image of who you are as a student and member of the community. 

You usually don’t want to hide integral parts of who you are, but you also don’t want to be sharing challenges that are not going to strengthen your application. This is true not only for mental health or disabilities but also for academics, extracurriculars, and other experiences. Normally, students don’t bring up the time that they got a C or D in a class on their application. Everything that you include on your application should paint the most positive image of you possible. You always want to put your best foot forward and keep the focus on your strengths. 

You don’t want colleges to doubt your ability to succeed and perform well under pressure. If you mention any mental health concerns, they might use that as a way to question if you will do well at their school and be able to handle their rigorous course load. While colleges are supportive of their students’ mental health challenges and provide resources and services, you don’t want their first impression of you on your application to be something that makes them uncertain of your abilities. So, keep this in mind when deciding whether to disclose your mental health history. 

If you decide to include your mental health or disability history in your application , there are specific aspects of your experience that you should focus on. Rather than talking about the mental illness itself, focus more on the recovery and management aspects and what you have learned from the experience. 

Discuss things like how you have grown and the coping methods that you have cultivated due to the experience. These will give the admissions officer an idea of the types of strategies that you’ll likely use in college anytime that you encounter a stressful situation. 

Overall, if you choose to talk about mental health in your applications, focus on the learning and growth that you’ve gained because of it. 

Mental health is an important part of your well-being, and it’s essential to start good habits in high school . This way, you’ll be better prepared to cope when you face new challenges in college. You’ll likely be experiencing living on your own for the first time and have new responsibilities without the same support system that you had at home. It’s crucial to learn how to take care of your mental health early.

Fortunately, most students will have many resources at college to help them through mental health challenges. If you’re dealing with any mental health struggles, there is usually an office of wellness where you can schedule a time to see a therapist. This is usually provided with your school’s health insurance. If this is something that you are concerned about for your college experience, make sure to look into what mental health resources each college provides before applying. 

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2023 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

Why Are College Students So Depressed?

It may not always feel like the best four years of your life

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Andreswd / Getty Images

Symptoms of Depression in College Students

What percentage of college students experience depression, what really causes depression in college students, impact of depression on academic and personal life, coping with depression in college, treatments for depression in college students, how schools can help.

Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions and affects people of all ages, including college students. It impacts thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and is characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest in once-enjoyable activities.

This condition is prevalent on college campuses, affecting an estimated 53% of students at some point.

"College students are a vulnerable population who are faced with a range of new and often wonderful—yet sometimes stressful—experiences," explains Randall Dwenger, MD , the chief medical officer at Mountainside Treatment Center. He also notes that people who have a predisposition to depression typically start to display symptoms during their early 20s.

Depression can take a toll on many aspects of a young person's life, including academic performance, social life, and physical health. It can also increase their risk of substance abuse and co-occurring mental health conditions.

For this reason, it is crucial to recognize the signs of depression in college students and provide tools, resources, and support that can help.

At a Glance

College students are faced with multiple stressors like living on their own for the first time, meeting new people, and taking a rigorous course load. All of these changes happen at one time and cause major stress.

Any symptoms—both mild and severe—can affect college students' performance and mental health.

Fortunately, help is available and schools have also stepped in to address mental health concerns.

"Even mild symptoms may significantly interfere with academic and social functioning," explains Amy Mezulis, PhD , a licensed clinical psychologist and chief clinical officer of Joon. She also notes that it can lead to symptoms such as trouble concentrating, fatigue , and low energy, which can make it tough for students to keep up with academic work.

Randall Dwenger, MD

Some students may experience frustration with themselves at not being able to keep up with the challenges of living independently: balancing academics, social life, and tasks of daily living. These frustrations turned inward may present as depression.

Symptoms of depression that college students may experience include:

• Feeling sad, low, or "empty"
• Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities
• Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
• Missing class
• Poor grades
• Not having the motivation to finish assignments
• Poor self-care and personal hygiene
• Using drugs or alcohol to cope with difficult emotions
• Irritability or restlessness
• Guilt, helplessness, or hopelessness
• Lack of energy or fatigue
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Reduced physical activity
• Changes in sleep habits and appetite
• Thoughts of self-harm or suicide

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the  National Suicide Prevention Lifeline  at  988  for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

For more mental health resources, see our  National Helpline Database .

Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to predict which students will excel and which will struggle with all the changes and challenges that college brings.

“Some students may experience frustration with themselves at not being able to keep up with the challenges of living independently: balancing academics, social life, and tasks of daily living. These frustrations turned inward may present as depression,” Dr. Dwenger says.

In one study that involved interviewing college students about their experiences, students suggested that depression affected many academic areas, including their effort, ability to focus, and time management.

Struggling with motivation and falling behind on academic work were common themes.

"[Depression] can definitely be a drain on focus because if I’m having a particularly bad episode, it’s hard to do anything at all," one student explained.

For some students, falling behind in classes can make depression feel even worse. "Once you start falling behind, then the depression kicks in, it will make me think less of myself for that. Then it’s even harder to catch up. As the things pile up, it gets more difficult to pull myself out of [the depression]," another student told researchers.

Depression rates among U.S. college students are at an all-time high and growing. According to one internet-based survey, 44% reported that they currently have symptoms of depression, and 15% said they had considered suicide in the past year.

A 2022 study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders examined data from the national Healthy Minds study between the years 2013 and 2021. The researchers found that there has been a steady, consistent decline in the mental health of college students throughout the United States, amounting to a 135% increase in depression over the course of those eight years. 

Between 2013 and 2021, the number of college students who met the diagnostic criteria for one or more mental disorders doubled.

Such numbers are sobering, but the survey also found some positive indicators; more students are participating in therapy, and fewer are turning to alcohol to cope with their mental health problems. Unfortunately, the increasing rates of depression may also be outpacing the resources that are available to treat it.

And while the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with significant increases in rates of depression, the survey data shows that these increases are part of a larger trend and not simply attributable to a singular pandemic-era dip in mental well-being.

For students to get the help they need, researchers, public health experts, and academic institutions need to learn more about why students are struggling with depression. By identifying the factors that play a role, they can offer better interventions and develop prevention programs to combat depression in college students.

Leaving home for the first time can be an exciting but also challenging time for many students. It can be a time of self-discovery and personal growth, but it can also be stressful, anxiety-provoking, and isolating for many. 

The following are just some of the common factors that can play a role in the onset of depression among college-age students.

Transitions and Adjustments

"The transition to college can be a big change, both academically and socially," explains Laura Erickson-Schroth, MD , chief medical officer of The Jed Foundation (JED). Going to college often means leaving behind social connections and support and starting over in a new environment.

For most students, college is their first experience living away from home. Moving out, adjusting to a new environment, and forging new social connections can contribute to stress that can play a part in causing depression, Dr. Erickson-Schroth says.

Students are also dealing with a lot of pressure to perform well. This stress can affect well-being and contribute to feelings of inadequacy and helplessness.

Relationships and Social Pressures

Students also face the pressure of fitting in with their peers in a new setting. They may feel disconnected from their old friends and struggle to form new friendships in an unfamiliar environment. This lack of social support may contribute to depression.

The college years can also be a time to forge new relationships with friends and romantic partners, but this can also be a source of conflict and strife. Arguments with roommates, losing touch with old friends, and problems in romantic relationships can sometimes leave college students feeling distressed.

Financial Stress

Paying for school and managing living expenses can create additional pressures. College is the first time many young people have had to deal with this type of financial pressure, and it can create feelings of stress that can play a part in the onset of depression.

Dr. Erickson-Schroth notes that students from lower-income households experience more financial stress, including struggles related to finding stable housing, food, and healthcare.

Surveys suggest that three out of every five college students face some type of insecurity related to essential needs.

Social activities and academic demands can contribute to poor sleep habits. Depression and sleep have a bidirectional relationship. Irregular or poor sleep habits are linked to the onset of depression, but depression can make sleeping more difficult. Sleep disturbances are also associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation.  

Research has also found that 82% of college students who experience suicidal thinking also experience sleep disturbances.

Substance Use

Some students may experiment with alcohol and drugs in college, in some cases as a way to cope with negative emotions and stress. Unfortunately, such substance use is also associated with increased depressive symptoms.

Other Hurdles

Dr. Erickson-Schroth notes that some young adults face additional challenges that can make them more susceptible to depression.

"Youth of color who attend college at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) often experience microaggressions and have trouble finding spaces where they feel they can be themselves," she explains.

Research also suggests that LGBTQIA+ students, financially insecure students, and lower-division students have a higher risk of experiencing more severe depression.

Generational Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in fueling struggles that many college students have experienced over the past few years. Dr. Dwenger notes that the social disruptions caused by the pandemic left many students struggling without the tools, resources, and coping skills they needed to navigate what is already a tricky period in most people's lives. 

"Many experienced a sort of “whiplash” in adjusting back to in-person learning and resuming social interactions," he explains.

Unique global concerns facing today's generation of college students can also contribute to depression. This can include environmental worries, climate anxiety , political turmoil, social justice issues, and other concerns.

The political minefield, losses in terms of personal freedoms and choice, and issues of diversity may inspire some young people into action and activism, but these issues can also bring feelings of pessimism and hopelessness to many.

The high rates of depression among college students negatively affect physical health, mental well-being, academic success, and interpersonal relationships . These effects can be distressing and far-reaching. They can also potentially interfere with a student's long-term academic and professional goals.

One of the most immediate effects of depression in college students is its effect on academic performance, attendance, and participation. Depression makes it harder to concentrate, reduces motivation to learn, and even makes it hard for students to attend class sessions.

The toll on a student's academic life can be severe. It can lead to poor test performance and bad grades, which even jeopardize a student's ability to graduate and, for those depending on academic scholarships, impair their ability to keep their form of financial support.

Declining grades and poor feedback from instructors can worsen the feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy that many students are already struggling with.

Life Outside of School

Depression also makes it more challenging for students to enjoy many of the experiences that are often associated with college. Extracurricular activities, social events, and hobbies that they used to enjoy lose their appeal. This often means that they stop participating in these activities altogether. 

Because social withdrawal is another common symptom of depression, making important connections and getting the social support they need becomes even more of a challenge. As a result, a student with depression may feel disconnected from their friends, roommates, family members, and college community.

Physical Health

Depression can also affect a college student's physical health. When people are depressed, they also experience increases in stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol . 

This stress response is associated with a variety of health effects, including impaired immunity. Periods of prolonged stress associated with depression can also elevate the risk of health problems such as autoimmune conditions, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and gastrointestinal disorders.

It is also common for people with depression to experience a variety of physical symptoms, including back pain, stomach upset, reduced psychomotor activity, and joint pain.

If you are a college student struggling with depression, there are a few things that you can do that may help make it easier to cope. 

Make a Plan

Dr. Erickson-Schroth suggests proactive plans for how you'll take care of your mental health before college begins. 

"Make a list of some of the potential challenges you may face. This could include finding community, adjusting to living in a new place away from family and friends, keeping up with a different level of academic work, or getting the right amount of good nutrition, exercise, and sleep," she explains.

Once you have a list, brainstorm some ways you'll tackle these challenges. This can include checking out resources your school might offer and leaning on tactics that have worked for you in the past.

Try Behavioral Activation

Dr. Mezulis says that one of the best ways to manage depression is to use a strategy known as behavioral activation . It involves scheduling activities that help promote a positive mood and well-being, even if you might not necessarily feel in the mood.

The idea is that doing things that are good for us and that we typically enjoy will give us opportunities to feel effective, socially connected, and happy, thus improving our mood.

This includes scheduling things like social events, exercise, and even daily tasks like doing your laundry and homework. Start by taking stock of some of your daily habits and look for ways to schedule activities that will support your emotional well-being:

• Make it a habit to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day
• Eat a balanced diet
• Utilize relaxation techniques to cope with stress
• Start a mindfulness or meditation practice
• Get regular physical activity
• Seek support from family, friends, professors, advisors, and others

While there are many strategies you can use on your own to improve your mental health and ability to cope, it is important to seek professional help if your symptoms have lasted longer than two weeks and/or are making it difficult to function in your daily life. Treatment options can include on- or off-campus options.

Talking to a mental health professional at your school's counseling center or student health services can be a great place to start. They can provide further options about mental health services that are available on-campus or refer you to off-campus providers.

Your doctor or therapist may recommend a few different options to treat your depression. Because depression is complex and influenced by a number of factors, research suggests that a combination of therapy and medication is often the most effective treatment approach.

During talk therapy , you can discuss the challenges you are facing with a professional. Your therapist can help you gain insights, improve relationships, and develop new coping skills.

There are different types of therapy that can help, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) , which focuses on changing negative thoughts; interpersonal therapy (IPT) , which focuses on improving relationships; and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) , which improves thoughts, emotions, and relationships.

There are also medications that can help people find relief from symptoms of depression. Antidepressants that are commonly prescribed include Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Celexa (citalopram), and Lexapro (escitalopram).

Some antidepressants carry a black box warning of an increased risk of suicide in young people under the age of 25. This risk tends to be highest when treatment is first initiated, so young people should be monitored for signs of increased suicidal thinking or behavior while taking antidepressant medication.

Resources for Professional Help

Dr. Dwenger recommends reaching out for professional support sooner rather than later. "Don’t try to hide it when you find yourself falling behind or missing commitments. All colleges have Student Services that include mental health services, academic guidance, and many resources both on campus and off," he suggests.

While all colleges offer different services, you might be able to access mental health services at the following locations:

• Student Support Services : Offers a range of services for academic and personal development and may provide counseling services
• Counseling Center : Provides counseling services to students experiencing mental health concerns
• Student Health Center : Offers a variety of health services to students, including mental health care
• Psychology Clinic : Provides psychological services to students and community members

Some colleges and universities may also offer teletherapy services. Other places to turn if you are experiencing depression include your resident advisor (RA), academic advisor, a trusted professor, or campus helpline. 

While colleges and universities offer resources to combat depression, evidence suggests that around 60% of students are unaware of these options.

Dr. Erickson-Schroth says every college should have a comprehensive plan designed to address aspects of student mental health. Such plans should include strategies that make student mental health a priority:

• Ways to promote social connections: Strategies for promoting social connections include improving student coping skills, identifying students at risk, providing mental health and crisis support, and encouraging help-seeking
• Staff mental health training: Training can help higher education faculty feel empowered, informed, and knowledgeable when it comes to helping students with mental health problems
• Peer training programs: These can be particularly helpful since students are more likely to turn to their peers instead of other adults.
• Community-building spaces: These can help students build connections, including LGBTQIA+ centers and clubs for students of color.

You don't have to be a mental health professional to have a positive impact on your students' emotional well-being. You just need to pay attention, listen, and connect students to help if they need it.

Colleges and universities must offer comprehensive support for students experiencing depression. Recognizing the signs of this condition can allow students to better access resources that can help support their well-being and recovery.

Schools can help by promoting depression awareness and working to combat the stigma that might prevent students from seeking help.

Frequently Asked Questions

While depression does not have a single cause, stress is a common factor that plays a major role in causing depression in college students. Coping with many different new challenges, including moving away from home, juggling new responsibilities, dealing with roommates, and adjusting to all of these transitions, can be stressful for many people.

Students who have mental health conditions such as depression may experience interruptions in their life that make it difficult to manage their normal daily needs and achieve their educational goals. If you have been diagnosed with depression or another psychiatric illness, you can request that your school make reasonable accommodations. Such accommodations may include more time to complete assignments or additional time on exams.

Liu XQ, Guo YX, Zhang WJ, Gao WJ. Influencing factors, prediction and prevention of depression in college students: A literature review . World J Psychiatry . 2022;12(7):860-873. doi:10.5498/wjp.v12.i7.860

American Psychiatric Association (APA). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . 5th ed, text revision. Washington, D.C.; 2022.

Mohammed TF, Gin LE, Wiesenthal NJ, Cooper KM. The experiences of undergraduates with depression in online science learning environments . CBE Life Sci Educ . 2022;21(2):ar18. doi:10.1187/cbe.21-09-0228

Healthy Minds Network. The Healthy Minds Study: 2021-2022 Data Report .

Lipson SK, Zhou S, Abelson S, et al. Trends in college student mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity: Findings from the national healthy minds study, 2013–2021 . Journal of Affective Disorders . 2022;306:138-147. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.03.038

Ettman CK, Cohen GH, Abdalla SM, et al. Persistent depressive symptoms during COVID-19: a national, population-representative, longitudinal study of U.S. adults . The Lancet Regional Health - Americas . 2022;5:100091. doi:10.1016/j.lana.2021.100091)

The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. The Hope Center Student Basic Needs Survey .

Fang H, Tu S, Sheng J, Shao A. Depression in sleep disturbance: A review on a bidirectional relationship, mechanisms and treatment .  J Cell Mol Med . 2019;23(4):2324-2332. doi:10.1111/jcmm.14170

Brüdern J, Hallensleben N, Höller I, et al. Sleep disturbances predict active suicidal ideation the next day: an ecological momentary assessment study . BMC Psychiatry . 2022;22(1):65. doi:10.1186/s12888-022-03716-6

Becker SP, Dvorsky MR, Holdaway AS, Luebbe AM. Sleep problems and suicidal behaviors in college students . J Psychiatr Res . 2018;99:122-128. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.01.009

Brenner P, Brandt L, Li G, DiBernardo A, Bodén R, Reutfors J. Substance use disorders and risk for treatment resistant depression: a population-based, nested case-control study .  Addiction . 2020;115(4):768-777. doi:10.1111/add.14866

Busch CA, Mohammed TF, Nadile EM, Cooper KM. Aspects of online college science courses that alleviate and exacerbate undergraduate depression . PLoS One . 2022;17(6):e0269201. Published 2022 Jun 1. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0269201

Konturek PC, Brzozowski T, Konturek SJ. Stress and the gut: pathophysiology, clinical consequences, diagnostic approach and treatment options . J Physiol Pharmacol . 2011;62(6):591-9.

National Institute of Mental Health. Depression .

Cuijpers P, Sijbrandij M, Koole SL, Andersson G, Beekman AT, Reynolds CF. Adding psychotherapy to antidepressant medication in depression and anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis . World Psychiatry . 2014;13(1):56-67. doi:10.1002/wps.20089

Inside Higher Ed. Lack of awareness causes students to fall through the cracks .

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, addressing personal struggles like depression in my college essay - yes or no.

Hi everyone, I'm trying to decide if sharing my journey with depression in my college essay is a good move. It's a big part of my story and has profoundly affected my high school years. I want to show resilience, but is this topic too much of a red flag for admissions?

Absolutely, sharing personal challenges can be a powerful testament to your resilience in your college essay. It's essential, however, to focus primarily on how you've overcome these struggles and what you've learned from them. Colleges are interested in your growth and ability to handle adversity. Be sure to highlight the positive outcomes: how dealing with depression has made you stronger, more empathetic, or pushed you to engage in activities that have enriched your life or the lives of others.

For example, if you took up painting or jogging as a way to cope, and it blossomed into a passion, that's a compelling story. Or maybe you started a mental health awareness club at your school to support others. It's all about framing it in a way that focuses on the positive angles of your journey. Remember to keep the overall tone optimistic and to demonstrate a clear arc of personal growth and understanding. Admissions committees are looking for students who can reflect thoughtfully on their experiences and emerge with a sense of purpose and direction, regardless of the obstacles they've faced.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

• Dissertation
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Book Report/Review
• Research Proposal
• Math Problems
• Proofreading
• Movie Review
• Cover Letter Writing
• Personal Statement
• Nursing Paper
• Argumentative Essay
• Research Paper

How To Write A Strong Essay On Depression?

Table of Contents

Looking for useful information that will help you write a powerful essay on depression? You’ve come to the right place, then!

Depression is a worldwide spread disease that negatively affects how people feel, the way they think, and how they act. It is also the leading cause of disability. There are estimates that more than 300 million people are affected by depression globally, and this condition is also one of the most common mental disorders in the USA.

No wonder depression essay is a typical assignment for high school and college students. The goal of writing about this mental condition is to increase awareness among young people about mental health and help them find solutions to this problem.

In this guide, you will find all the necessary information for writing the best essays on this topic.

Depression essay: what’s the deal?

At some point in our lives, we all may experience symptoms like sadness, loss of interest, lack of pleasure from performing daily activities, etc.

For most people, these symptoms are a completely normal response to unpleasant or stressful events that they experience, for example, romantic relationships failures or financial issues.

Negative feelings are usually painful and overwhelming, but as time goes by, they become less intense and disappear.

But if these feelings persist, they may affect people’s life substantially and result in depression.

In recent decades, clinical depression has reached epidemic proportions and is widespread in the suburbs inner cities, farms, refugee camps, boardrooms, and classrooms, and women are more likely to be depressed than man.

Recent research reveals that the United States is the most depressed country in the world.

When writing an essay about this mental illness, you need to examine different aspects. For example, you may write a postpartum depression essay or explore how this mental condition affects the brain, personality, and physical health.

The choice of topics is endless, but you should follow standard writing requirements when working on your projects. Let’s discuss some important steps of writing an essay about mental disorders in detail.

Depression research paper outline: a brief how-to

Many students skip this stage in the writing process and as a result, may waste a lot of time when doing research and actually writing.

Creating a working outline for your project is an essential step that will help you stay focused and increase your overall productivity. Never skip this crucial step if you want to succeed.

Here are some tips on how you can do it right.

• Choose a topic for your research and do some preliminary reading. Search for some interesting facts and try to think about new ways to address your topic. Scan some articles and look for knowledge gaps.
• Take notes when you see an interesting quote and create a list of your sources. You can use them as references in your essay. Keep all the information you have gathered in one place.
• Write down the objective of your essay in one sentence. Think about the outcome you want to achieve when other people read your essay.
• Look through your notes and make a list of all the important points you want to make. Use brainstorming techniques and write down all ideas that pop into your head.
• Review the points and create a thesis statement for depression research paper or essay.
• Organize the list of points to create a structure of your essay . Put the points in a logical order. Check all aspects to make sure that each of them is relevant to your objective.
• Revise all your points and try to put your outline in a standard format: numbered or bulleted list.

Depression essay introduction: how to start?

The introduction of your essay should provide some context and prepare your readers for the arguments you would present next.

Start your introduction with an attention grabber to engage your audience. It can be a provocative question, statistics, an anecdote, an interesting fact, etc.

Introduce your specific topic and provide some context to help your readers understand your paper. For example, you can define some key terms.

Finish your introduction with a strong thesis statement that clearly and concisely states the central argument or the purpose of your paper.

e.g., Students who drop out of a high school before graduation are more susceptible to depression and anxiety and have a higher risk of facing mental and physical health problems later in life.

You may also briefly outline the major points of your paper to help your audience follow your argument.

Depression essay conclusion: what should be included?

The conclusion is the last chance to impress your readers so it can be the most challenging part of an essay to write.

It should give your paper a sense of completeness and answer the question, “so what?”

You need to restate your main claim and tie that claim to a larger discussion. Don’t introduce any new ideas or subtopics here.

You can conclude your paper using one of the following strategies:

• Call for a specific action.
• Outline next steps for other researchers.
• Speak about future implications.
• Compare different situations or issues.
• Use a quotation.
• Ask a provocative question.

The use of depression essay example

A good essay example may help you understand how your project must be written. You can find a lot of essay examples online or order a well-written example from a professional writer.

You should read it and analyze what strategies and techniques are used to convey the main ideas and make an impression on readers.

Besides, you can get a better understanding of how you can structure your paper and what transitions you can use to ensure a logical flow of ideas.

Essay on depression: what to cover?

Writing about depression in college essay can involve a lot of different topics, especially those connected with the epidemic of mental disorders in teens.

For example, you may write causes of teenage depression essay and discuss multiple factors that create chemical imbalances in the human brain which may result in mental disorders and lead to such symptoms like anger, irritability, and agitation:

• Biological factors – family history of mental disorders.
• Social factors – loneliness and isolation, lack of meaningful relationships with family or peers.
• Behavioral factors – alcohol or drug abuse.
• Psychological factors – early childhood trauma, recent stressful experiences like a death in the family.

TOP-10 depression essay topics

• Effects of mood disorders on physical health.
• Causes of depression among teens.
• Compare depression and bipolar disorder.
• Neurodegenerative effects of long-term depression.
• Mental disorders and personality changes in adults.
• Impact of psychological stress on mental disorders.
• Teen depression and suicide.
• Depression symptoms in children and adults.
• Are we witnessing an epidemic of serious mood disorders?
• Digital media and mental disorders in children.

Argumentative essay on depression: how to prove you’re right?

Argumentative essay on depression is a more complex task because you need to take a stance and create a convincing argument to persuade your readers and make them accept your point of view or take a specific action.

You need compelling evidence to support your claims and main points.

Consult credible online sources, for example, a website of the American Psychiatric Association, to find some facts or statistics about mental disorders or news about current research on the topic.

Review some statistics which you can use to support your argument.

• According to estimates, about 15% of adults experience depressive episodes in their lifetime.
• About 5% of the US population experience seasonal depression every year.
• The most “depressed” countries in the world are the USA, France, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Colombia.
• Japan has one of the lowest depression rates in the world, but it has one of the highest suicide rates, which is one of the leading causes of death among Japanese teens.
• 4.8% of men and 8.5% of women suffer from depression in the USA.
• The median age of people experiencing a major depressive episode is 32.
• More than 44,000 American commit suicide each year and it’s the 2nd leading cause of death for young people aged from 15 to 24.

Argumentative essay topics about depression

• Is there any correlation between burnout, depression, and anxiety?
• How to deal with a crisis when living with mental disorders?
• Is it common to have both anxiety and depression at the same time?
• Can sleep deprivation cause mental disorders?
• Is there any relationship between the consumption of certain food and mental disorders?
• Can food help with overcoming anxiety?
• Social media obsession and mental health issues.
• Why do a lot of teens struggle with mental disorders?
• Can exercise treat mental health issues?
• How can we tell the difference between grief and depression?

Feel free to choose any of these interesting topics and write your own depression essay.

Although mental disorders are a complicated thing to write about, you are much likely to successfully cope with this challenging task if you follow our easy guidelines.

Depressed with the task to write depression? Forget the anxiety! Order your paper within three clicks and enjoy the bright side of life!

Structuring of an argumentative essay on euthanasia

Understanding a respect essay formulation

HOW TO PREPARE AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Campus Culture
• High School
• Top Schools

Addressing Depression in Your Personal Statement

• college application essays
• essay topic

Did you know 20% of teenagers experience depression before reaching adulthood? It is also during this time that college applicants have to answer the most intimate question in order to gain acceptance at their dream school. What defines you?

While it may feel extremely vulnerable to talk about your experience with depression, don’t let that immediately deter you from choosing it as your personal statement essay topic. Here are 5 examples that may help you approach the topic in an essay:

UC Irvine ‘17

Throughout the past few years, I have gone through depression. The inability to focus not only in school, but also in life, is something I have struggled to overcome. The majority of the time, I am able to successfully distinguish my emotions from my academics because of my overly organized tendencies. At other times, the feelings that come with depression are inevitable. Depression, for me, is hopelessness. My biggest struggle with depression is not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel; therefore, this way of thinking has caused me to feel unmotivated, alone, and frightened. Because of this, I have spent endless nights contemplating my life till 4 or 5 in the morning, I have no motivation to wake up in the mornings, and I feel pain and grief on a daily basis. Keep reading.

Brittanybea

Uc berkeley ‘19.

On a warm August morning I sat shivering and shaking in the waiting room to my doctor’s office. I had my mother make the appointment but didn’t give her the reason; I’m not even sure I really knew the reason. I just knew something was wrong. The past five years had been all uphill - outwardly, at least. I was doing increasingly well in school, growing more independent, and had greater opportunities at my feet. Inwardly, however, was an entirely different story. Those five years felt like an upbeat movie I was watching while in my own personal prison. I was happy for the characters, even excited for their accomplishments. The problem was that my outward self was a character entirely distinct from the internal me. View full essay.

869749923096609FB

Williams college ‘19.

Perhaps the greatest blessing my parents have ever granted me was the move from our apartment in the Bronx to a two-family home in Queens, two blocks away from a public library. The library had all the boons my young heart could desire: bounties of books, air conditioning in the summer, and sweet solace from a dwelling teeming with the cries of an infant sister, a concept I couldn’t yet fathom. Read more.

When I was younger, people chided me for being pessimistic. It was my sincere belief that there were no rewards to be reaped from a life here on earth. I was bored, unhappy, and apathetic. War, injustice, environmental collapse, the mean thing X said to me the other day-it all made me see the world as a tumultuous and unpleasant place. Continue reading.  

879216135461584FB

Dish soap, pepper, a toothpick, and an empty pie tin. The first materials I ever used to perform a simple experiment in grade school. Looking back that would be the moment I fell in love with science. I can still feel the excitement I felt as I watched as the pepper dart off to the edges of the pie tin as I touched the water with the end of a soap coated toothpick. Though I didn’t have to question how or why the reaction happened, I never stopped wondering. It was then that a passion for science ignited in me. It was a fire in my soul that could never die out. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I grew older, the fire within me began to dim and in the year 2012, it became extinguished; the world as I knew it had ended. View full profile.

While this essay topic helped these students gain acceptances to UC Irvine , UC Berkeley , Williams , Vassar and NYU , it doesn’t mean it will work in the exact same way for you. Brainstorm and think carefully about what you want to write in your personal statement and how you want to share your own, unique story. For more inspiration, AdmitSee has a database of 60,000+ successful college applications files waiting for you! 

About The Author

Frances was born in Hong Kong and received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She loves super sad drama television, cooking, and reading. Her favorite person on Earth isn’t actually a member of the AdmitSee team - it’s her dog Cooper.

Browse Successful Application Files

Last week, Prompt's CEO shared what mistakes to avoid in your college essay. In Part 2 of this two-part blog series, learn how to pick an essay topic. The key: focus on an admissions officer’s...

With an otherwise great college application, how important can college essays really be? When only 1 in 5 students applying to selective colleges have compelling essays, make sure you avoid this essay mistake....

In this second part of his two-part series, college admissions coach Justin Taylor explains key admissions lessons from 2020, an unprecedented year of firsts, that can help you strategize as we enter into this next application...

In Part one of this two-part series, college admissions coach Justin Taylor explains key lessons about 2020, “a year like no other,” that could seriously boost your chances in 2021, including smarter list building and transcript GPA...

We are so excited to announce that for this year’s scholarship, we selected five scholarship winners to maximize the impact of our $5,000 college scholarship prize money....

• 1. Webinar Series: College Application Prep for High School Juniors
• 2. College Application Lessons from 2020-2021: Strategizing through Covid Changes (Part 2)
• 3. College Admissions Lessons from 2020-2021: Strategizing through Covid Changes (Part 1)

• 5. COVID-19 and Your College Essay: Should You Write About It?
• 6. College Search: How to Find Your Best College Fit
• 7. College Tours 101: Everything You Need to Know
• 8. Waitlisted? 5 Ways to Move from the College Waitlist to Acceptance
• 9. When (and why) should you send additional materials to colleges you’re interested in?
• 10. How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out
• 1. How to Write College Essays to Boost your Chances Part 2: Focusing the Priority
• 2. How to Write College Essays to Boost your Chances Part 1: Biggest Essay Mistakes
• 3. College Application Lessons from 2020-2021: Strategizing through Covid Changes (Part 2)
• 5. Winners of the AdmitSee 2020 College Scholarship
• 6. COVID-19 and Your College Essay: Should You Write About It?
• 7. Education, Access and Systemic Racism
• 8. Applying to BS/MD Direct Medical Programs: Why Early Med School Admission Might be Right for You
• 9. How to Get Off the College Waitlist (5 Go-To Strategies)
• 10. College admissions prep during the Coronavirus

How to Discuss Your Mental Health on College Applications

Should you write about depression in your personal statement? Should you disclose mental health challenges elsewhere on your college application? Here’s what experts say.

Within the next few months, many rising high school seniors will be staring at a blank computer screen with the same question on their minds: What should I write about in my college application essay?  This question can feel heavy.  After all, by the time students approach the end of their junior year, they’ve surely heard lots about “THE” college essay.  The concept can feel overwhelming so it’s no surprise that many students struggle when it comes to choosing the perfect topic.

For students who experienced a mental health challenge while in high school, this question takes on another dimension. Should they talk about how they coped with say, depression, or any other mental health condition? Should they refer to it only in passing? Should they avoid mentioning it at all?  What is the best way to handle such an important topic?

While this is a very complicated topic, the college planning experts I talked with all offered similar advice.

The Purpose of a College Application Essay

Before thinking about whether or not you should write about mental health in your college essay, you should remember what the essay — or the “personal statement”— is all about in the first place.  What is the purpose of the essay?

No matter which prompt students select, and for all college applicants, those with or without mental health challenges, the essay is the only part of the application in which college admissions officers have the opportunity to hear the voices of the student. The rest of the application contains numbers, statistics, and comments from teachers and counselors.

This is why the personal statement, as college planning experts concur, is where you should share part of your true self in the most positive light. Think about what a college wants to know about you as a person, or what a university would gain by having you become a part of the campus community.  Dig deep to figure out what makes you, you.

Use your essay as an opportunity to bring your college application to life. Try to strive for it to represent you in an authentic yet optimistic way. One former reader of applications at a top university’s admission office shared a fun way to see if your essay checks out.  She asked me, “Does the essay pass the midnight test”?

Picture an exhausted admissions officer with a stack of unread application files on her desk. She is reading yours at midnight at the end of a 16-hour day. Does your essay draw the officer in and make her eager to read until the end of your essay to learn more about you? Will she be eager enough for her to conclude that, yes, we want this student on our campus next fall? Or does your essay sound far too similar to some of the others she’s read that day?

The purpose of your essay is to take the reader beyond the numbers (test scores and GPA) and into who you are as a real live human being.

Experts on Writing About Mental Health

All counselors interviewed for this piece agreed that students’ college essays should not be about their struggles with mental health. Wendy Kahn , a Chicago-based college planner, and Anna Seltz, of Higher Ed U , a college consulting organization in Philadelphia, both spoke about how students should try to talk about themselves in a positive light, taking the opportunity to showcase one of their many outstanding qualities, like intellectual curiosity, personal growth, or maturity.

A couple of the counselors — Bruce Vinik of Vinik Educational Services and Marsha Shaines of College Strategies in Kensington, Maryland — said that the only case in which a student should consider writing about her mental health challenges is if the struggle truly defines her as a person. Even then, both counselors saw this as the rare exception, and suggest that instead, most students should take advantage of the opportunity to explore one of the many other attributes that makes them unique. Vinik says that mental health problems should only be shared in the essay if the college would not be able to understand the applicant without knowing about this part of her. Generally, he discourages selecting this as a primary topic.

The Additional Information Section

All of the college planners mentioned above agree that if your mental health struggle in high school clearly impacted your performance, then you should mention it in the “Additional Information” portion of the Common Application — but only in a factual manner. If you missed three months of your sophomore year to deal with a mental health condition, you should explain that you spent those months dealing with a “health challenge,” overcame it, and are now back on track, advises Vinik.

The three other college counselors generally agreed with this sentiment. All expressed that if the mental health challenges have made an impact on your grades, involvement in class, attendance, or ability to participate in school activities, you should provide a short, factual summary (no more than two paragraphs) for background purposes, always emphasizing your recovery after these difficult moments and your preparedness for a college environment.

Seltz suggests that talking about this in your admissions interview may be another route that applicants can explore. Seltz recommends taking an approach like the one outlined for personal statements above: Briefly explain how the challenge affected your grades and focus mostly on the fact that those problems are now under control.  Making sure to emphasize the way/s that the challenge helped you to grow as a person is also important.

All of the college planners suggest that you talk with your high school counselor to ensure that what you are saying about mental illness in the college application is consistent with what the counselor may or may not say in her own counselor recommendation. Or, if you’d prefer that the counselor not address your mental health issues, request that as well. School counselors are almost always open to any guidance you may have for what you’d like them to include in or leave out of your letter of recommendation.

Dealing With Mental Health Challenges Past the Application

Being told that you cannot share a part of yourself that may have had a large impact on your life can be difficult to hear. Unfortunately, mental health is a stigmatized topic, and it’s difficult to explore its nuances and complexities in the short and streamlined format of a college application.  It is also extremely important to remember that with or without mental health challenges, you are far more complex than a 650-word personal statement.

The fact that you are not writing about it on your application doesn’t mean that colleges don’t want the “real” you, or that you will be unable to succeed. A mental health condition does not disqualify you from having an excellent collegiate experience by any means, the same way that a physical limitation would not interfere with your success as a student. As you explore your college options, be sure to look for campuses that are particularly mental-health friendly, and focus on finding resources you can rely on as a student. From counseling services to wellness organizations, many campuses make student mental health a priority, and selecting this kind of college will help you embrace your challenges and thrive in a new environment.

If you are worried that your problems are not yet under control — and that college may exacerbate them — you may want to consider taking a gap year and working with a local counselor to prepare for the big transition.  There are lots of really wonderful gap year programs for students in this exact position. If you think you might be interested in this option, talk with your school counselor about exploring what programs are available to you.

Be personal in your college application essay — but do so in an optimistic and positive way. The purpose of the essay is to convince the reader that you belong on their campus next fall. Don’t leave the reader with any unanswered questions or red flags about you.  Be clear about who you are and your will to enhance whatever campus you find yourself on.  This is the best way to tell the story of who you are.

If there are circumstances that need to be explained — such as time off, a drop in grades, or diminished participation in extracurricular activities, do so in a factual and concise manner in the “Additional Information” section.

Yes, you may have experienced a mental health challenge, and/or you may be going to college with mental illness. But don’t let that singularly define you as a person. You have the propensity to offer much more to a college than your diagnosis. And the personal statement essay is the place to show the college who you are as an individual, why you are ready for college, and what strong and special qualities you will bring to the campus community if accepted.

If you’re currently applying for colleges and are planning on taking the SAT or the ACT, our tutors are here to help. Connect with them for your respective test below:

Related Highschool & College Admissions Resources:

• 2023 ACT Test Dates: Upcoming ACT Test Dates for 2023
• Everything You Need To Know About AP Scholar Awards & Recognitions
• 2023 SAT Test Dates: All Upcoming SAT Dates for 2023
• How To Determine If I Should Take the ACT or the SAT
• How Much Do Extracurriculars Matter For College Applications?
• May 19, 2021
• Admissions , College Essays , Undergraduate Admissions

Like this article?

Recent posts, act and sat score comparison: score conversions and chart.

ACT Test Dates 2024: Upcoming Test Dates & Deadlines for the ACT Exam

How To Check Your SAT Score: A Step-By-Step Guide

How to improve your act score: 16 expert strategies.

SAT Test Dates 2024: Upcoming SAT Dates & Registration

How Many Times Can You Take The SAT Exam?

Sign Up For the Latest News

• 60 Chelsea Piers Ste 6020, New York, NY 10011
• [email protected]
• 844 663 9484

Should I Mention Depression on My College Application?

Colleges scrutinize applications from troubled students more closely.

Should I Put Depression on My College Apps?

Phil Bliss | TheiSpot.com for USN&WR

Growing up in New York City, Emily Isaac studied Hebrew, performed in school musicals, and played soccer. She fantasized about going to a prestigious university like Harvard and becoming a lawyer for Hollywood celebrities. But her drive and ambition faded when she reached high school. She ignored homework assignments and argued with teachers. Her grades dropped to mostly C's and D's. She was so difficult that she was asked to leave three private schools in two years. Emily says she was angry and depressed over a family member's drug use. At age 17 last fall, she was applying to colleges and had a tough decision to make: How to present herself to admissions officers increasingly wary of troubled students?

Concerned about liability and campus safety in the wake of shootings at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech, more colleges and universities are scrutinizing the character of applicants. They want to know about students' past behavior, and, if there is any doubt, they will call high school counselors for answers. Admissions officers say "youthful indiscretions" like a schoolyard brawl or an unpaid traffic ticket aren't likely to result in denial letters. But a pattern of troubling behavior could cost someone an admission.

"We're not only admitting students for intellectual reasons but for community reasons," says Debra Shaver, director of admissions at Smith College, a private women's liberal arts school in Massachusetts. "We want to make sure they will be good community members." Smith and other schools acknowledge that making judgments about character is sometimes a messy process. It doesn't involve precise measures like SAT scores or grade-point average. "In some cases, you say, 'This makes me nervous,' and maybe it is an intuition and some reasonable people would disagree, but it goes with the territory," says Bruce Poch, dean of admissions at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

Full disclosure. It's not surprising, then, that students like Emily agonize over the decision to disclose personal and academic problems. "We finally hired an independent counselor," says Lisa Kaufman, Emily's mother.

Not all counselors agree on what advice to give families. Some discourage students from bringing up mental illnesses and emotional problems altogether. Others say full disclosure helps when a student's records show poor grades or other inconsistencies that are likely to make colleges suspicious. Shirley Bloomquist, an independent college counselor in Great Falls, Va., says she once called a liberal arts college in Massachusetts to say she was disappointed by its decision to reject an applicant who had written about overcoming a drug addiction. The student had completed a drug rehabilitation program and had been clean for a year. "Colleges are more concerned than ever about student emotional stability," Bloomquist says. "I think it is imperative that the student, the parent, and the high school counselor discuss the situation and decide what should or should not be revealed."

Sally Rubenstone, senior counselor with CollegeConfidential.com and coauthor of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admission, says being forthright about past behavior or mental health problems doesn't mean "The Jerry Springerization of the College Admissions Essay." "Sometimes I have to implore [students] to stay mum," she says. "There are clearly times when personal problems are too personal—or inappropriate—to include in a college essay."

Emily's problems, however, needed airing—but not all of them. For example, she didn't disclose her troubles in middle school because colleges asked only (via the Common Application) about academic and behavioral misconduct in high school. She says she was asked to leave one high school after a confrontation with another student, but the offense was never recorded in her file, so she didn't volunteer that information either. On the advice of her counselor, Emily wrote cover letters and an essay focusing instead on the reasons for her documented troubles in school and how she had grown from those experiences.

Although colleges would know from her transcripts that she had been at a boarding school for troubled teens, Emily didn't explicitly mention depression in her essay. Rubenstone, who served as Emily's counselor in the admissions process, says, "Colleges can run scared when they hear the word depression. " Emily, who got treatment, hoped colleges would pay attention to her improvement instead. "I thought I was taking a risk, but I had faith that people would understand," she says. In one of her cover letters, Emily wrote: "What I am trying to say is that my past no longer dictates my future and that I am a far more capable, hard-working, mature student than depicted in my forms."

Colleges cannot legally deny admission specifically on the basis of mental illness, but it's hard to account for how that characteristic figures into the calculus of who gets in and who doesn't. Admissions officers undoubtedly are aware that the shooters at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois had troubled histories before they applied to school: Indeed, the graduate student responsible for the NIU attack had written about his emotional struggles in adolescence in his admission application. Admissions officers, ever mindful of the diversity on campus, also are aware that reports of depressed college students are on the rise.

Not all colleges offer students a second chance. One high school senior in Tucson, Ariz., with an impressive academic record was rejected by a selective liberal arts college after his counselor says he told the school that the student had been disciplined for smoking marijuana on a field trip. The counselor says he helped the student with his essay, believing that if it struck the right tone and offered a sincere apology and a pledge from the student that he would not make the same mistake again, the essay would persuade the college to admit him. It didn't. "This particular school was trying very hard to diminish its reputation as being 'kind of tolerant of druggies'—the very words used by the college representative," the counselor says.

Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers says too much pressure is being put on college admission officers who lack the expertise to evaluate the seriousness of an offense or an applicant's emotional well-being. In the absence of clear guidelines, Nassirian says, colleges should stop asking about past behavior altogether. "It's very tempting for colleges to say we're excluding the next Jack the Ripper from sitting next to your son or daughter," he says. "But it's really your son or daughter who is getting nabbed and getting nabbed for having done something stupid in high school."

Common Application. That may be the reason that many high schools don't disclose information about a student's disciplinary history. A recent survey of 2,306 public and private high schools found that only 23 percent of schools said they allowed for the disclosure of such information to colleges, 39 percent said they disclose sometimes, and 38 percent said they never do. The results refer to questions asked by about 340 colleges that use the Common Application, which inquires if students have ever been convicted of a crime or been severely disciplined in high school. This year, 347,837 high school students used the Common Application. Of those, only 2 percent said they had a serious discipline problem in high school, and 0.22 percent said they were convicted of a misdemeanor or felony.

It's not clear how many students refuse to answer the questions or conceal their past troubles. In what one admissions counselor sees as a separate, disturbing trend, high schools that once suspended or expelled students for offenses such as academic dishonesty now strike deals with parents and students that result in less severe consequences and no record of the student's indiscretion. One New York student who has been accepted to several competitive schools says he caught a lucky break when the private high school he attended his freshman year decided that rather than expel him, it would let him quietly transfer to another school after he was caught stealing a biology exam. The school told him it would not notify colleges about the incident. At his new high school, the student was suspended for insulting another student. And again he was able to cut a deal with the principal at that school. The student, who requested anonymity, says he was able to "work off" the suspension from his record by performing community service. He says his guidance counselor discouraged him from bringing up either incident on his college applications. "It's not that I wanted to lie," he says. "I just didn't want to lose everything that I've worked so hard for."

If an applicant's school records raise suspicion, colleges say they will make every effort to verify the information. Some, for instance, will turn to Google, Facebook, or another source on the Internet. But it's not clear how thorough most colleges are when high schools don't cooperate. It is often the case, some say, that an anonymous tipster or an upset parent of a child who was not admitted to the school will come forward. Colleges say a high school's refusal to share information could damage the school's relationship with the college, especially in the event that the applicant is admitted and later commits a crime.

Marlyn McGrath Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard, says high schools that knowingly withhold troubling information about applicants will be held responsible. "We're not a detective agency," she says. "We operate on the assumption that schools are behaving honorably." If administrators learn that an applicant has lied, colleges can rescind offers of admission. That's what happened in 1995 when Harvard administrators found out that an admitted applicant had killed her mother when she was 14. The applicant, a straight-A student, had not disclosed the incident in her Harvard application on the advice of her lawyer.

Seth Allen, dean of admissions at Grinnell College, a liberal arts school in Iowa, says colleges expect that students will answer questions about their past behavior truthfully and completely. "We want to understand if you slipped up why it happened," he says. "If we understand that there is a death in the family or a personal crisis that would help us say, 'This is not a normal pattern of behavior,' we can forgive you." Sometimes, he adds, an honest and thoughtful response can make a candidate more appealing.

Earlier this year, Emily was offered admission to six schools; she has decided to attend Simmons College in Boston. She was turned down by four other schools. "I'm grateful because I feel people are willing to take a chance on me," she says. "It just makes me hopeful that the world is moving away from fear and towards acceptance of those of us who haven't had the easiest times."

Tags: college admissions , mental health , depression

Popular Stories

Best Graduate Schools

Law Admissions Lowdown

Applying to Graduate School

Medical School Admissions Doctor

2024 Best Online Programs

Compare online degree programs using the new U.S. News rankings and data.

Just one more step to start saving colleges!

Sign up for an account or login to start your college list.

Should I "Recall" My Common App Essay on Depression?

My high school English teacher had us turn in our Common App essays as an assignment. She made suggestions and corrections, and I submitted my Common App with that essay version on it a few weeks ago. Now I'm doing some supplemental essays for other schools and my mom hired an essay specialist to review them. For one of my supplementals, I used my Common App essay (this is a school not on Common App, so they won't see it twice). The essay consultant ripped it to shreds, said it didn't fit the prompt at all and was on a subject (my depression after my parents' divorce) that she said is sort of forbidden. Now I'm wondering if my English teacher was just looking for grammatical problems and doesn't know what colleges are looking for so she didn't edit the content -- just the grammar and structure. Since I already turned in the common app, I'm really nervous now. Can I "recall" my Common Apps or would that be worse? Two of my deadlines already passed.

Once you've submitted your Common Application essay, it's usually a bad idea to write to colleges to say “Never mind." This conveys a message to the admission committees that suggests, “I didn't put adequate thought into my initial try, so now I expect you to take extra time to deal with a non-standard situation." Yet, over the eons, “The Dean" has sometimes seen students send second essays with no apparent penalty. Thus, I'll occasionally say, “Go ahead and try it," but only when the pros seem to outweigh potential cons.

In your case, however, they may not. For starters, even if you send a second essay, it's likely that the admission officials will look at your first one as well. (This will depend on protocol at different colleges, which will vary.) Secondly, because your English teacher signed off on your essay, I assume that the organization, spelling and mechanics were fine. So the real issue here is that you wrote about depression which your private counselor has told you is a no-no, but may actually not be. It depends on what you said.

I, too, often discourage students from writing about depression unless this depression caused low grades or other transcript anomalies that cry out to be explained. But even then, I typically advise using the “Additional Information" section of the application for this explanation, rather than the primary essay. Nonetheless, I've read primary essays written on depression that were excellent ... and appropriate. The quality of the writing is what counts the most. However, it's also important for a depression essay to state (or to at least imply) that its author is fully ready to embrace college life ... with all of its potential stresses.

So if you think that your essay shows that you've overcome your post-divorce depression and that your essay won't leave admission folks wondering if you can handle the adjustment to college life, then don't worry about this anymore. But if you suspect that this essay will spawn concern in admission offices that you're not ready for the demands just ahead, then you might want to send an “update" letter to all your colleges that clarifies your readiness. Ask the college officials to add this to your file. (And if you fear that perhaps you're really not ready, consider a gap year . Then you can reapply with a brand-new essay!)

From your question, it sounds as if one reason that the consultant disliked your Common App essay was that it didn't fit the prompt provided for the supplemental essay. Of course, “The Dean" can't weigh in on this without seeing both. However, if the consultant's main objection was that you raised a red flag by mentioning depression, you should rest assured that it may not be a problem at all, as long as admission committees don't question your fitness to start college next fall.

Finally, keep in mind that the struggle with depression is part of who you are, and even if you've been told that it's not the wisest essay topic choice, it's certainly an honest one. So take comfort in the fact that the colleges that accept you anyway are welcoming the real you, and not some whitewashed version that was created for your applications.

If you'd like to submit a question to College Confidential, please send it along here .

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

More on Applying to College

Authentic Voice in College Essays

That’s why you want to use your authentic voice when writing any college essay .

So what’s the problem? A student has shared an ess…

College Interview Prep Tips: Brainstorm, Research, Analyze, Generalize

I recently visited Washington University in Saint Louis and was lucky enough to set up an interview. By speaking with peers of mi…

Academic Index Scores: Why They Matter and How They're Calculated

Note: Click here for 10 Summer Programs You Can Still Apply For or keep reading to learn more about academic index scores.

7 Podcasts for Students Going Through the Admissions Process

Podcasts can offer a wealth of information to busy students, particularly when it comes to the college admissions process. We…

Avoid College Application Regrets: Tips For Getting It Right the First Time

Decision Day occurs each year on May 1st and is the deadline for students to inform the college of their choice of their intent t…

Get a student loan that goes beyond tuition.

Ascent offers cosigned and non-cosigned student loans with exclusive benefits that set students up for success.

Find Your Scholarship

Want to find money for school that doesn’t need to be paid back? Access insights and advice on how to search and apply for scholarships!

Students Get Real About Mental Health—and What They Need from Educators

Explore more.

• Perspectives
• Student Support

M ental health issues among college students have skyrocketed . From 2013 to 2021, the number of students who reported feelings of depression increased 135 percent, and the number of those with one or more mental health problems doubled. Simply put, the well-being of our students is in jeopardy.

To deepen our understanding of this crisis, we asked 10 students to speak candidly about their mental health. We learned that the issues they face are uniquely theirs and yet collectively ours. We hope these responses will inform your teaching and encourage you to create safe classroom spaces where students feel seen and supported.

Students Share Their Mental Health Struggles—and What Support They Need

We asked these students and recent graduates, In what ways has your mental health affected your college experience, and how can professors better support you? Here’s what they had to say.

Elizabeth Ndungu, graduate student in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, United States: My mental health has affected me deeply, and I have sought therapy (which is a big thing for me, as I was born and raised in Africa and therapy is a “Western” concept). I’m a caregiver, so unexpected medical emergencies happen a lot, which mentally stresses me out. However, my professors have given me the time I need to perform my best. They’ve listened.

In general, I think professors can better support students by

Observing and reaching out to students if they notice a pattern of behavior.

Being kind. Giving a student a second chance may very well change their life for the better.

Being supportive. Remember students’ names, learn one unique thing about them that’s positive, or connect with them on LinkedIn or other social media platforms and show them that they have a mentor.

I think schools can better support students by

Admitting diverse students. Don’t just say it—do it. Seek out ways to make the school population more DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility) friendly, especially at historically white colleges. Inclusivity should be everywhere.

Making DEIA initiatives a priority. If you are educating organizations’ next leaders, make sure DEIA initiatives are in each program and cohort. Each of our classes should be tied to knowledge, strategy, and DEIA and its impact.

Raising awareness around mental health. Provide onsite and remote resources for mental assistance, automate low complexity tasks that will cause stress to students, invest in your staff and resources, and ensure that they are happy. Because dealing with unhappy staff will make unhappy students.

Pritish Dakhole, sophomore studying engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India: Mental health is still stigmatized in India. We do not have easy access to therapy sessions, and it is a difficult topic to talk about with family. Thankfully, the scenario is changing.

I have been affected both positively and negatively by my mental health. Positively, because I have become more open-minded and perceptive. Negatively, because it has drained my will to continue, made me tired from all the overthinking, and made me turn to harmful addictions to distract myself from the pain.

Professors and schools could provide better support through

Webinars and meetings that make students aware of the issues they face and how to tackle them.

Group sessions—preferably anonymous—to remove fear.

Feedback systems so that the college is made aware of the problems that lead to a bad mental state.

Flexible education systems that allow students to take breaks during periods of excessive burnout.

Ocean Ronquillo-Morgan, Class of ’21, studied computer science and business administration at the University of Southern California, United States: In February 2021, I called 911 twice in the span of two weeks. I thought I was dying. I felt confused, felt like my body was about to give way, then I called the paramedics. They hooked me up to an EKG and checked my pulse. It was the first time in my life that I experienced panic attacks.

I don’t think anything else could have been done at the classroom level besides extending deadlines in extenuating circumstances. That’s the unfortunate nature of post-education institutions—you still need to make it “fair” for all students.

Alberto Briones, Class of ’22, studied operations and information management at Northern Illinois University, United States: Mental health can be a touchy subject. I have experienced depression and anxiety, but just thinking about all the things I could miss in life if I gave up is what gave me the strength to keep going.

Something professors can do to support students’ mental health is give students time to study between tests. Sometimes professors schedule tests on the same day, and suddenly students must study for three or four exams, all in the same day. It becomes overwhelming and they have to prioritize what tests they need to study more for.

Anjali Bathra Ravikumar, sophomore studying management information systems at The University of Texas at Austin, United States: It is stressful to be an international student at a competitive university in a competitive major. I often find myself having breakdowns and calling my parents in a panic about my future. The relatively restricted job opportunities because of my visa status and uncertainty about whether I’ll be able to forge the career that I want are major reasons behind this.

I have noticed that a lot of my international-student friends are constantly hustling as well, since we feel that we always need to be 10 steps ahead and cannot afford to slow down.

The best thing that a professor can do for me is provide as much guidance as possible in their respective field. Most of my professors have done that. This helps weed out some of the doubts that I have about potential career paths and gives me better clarity about the future. I feel that I cannot ask for more since I don’t expect everyone to be informed of what life is like for an international student.

Schools, on the other hand, can do a lot for us, such as tailor career management resources, offer international student group counseling (I attended one session and it was very liberating), provide financial relief (this is the absolute best thing that can be done for us) during rough times such as COVID-19. For example, when millions of international students had to take online classes during the pandemic, schools could have offered reduced tuition rates.

Something else that can seem small but goes a long way is using inclusive language in university announcements and communication. Most of the emails that we receive from the university feel more tailored to or are directly addressing in-state students (especially when major changes were happening at the beginning of the pandemic), and it is natural for us to feel left out. It might be a simple thing, but a couple of lines at the end of each email announcement with links addressing our specific concerns would make a lot of difference to us since we wouldn’t have to do our own research to figure out what it means for us.

EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFORE DIVING INTO MENTAL HEALTH TALKS

Starting a mental health conversation with students before we are prepared can be harmful. Here’s some advice from “ It’s Time We Talk About Mental Health in Business Classrooms ” by Bahia El Oddi, founder of Human Sustainability Inside Out, and Carin-Isabel Knoop, executive director of the Case Research and Writing Group at Harvard Business School, on how to get ready for these critical conversations.

Learn to talk about mental health. Enhance your mental health literacy through free resources such as the Learn Mental Health Literacy course (specifically for educators), the World Health Organization , and the National Institute of Mental Health . Consult the CDC for language about mental and behavioral health and the American Psychiatry Association for ways to describe individuals presenting with potential mental health disorders .

Reflect on your own biases. Consider how your own story—being raised by a parent with a mental health disorder, for example—may influence how you react and relate to others. Determine your level of openness to discussing the struggles you or your loved ones face or have faced. While it is possible to discuss mental health in the classroom without these anecdotes or personal connections, the courage to be open about your own past can have a transformative effect on classroom discussion.

Understand students may need extra support. Make yourself accessible and approachable to your students from the start so you can establish trust early. Advise them to seek professional help when necessary.

Nick Neral, Class of ’18, studied marketing management at the University of Akron, United States: At the end of my first year of college, I decided to stop participating in Division I athletics and my mental health plummeted. After calling our campus counseling center and waiting six weeks for my first intake appointment, I was told I couldn’t start therapy for two more months, but I could get medication within a couple of days.

After getting prescriptions for an SSRI and Xanax, I never heard from another clinician at my school again. They had no clue if I got the meds, if I took them, how I was doing, and whether I was on campus every day.

When my mental health was at its poorest, I was very disconnected from my classes. I went to, I think, five or six out of 30 finance classes I had during the semester.

I think professors are in this mindset that 20 percent of the class will naturally excel, a majority will do well enough, and a small chunk probably can’t be saved. Sometimes we don’t need saving in the classroom, we just need professors looking out for our well-being. There’s more to the story when a kid doesn’t show up to 80 percent of their classes.

My experience—and seeing others go through similar events—led me to create a platform where therapists can create content and free resources at forhaley.com . Anyone can filter through the content based on how they’re feeling and what’s going on in their life without paying anything or creating an account.

Shreyas Gavit, Class of ’20 in the MBA program at Oakland University, United States: Mental health has affected me because I’ve been depressed and feel trapped; I can’t just go to my home country and come back to the United States whenever I need to. Instead, I have to wait on visa dates, which are a total mess.

Schools and professors could provide more guidance in understanding how immigration has been affected due to COVID-19.

Nigel Hammett, Class of ’19, studied industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, United States: Throughout college I faced mental stress—not only from school, like everyone, but also from many constant family issues going on back home that required my energy. At times, I learned how to push through my feelings and submerge myself in my schoolwork, although I should have unpacked my trauma and handled it in a more mature way.

Students need an environment that encourages inclusive, candid dialogue around how we are feeling. There’s a correlation between social and mental health to overall success in our respective careers.

Alek Nybro, Class of ’21, studied marketing at St. Edward’s University, United States: Anxiety shows up differently for every person. I consider myself to be high functioning. This means when the going gets tough, I dig down and keep pushing, but often to extents that aren’t physically, emotionally, or mentally healthy.

In school, I didn’t know when to step back and take a break. That’s probably my biggest regret about my college years.

Professors could help students by making everything iterative. There shouldn’t be a final grade for assignments or projects. If you want to go back and revise something for a better grade, you should be able to do so.

Patrick Mandiraatmadja, first-year graduate student studying technology management at Columbia University, United States: There are times when I have felt overwhelmed by the number of deadlines and exams crammed into a specific week or few days. I always want to put in my best effort to study, which can lead to less sleep and more anxiety. Then college becomes more about getting through assignments and exams just for the sake of it and less about the learning.

Because of the amount of work or busy work, I have less opportunity to go out and do the things that make me feel alive and excited about life—whether it’s being with friends, exploring my city, exercising, involving myself with professional and social networks outside of school, or simply taking a walk and enjoying my day.

Students want to know that our professors and schools care. Part of that is providing an environment where we can talk about our personal struggles. I also think professors and schools should update the policies on homework, assignments, and exams. Sometimes we may push through and neglect our mental health, not taking the time to care for ourselves, just to get through that homework or finish that exam. The added pressure causes us increased anxiety; it’s no wonder today’s young people are some of the most anxious and unmotivated compared to previous generations.

What We Learned from These Students

These students and young alumni offer an honest glimpse into how mental health struggles have affected their college experiences. Although every student faces their own unique—and sometimes complicated—challenges, we are learning that sometimes the best response is the simplest one.

We must show our students that we care. So lend an empathetic ear, offer that deadline extension, and turn your classroom into a safe haven for open discussion. Your students need it.

Special thanks to Justin Nguyen , founder of Declassified Media , for connecting HBP to these students and young alumni who volunteered to share their experiences.

Help shape our coverage: These students spoke candidly; now it’s your turn. What are the biggest challenges you face in addressing student mental health in and out of the classroom? What experiences have stood out to you? Let us know .

Elizabeth Ndungu is a graduate student in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University.

Pritish Dakhole is a sophomore studying engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India.

Ocean Ronquillo-Morgan is a member of the University of Southern California’s Class of ’21.

Alberto Briones is a member of Northern Illinois University’s Class of ’22.

Anjali Bathra Ravikumar is a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin.

Nick Neral studied marketing management at the University of Akron and is a member of the Class of ’18.

Shreyas Gavit studied in the MBA program at Oakland University and graduated as a member of the Class of ’20.

Nigel Hammett studied industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina A&T State University and graduated as a member of Class of ’19.

Alek Nybro studied marketing at St. Edward’s University and graduated as a member of the Class of ’21.

Patrick Mandiraatmadja is a first-year graduate student studying technology management at Columbia University.

Related Articles

We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience, including personalizing content. Learn More . By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies and revised Privacy Policy .

Clinical psychology

• Anxiety disorders
• Feeding and eating disorders
• Mood disorders
• Neuro-developmental disorders
• Personality disorders
• Affirmations
• Cover Letters
• Relationships
• Resignation & Leave letters

Psychotherapy

Personality.

Table of Contents

Mention depression in your college essay? (yes or no)

As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.

The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter.  The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.

In this article, we will explain if you should mention depression in your college essay or not, and other important points to remember while writing your college essay.

Mention depression in a college essay?

College essays are meant to provide an insight into your personality that your academic transcripts and certificates do not. They are a way for you to introduce yourself to the college committee. That is why it is important to mention what is your core personality and who you are as a person. If you feel that depression is now a part of you, something that has changed you and has helped you to grow then you should mention it. College administrators and individuals who will review your college essays know that a lot of students these days experience depression and therefore are accepting of it rather than seeing it as an undesirable trait. 

In addition, they accept the possibility that students may sometimes use the services of professional essay writing services if they are experiencing psychological problems.

Reasons to mention depression in your college essay

In case you wish to mention depression in your college essay here are some reasons why you should:

It impacted your high school experience

Your academic performance suffered, to explain a gap year or period, you wish to highlight how you overcame it, to show how you turned your weakness into your strength, it defines you as a person, to highlight how you handle your mental health now.

You shouldn’t just mention your depression in your college essay unless it impacted your high school experience. In case because of depression, you felt that you were unable to participate in the school extracurricular activities or were not able to enjoy it as much as others. Then you can mention it, but ensure that its impact was quite significant in nature. Another reason to mention your depression in your college is to highlight how high school can be a little difficult for some individuals and how it affects one’s mental health negatively. But ensure that you are not blaming the education system but providing a viewpoint.

In case you were unable to perform well academically due to depression, then you can mention it in your college essay. You can provide an explanation as to why your academy performance suffered so much while reassuring the committee that you have bounced back from it and won’t let it affect your college grades now. Especially if you were a student who used to score very high marks and in a particular year were not able to score as much. In case there are inconsistencies between your grades you can use your college essay and an explanation platform for it.

In case you took a gap year or period during your school or after your high school ended you can mention your depression in your college essay. Be sure to explain how and why it was necessary for you to take this year, build upon your mental health and how you were able to successfully overcome depression after taking this gap year. Mention how you felt during this time of period and how other people like your family members, friends and classmates help you with it. Mention how your experience during the gap years was, what other activities did you learn or do during this time period, be sure to mention any internship or course that you did. 

A reason to mention depression in your college is it could be to illustrate your journey on how you overcame depression. You could mention the feelings and the emotions that you went through during this time, how your family and friends helped you, and what different activities did you engage in to help with depression. You could also mention your journey of self-realization during the therapy sessions or how going through depression changed your outlook on life and the world in general.

You can mention depression in your college essay to show them how you turned your weakness into your strength, that is how you overcame depression, and rather than seeing it as a mistake turned it into a learning experience. Mention what you learned during this time of yours and how your outlook towards life is no different from before. 

If you feel that you are a different person because of depression you can mention it in your college essay explaining what changes it brought in you. In the essay explain what type of a person you were before and how depression changed things about you that you are now proud of. Be sure to only mention in your college essay if you feel that it has changed you and the definition of who you are. Explain your journey from your older self to new you and highlight what realizations you mean about yourself.

If you feel that you are more and better equipped at handling your mental health and actively taking steps to improve it even now, mention your depression in your college essay. In case you have started ensuring that you do yoga or practice mindfulness, take out time to explore your hobbies then it is a good idea to mention these things in your college essay.

Points to remember when you want to mention depression in your college essay

Here are a few points that you must remember while writing and mentioning depression in your college essay:

You are not alone

It is okay to talk about your struggles, you are more than just being depressed, focus on your coping skills, research about your college’s counseling services.

Remember that you’re not alone and that many students just like you have also struggled through depression and gotten into college. College administrators know that and know how tough it can be to deal with and overcome depression. Knowing that you have gone through something as life-changing as depression and come and be able to come out of it. It takes a lot of courage and strength to be able to do that. You are understood and wanted by colleges based on who you are now. 

Depression is not an easy thing to go through and it is even harder to overcome it and begin to rebuild your life. It is okay to talk about your struggles, you’re weak moments and times when it was tough for you. Be confident about your life journey and the obstacles that you have faced. There is nothing for you to hide or be ashamed of. Be comfortable in talking and expressing about depression as it will show your maturity and how well you can handle adversities in life.

Remember that depression is something that happened to you and that it does not define who you are. You’re more than just being depressed you’re also all your other personalities and traits. Just like if a person has a cough we do not say that they are “cough”, similarly you had or have depression but you are not “depression”. Do not let depression be the only thing that defines you as you are much more than that.

While writing the college essay be sure to mention what different coping skills and mechanisms did you use to overcome depression. Don’t let the college essay just be about your struggles and the problems that you faced. Mention how you tackled them and overcame them. The faculty is more interested in knowing how you deal with difficulties and problems in life rather than which problem you faced. So let your essay be more about the coping skills that you have used and the new ones that you developed because of depression rather than talking just about the downfalls that depression caused.

While applying to a college ensure that you go through the website properly and research as to what counseling services your college provides in case you have difficulty keeping up with the curriculum and college life. This will also help you have an understanding of what your college’s approach to mental health is. If the college has a proper counseling center where 24*7 help is available. It indicates that the college is aware of the importance of mental health and is working actively to ensure that the students are given the proper treatment and care they wish for.

In this article, we explained if you should mention depression in your college essay or not, and other important points to remember while writing your college essay.

BetterHelp: A Better Alternative

Those who are seeking therapy online may also be interested in BetterHelp . BetterHelp offers plenty of formats of therapy, ranging from live chats, live audio sessions and live video sessions. In addition, unlimited messaging through texting, audio messages and even video messages are available here.

BetterHelp also offers couples therapy and therapy for teenagers in its platform. Furthermore, group sessions can also be found in this platform, covering more than twenty different topics related to mental health and mental illness. The pricing of BetterHelp is also pretty cost-effective, especially considering the fact that the platform offers financial aid to most users.

FAQs: Mention depression in a college essay? 

Is it okay to write about depression in a college essay.

It is okay to write about depression in a college essay when you are mentioning it to explain an inconsistency in your academic records. For example, explaining a gap year or drop in grades.

Is it OK to write about mental health in college essays?

It is ok to write about mental health in college essays, but avoid making it the main essay. You can mention it if you deem it to be very important. It is preferable if you do not write your main essay about your mental health.

What should you not write your college essay on?

You should not be bragging about your accomplishments and achievements in your college essay. Your transcripts and other certificates will do that for you. Avoid writing about highly sensitive topics and illegal or illicit behaviors you might have been a part of in the past. Also do not write about how lucky you are to be able to apply there.

Is it bad to swear in a college essay?

Yes, it is a terrible idea to swear in a college essay as many articles by college admission boards have mentioned that using profanities in college essays leads to people losing their seats. They consider using swear words a significant mistake that every student must avoid.

What are the best college essay topics?

The best college essay topics are where one shares their life story, how they learned from difficulties in life, when they challenged a long-held belief of theirs or how they grew as an individual. It can mention things that captivate you, people you admire, or any other topic of your choice. 

Do colleges look at mental health records?

It is actually illegal for college to specifically ask for details regarding your mental or physical health. As it is considered discrimination, they can not look at your mental health records.

References 

https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/tackling-depression-anxiety-on-your-college-application-and-beyond

https://www.noodle.com/articles/how-to-discuss-your-mental-health-on-college-applications

https://blog.getintocollege.com/depression-should-i-talk-about-my-mental-illness-in-my-application/

Was this helpful?

Overcome depression and find joy in life again with betterhelp.

Living with depression can feel like an uphill battle, but you don’t have to face it alone.

BetterHelp offers accessible, affordable, and convenient online therapy that can help you manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life. Our licensed therapists specialize in treating depression and can provide you with the personalized support and guidance you need to overcome your challenges.

Whether you’re struggling with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or fatigue, BetterHelp can help you develop coping strategies, build resilience, and find joy in life again.

Don’t wait to start feeling better – sign up for BetterHelp today and take the first step towards a brighter tomorrow.

Related Posts

How not to gain weight on mirtazapine (9+ amazing tips), why is my postdoc making me depressed, can work on a 3-11 shift lead to depression (+how to cope).

Mental Health in College Students – From Application to Enrollment

August 16, 2022

Sometimes it takes unspeakably tragic events to bring the existence of a widespread problem into the national conversation. In the past decade, highly-publicized suicides at Penn, Hamilton College, MIT, NYU, and Cornell, among others, have moved the discussion of mental health in college students right to the forefront of the higher education discourse.

Thankfully, these are, of course, extreme cases of mental health challenges. However, the shift in focus could benefit the massive numbers of students who enter college each year with depression/anxiety. According to a survey by the CDC in 2022, 44% of American adolescents report feeling persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness; 28% said that they had thoughts of self-harm at some point in their lives. Perhaps even more startling is the fact that only an estimated 40% of those suffering actually receive any form of treatment (the National Institute of Mental Health). According to just about every survey in the world conducted after March 2020, the pandemic has had a profoundly determinantal impact on teens’ (and everybody’s) mental health.

In this piece, we will offer recommendations for dealing with depression/anxiety on your college application. But perhaps more importantly, we will share what mental health experts and current research says are important considerations for managing your illness on campus.

*Disclaimer: Mind you, we are college planning experts, not mental health experts. We are merely summarizing mental health considerations as related to college admissions and attendance. Your mental health provider may offer additional advice based on the specifics of your situation .

Impact on your high school career

For many, dealing with a mental health condition will negatively impact their high school career in some way, potentially impacting areas such as academic performance, school attendance, teacher relationships, and extracurricular involvement. There is ample statistical evidence to support this. For example, students with social phobia are twice as likely to fail a grade as those without. Students with a depression diagnosis have been found to earn significantly lower grades than their similarly-abled peers.

Given the impact of mental illness on a teen’s academics, a significant number of high school seniors are faced with a difficult choice each year—do I reveal my condition on my college application? There is no blanket answer that will guide every applicant. Ultimately, the decision to reveal your condition is an entirely personal one.

Did your academic performance suffer?

Perhaps your mental health issues were managed successfully and never impacted your grades. If this is the case, we advise that there is no reason to reveal your condition on an application. You should, however, still check out our recommendations on how to check out a college’s mental health services (below).

If your academic performance did suffer as a result of your condition and you do choose to share your challenges with prospective colleges in an essay and/or interview, we recommend that you consider framing your experience in one of the following ways:

The “overcoming obstacles” angle

Overcoming challenges and citing evidence of personal growth can be a winning story arc. If a bout of depression during your sophomore year contributed toward failing grades but you received treatment and rebounded academically the following year, then revealing that journey may be extremely helpful to your admissions chances. Knowing that you faced a significant challenge in your life and successfully emerged from it speaks volumes about your resilience, maturity, and grit, traits that are greatly valued by admissions officers.

Weakness as strength

Another approach is highlighting the strength that you draw from what others call an “illness.” An associate of Abraham Lincoln said of our 16th president that the “melancholy dripped from him as he walked.” Yet, many historians feel that Lincoln’s lifelong depression helped sparked his legendary wisdom, insight, and brilliant strategic thinking. Lincoln was hardly alone. Many of the greatest, most creative minds throughout history were, at least in part, driven by mental conditions. Darwin, Michelangelo, and Einstein were all likely sufferers of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If we were to list all of all the great writers, artists, comedians, actors, and directors who were influenced by depression and anxiety, this blog post would be longer than the 1,017 page novel, Bleak House,  penned by Charles Dickens, who was himself a lifelong victim of severe depression.

The semantic shift

Cautious applicants might consider simply substituting the term “medical condition” for “mental illness.” After all, mental health issues are treatable medical conditions in the same vein as mono or a broken bone. Simply stating that you were afflicted by a “serious medical condition” which caused a temporary academic decline and led to you quitting the school newspaper and the baseball team will suffice.

Check out a college’s services ahead of time

In a recent survey of college students with a diagnosed mental health condition, 45% rated their respective college as being somewhere between supportive and very supportive. The other 55% felt that mental health care on campus was less than ideal. Factors that were rated as being most important by students included: access to a psychiatrist for medication management, a 24-hour crisis hotline, community connections to additional mental healthcare, and the school’s overall culture of understanding that college can be stress-inducing and that mental health is paramount.

It is essential that parents and students research the mental health services on campus ahead of time. Check out each prospective college’s counseling office online to get a sense of what is available to students. If a college does not offer long-term therapy on campus, then parents should take the reins and find a good private therapist located near campus who accepts their insurance. Do this well before school starts.

Colleges are expanding mental health services

Many state universities, despite budget crunches, are recognizing the need to expand their mental health offerings. For example, in the fall of 2017, UCLA began offering free online screenings for depression; 2,700 students took advantage. Ohio State opened a dozen new mental health clinics in 2016. Penn State has increased their spending on mental health significantly in the last few years. The University of Michigan and Virginia Tech, in an attempt to make mental health more accessible, have embedded counselors in buildings around campus, rather than at one centralized location. Many schools operate prevention/wellness programs that assist students before they enter a crisis. These schools include Harvard, Georgia Tech, UVA, and Bowdoin College.

Amherst, Skidmore, Princeton, Drexel, and Carnegie Mellon are just a handful of schools that now offer access to 24-hour crisis hotlines manned by either peers or professional counselors. Unfortunately, excessively long wait times for a counseling appointment at many schools persist. At schools like Northwestern, Carleton College, and WashU, wait times to see a counselor range from one-to-three weeks.

Relevant statistics on mental health at college

Just to highlight some other meaningful stats on the subject:

• Only 50% of college students report disclosing their mental health issue to their school
• Of those with a diagnosed mental illness who dropped out of college, 64% directly attribute this event to their condition/disorder.
• Only 36% of college students with a mental illness are sure that their university includes mental health information on their website.
• 39% of students reported a wait time of 5+ to obtain an appointment for clinical services and supports.
• 73% of those entering college with previous mental health concerns have experienced a “mental health crisis” while on campus.
• Half of students believe that their peers will think less of anyone receiving treatment for mental health.
• The percentage of college students seriously considering suicide has doubled in the last decade.
• More than 1,000 suicides occur on college campuses each year.

College Transitions bottom line

If you are going to discuss your depression, anxiety, or other mental condition in your application, do so in a strategic manner for the purpose of illuminating otherwise unexplained inconsistencies in your academic record. A well-conceived and well-delivered narrative about your struggles with mental illness can be beneficial to your admissions chances. Contrarily, a poorly crafted disclosure may have the opposite effect.

Of even greater importance is that you do your research on the mental health services offered at each prospective college. Ensuring that the necessary supports at your disposal is critical to your overall well-being.  It is also likely critical to your academic performance over the next four years.

To view hundreds of free and easy-to-sort tables of higher education data, visit our DATAVERSE .

• Application Strategies

Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

• 2-Year Colleges
• Best Colleges by Major
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• Graduate School Admissions
• High School Success
• High Schools
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Private High School Spotlight
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

Sign Up Now

Personalize Your Experience

Log in or create an account for a personalized experience based on your selected interests.

Already have an account? Log In

Free standard shipping is valid on orders of $45 or more (after promotions and discounts are applied, regular shipping rates do not qualify as part of the $45 or more) shipped to US addresses only. Not valid on previous purchases or when combined with any other promotional offers.

Register for an enhanced, personalized experience.

Receive free access to exclusive content, a personalized homepage based on your interests, and a weekly newsletter with topics of your choice.

Home / Parenting, Kids & Teens / Depression in college students: How to help students manage their mental health

Depression in college students: How to help students manage their mental health

Please login to bookmark.

Parents hope college will be a time for their kids to spread their wings and fly. Yet college students are now experiencing record high rates of depression and anxiety. During the 2022-2023 academic year, 41% of students reported experiencing symptoms of depression and 36% said they experienced anxiety, according to the latest Healthy Minds Study . Understandably, parents want to know what they can do to help their college age kids manage their mental health so depression doesn’t dock their wings.

Any single case of depression can have multiple causes involving a mix of biological, genetic or social factors. However, one common cause of depression in college students is the sheer scope of change that comes with moving on from the familiar world of home and high school, according to Paige I. Partain, M.D., a pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center in Rochester, Minnesota, with expertise in child and adolescent mental health.

In addition to changes in housing and social connections, going to college typically accelerates academic expectations. It also scrambles students’ sleep, diet and exercise patterns. For some college students — even those with no history of depression — having so many facets of their lives suddenly challenged and changed can create enough stress to trigger depression, says Dr. Partain

She adds, however, that it’s important “for parents and students alike to recognize that depression can be totally untriggered.” Sometimes students can be on top of their coursework, getting along with new friends and otherwise outwardly crushing college when they sense that their moods have dipped.

If students are baffled about why they’re feeling down, helping them understand that sometimes depression occurs without an identifiable cause is important. It can help relieve the added burden of wondering what’s wrong with them — or blaming themselves — for feeling depressed.

Says Dr. Partain, “I can’t express enough what a difference it makes when I’m talking to teenagers or young adults in their early twenties and I can explain that sometimes it just happens. It can be even more frustrating when you don’t know why depression happens. But I can see the relief in their eyes. They’re like, ‘Yes, you get it.’ To be able to just empathize and label the phenomena can be incredibly powerful.”

Spotting signs of depression in college students

Along with feeling sad and down, common signs of depression in college kids include:

• Changes in appetite such as eating more or less than usual.
• Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia or sleeping too much.
• Losing in interest in favorite pastimes including playing sports, making art or hanging out with friends. “Isolation is a really key symptom, particularly for teens and young adults,” says Dr. Partain.

People often experience depression and anxiety at the same time , and college kids are no exception. Determining which one came first can be a “chicken or the egg” question, says Dr. Partain. But big shifts in a student’s mood and behavior may indicate underlying depression.

“If your kid is not one who tends to be anxious, and all of a sudden, there’s worry about everything, that might be an indicator of a problem with mood.” On the flip side, she says, if your kid is usually “a type-A go-getter, and normally a little more anxious, and all of a sudden the work isn’t getting done and grades are slipping, that can also be an indicator that there’s a problem with mood.”

Irritability is another common symptom of depression. “We think a lot about feeling sad or down, and that can certainly be the case for a teenager or a young adult. But there is good medical research to suggest that irritability might be an even better indicator of underlying mood problems,” says Dr. Partain. “It’s another textbook symptom to be aware of.”

What to say if your child seems depressed

Sometimes, parents who think their kids might be depressed are wary of butting into their business. Or they may keep quiet because they’re just not sure how to talk about depression. If parents ask Dr. Partain if they should try talking to their child’s friends or professors about their concerns, she advises them not to go around their child’s back.

Rather, Dr. Partain recommends that parents raise their concerns with their kids in a straightforward way. “As you’re trying to help children develop independence and capability — regardless of the dynamic that you have with your child — I advocate for talking with kids directly.”

To get a better sense of how children are feeling, Dr. Partain says it’s fine to initiate the conversation by text with a simple message like this: Just checking in to say I love you. How are you doing? I want to make sure you’re doing okay.

Let them know that you’re concerned and let them respond in their own time.

If your child shares feelings of being depressed or anxious, make it clear that you’re available to help in whatever way works. “You can ask, ‘Do you want my help, or is this something you want to take care of on your own?’ The biggest thing to avoid is invalidating language: ‘You’ll get over it.’ ‘Going to college is just hard,’ ” says Dr. Partain. “Parents might find a slightly different approach for every kid, but they should feel empowered to speak up because parents can play a powerful role in helping children understand what they’re experiencing.”

Help your college kid develop strategies to cope with depression

With college students experiencing depression or anxiety for the first time, parents can share self-care strategies that have been proved to ease symptoms of depression, including:

• Exercising .
• Connecting with friends.
• Eating healthy foods.
• Spending time in nature.
• Getting adequate sleep, as young adults need between seven and nine hours a night
• Finding a community on campus, whether it be with a group of fellow ultimate Frisbee fans or a religious or political organization.

If students are experiencing any kind of acute or prolonged dip in mood, their parents can also encourage them to seek treatment and help them navigate campus mental health resources. As students’ mental health becomes a central part of the conversation on college and university campuses, Dr. Partain says that more schools are preemptively providing students and parents with information about counseling and medical services.

“I encourage all parents to keep that information handy,” she says. “Even if you have a kid who’s done great and never had difficulty with mental health, it’s helpful to know about available resources, so if your child reaches the point of saying, ‘Mom, Dad, what do I do?’ you can help provide answers.”

Parents can also provide important support to students who have a history of depression, Dr. Partain says. If your child is taking an antidepressant, you can ask the healthcare professional to dispense the prescription in a 90-day supply, with refills that can be obtained at a pharmacy near campus.

As students in Dr. Partain’s care are preparing to transition to college, she has a conversation with them about their specific symptoms of depression. She also reviews the self-care strategies that have helped them feel better in the past. “Depression looks different for everyone, and it’s important for students to do the mental exercise of saying, What does it look like for me? Is it that I’m isolating myself? Is it that I’m less talkative? Is it that I’m more irritable? Is it that I don’t enjoy reading anymore?” says Dr. Partain.

The point of the conversation is to help students become more self-aware about what depression looks like for them, and spot early warning signs so they can act quickly to protect their emotional health. She encourages parents and children to have a version of this conversation together, too, and to develop a shared relapse prevention plan.

Then, if students begin to feel depression coming back while they’re away at college, their parents can reinforce whatever self-care strategies have helped get through rough patches before. For students already seeing therapists, noticing an uptick in symptoms can prompt them to reach out to ask for some extra sessions, with help from parents if needed.

“Almost all therapy providers have the ability to treat people who are in crisis or who feel like they’re significantly worsening. The same goes for healthcare professionals if students are on a medication. If I get a message from a college kid saying, ‘My mood is getting a lot worse,’ I’m going to get them seen within a week, and many other healthcare professionals will too,” says Dr. Partain.

Create a crisis plan

If students have had inpatient treatment or thoughts of suicide in any context in the past, it’s also critically important for them and their parents to have shared emergency safety plans. This can be activated if students ever becomes severely distressed again.

“Sometimes, depending on the family dynamic, the safety plan may not include having the child call the parent. The plan for the child may be calling Aunt Jane, or calling Grandma. But it’s really powerful for the parents to be able to reinforce that and say, ‘That’s OK. I want you to be safe,’ ” says Dr. Partain.

A common worry she hears from parents is that discussing suicide may make it more likely that their child will contemplate or attempt suicide. But, she says, there’s no data showing that talking about suicide makes people more likely to attempt it. In fact, it does the opposite : “Talking about it makes it easier for them to seek help in the moment. The way I phrase it to my patients is, ‘I’m really glad that you’re not having those kinds of thoughts. But I know things can change quickly, and this safety plan is just something we want to have in our back pocket.” Parents don’t have to hammer on the subject,” she adds, “but it’s an important conversation to have, and I wouldn’t avoid it.”

Relevant reading

Vaccine Breakthroughs

From the discovery of the Polio vaccine to the breakthrough in mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, this exploration of scientific inquiry celebrates the greatest developments to date in vaccine science. Get to know the physicians, scientists, and other researchers responsible for these breakthroughs in medicine, and explore the ups, the downs,…

Discover more Parenting, Kids & Teens content from articles, podcasts, to videos.

Want more children’s health and parenting information? Sign up for free to our email list.

Children’s health information and parenting tips to your inbox.

Sign-up to get Mayo Clinic’s trusted health content sent to your email. Receive a bonus guide on ways to manage your child’s health just for subscribing.

You May Also Enjoy

Privacy Policy

We've made some updates to our Privacy Policy. Please take a moment to review.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

I Edited Mental Illness Out of My College Applications. I’m Not Alone.

By Emi Nietfeld

Ms. Nietfeld is the author of a memoir, “Acceptance.”

When I applied to college in the 2009-10 school year, I wasn’t worried about my grades or extracurriculars. Instead, I agonized over a dilemma that’s familiar to more students than ever as the Common Application deadline looms: What should I disclose about my mental health?

As I wrote my applications, my past was both my greatest asset and my biggest liability. I’d spent time in foster care and homeless, circumstances that made me attractive to the handful of selective universities that offered full scholarships to low-income students — my only hope at avoiding crushing loans. In an applicant pool filled with squash champions, concert organists and third-generation double legacies, I had my story.

But my experiences also affected me and my academic record in ways that weren’t so appealing: Like approximately 80 percent of current foster youths and many former ones, I had serious mental health diagnoses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and disordered eating. From ages 13 to 15, I was hospitalized repeatedly. Before being placed in a foster home, I spent nine months in a locked treatment center. I’d attended four to eight high schools, depending on how you counted. How could I possibly explain all that?

Officially, colleges say that students can share as much about their mental health as feels comfortable. But in practice, it seems clear that schools are nervous about accepting adolescents who divulge psychiatric histories. That perception is reinforced by high-profile lawsuits alleging discrimination against students with mental health disabilities, including an ongoing suit against Yale University and a similar one settled by Stanford University in 2019.

“We have all read the headlines of students on college campuses who have either harmed others or harmed themselves,” said Kat Cohen, a private admissions consultant who helped me, pro bono, with my applications. “These are the things that colleges worry about if they admit someone who is not stable.”

These mixed messages are forcing more and more students to make impossible choices amid a teenage mental health crisis. Should applicants play it safe and conceal their emotional troubles — even when it means leaving low grades and gaps in transcripts unexplained? Or should they tell the truth and risk getting flagged as a liability?

For those with mental health conditions, college admissions are unfairly arduous, an injustice that has long-lasting ramifications for both students and society. Many teenagers with psychological disorders end up at lower-quality schools than they could have attended otherwise, affecting their career options and earning potential. And since elite universities produce a disproportionate number of politicians and managers, society loses out by having fewer people in power who deeply understand mental illness and how it intersects with almost every major issue.

“In the age of Instagram activists, I thought it wouldn’t be as bad,” Jia Suo, a high school senior from Sugar Land, Texas, told me about the stigma of mental illness. “But when I got out of my treatment center my junior year, it’s not an exaggeration to say that I lost every single one of my friends.”

After an inpatient program for suicidal ideation (a diagnosis Ms. Suo attributes to normal angst misinterpreted by doctors), she did not receive credit for the classwork she did there. Looking at her grades — C’s and incompletes in a transcript filled with A’s — she figured she must have been given a zero for every missed assignment. She said she reached out to her guidance counselor and homebound teacher but was told it was too late and there was nothing they could do.

Initially, Ms. Suo wanted to explain herself in her college application essay. She wrote a personal statement about how her institutionalization motivated her to study law after meeting girls who had been sex trafficked and boys who languished in the facility for months waiting for foster homes.

But sharing her struggles was risky. A family friend who worked in admissions advised her, “Say you slacked off junior year.” Ms. Suo crossed her dream school, Cornell, off her list and has instead applied to 17 colleges without any explanation for the sudden drop in G.P.A. She resents that her brush with psychiatry will shape what college she attends, but it feels safer to talk about her institutionalization in The New York Times than in her applications. “I’m OK with the whole world knowing about it, but at the same time I just know the stigma they’re going to have at colleges about this.” In three months, when Ms. Suo gets the final acceptance and rejection letters, she’ll know the true impact.

When I applied to college, Ms. Cohen — Dr. Kat, as I and her other clients call her — advised the opposite approach at first. “You have to be extremely explicit,” I remember her warning me. “Otherwise they’ll have no idea how bad things were.” This surprised me. Until that point, the adults around me made me feel my symptoms were evidence of what was wrong with me, not evidence of what was wrong with my circumstances. Though I was deeply ashamed, when I applied to Yale early, I attached a timeline detailing my mom’s hoarding and my overmedication, culminating with me regaining my emotional stability as a scholarship student at boarding school.

I was rejected. My school guidance counselor called Yale’s admissions office and relayed to me that though my grades and test scores were similar to other applicants’, as she put it in an email to me, “regarding the past issues, the list was daunting.” Dr. Kat also queried her network and surmised that Yale wanted to minimize its risk after several high-profile on-campus suicides of college students around the country. “It was just T.M.I.,” she told me — too much information.

A spokeswoman for Yale this month said in a statement to The New York Times that she could not discuss my case because admission files are confidential. But she did say, “This account of an admissions decision from over a decade ago is at odds with our admissions practices and philosophy,” adding that Yale’s admissions process is “holistic.”

She continued, “The admissions committee does not discriminate against any applicant for health reasons.”

For my next round of applications, I wrote a simple explanation for why I had changed schools and thereby excised three years of my life: the diagnoses, the drugs, the self-inflicted scars. I became a parallel person who’d gone through the same things but come out unscathed. I hit “submit,” applying to 10 schools, including Harvard.

While I waited, I lived in fear of being found out. In my dreams, admissions officers interrogated me. They called me a liar and a cheater.

But after three months of nightmares, on April 1, 2010, I got into Harvard.

I screamed when I opened the email; I danced in the rain. Then guilt fogged the world. Harvard accepted 7 percent of applicants that spring. I felt alternate versions of myself trailing me, fates in which I hadn’t been able to hide my past and it haunted me into adulthood.

I spoke to current and former admissions officers this fall, seeking answers to the question that had mystified me as a teenager: How much should students talk about mental health on their college applications? Echoing the advice of other professionals, Claudia Marroquin, the dean of admissions at Bowdoin College, implied that applicants should not feel pressure to disclose. Pressed for more specifics, she told me that students “have to feel comfortable with what they’re sharing.” This platitude made me seethe with frustration: Even if I was comfortable sharing everything, I suspected that the colleges were not comfortable hearing it. The students I interviewed all sensed there was a line, but few of us were lucky enough to know where it lay.

Only Dr. Kat was willing to speak candidly. In the years since she initially advised me to discuss my struggles in detail, she has realized that this approach may be unwise.

“Without exception,” she said, “reading a personal statement about the applicant’s mental health struggles — that’s going to immediately raise a red flag unless it can really be contextualized as something that the student has triumphed over.”

She emphasized that mental health had to be handled on “a case-by-case basis,” ideally in close consultation with the student’s school guidance counselor.

But that, too, is fraught. At 16, I sought out Dr. Kat’s help because even at a private boarding school, my counselor didn’t have the bandwidth to give me the personal attention I needed. The pro bono services I received would’ve cost more than $16,000 in 2009 dollars. When I spoke to students about their experiences, far greater than the variety of emotional issues was the range in support. Even at Ms. Suo’s affluent suburban school, a single counselor could juggle more than 400 students at a time. Students with less help turn to YouTube gurus and Discord servers where peers workshop their essays.

Favour Osisioma, who immigrated from Nigeria to rural Tennessee at 13, started 2020 on track to attend an elite school. Then Covid hit. She found herself caretaker for her two younger siblings — the three of them remote-learning on one computer while their mom worked 100-hour weeks and Ms. Osisioma worked part time at McDonald’s. “I felt that it was my job to bring my family out of poverty,” she said. Her grades fell, escalating the anxiety she’d had before the pandemic into paralyzing panic attacks. She remembers an adviser saying, “‘I never expected you to disappoint me in this way.’”

Ms. Osisioma agonized over how to explain this to colleges. “I was trying to get the perfect words,” she said. “But I wasn’t sure anyone would see me and think, ‘This is an attractive package.’” In her senior year, she won a number of accolades, including a prestigious Coca-Cola scholarship. A video crew surprised her at school with a jumbo check.

“I remember coming home and putting it down in my room and still crying because I didn’t know what to say in my applications about the anxiety.” At the time, a single guidance counselor was assisting 800 students with everything from class scheduling to college counseling. Staring at her Yale application, Ms. Osisioma watched the deadline tick past and became so overwhelmed that she couldn’t walk and felt herself going in and out of consciousness. She had to see a neurologist to rule out seizures. She ended up attending college a year later than planned at the University of Tennessee at Martin. She’s a university scholar there and enjoys her classes but feels a long way from where she hoped she’d be.

Meanwhile, prep schools often employ former admissions officers as counselors, with caseloads closer to 30 students. Jessica Smith, the director of college counseling at Westtown School in Pennsylvania, said she takes pains to protect “students’ private business.” She added, “Even when a psychiatric crisis affects a transcript, there’s a lot I can control about how much it shows up.”

Jaimi Salone, now in their final quarter at Stanford, benefited from this kind of advice while a student at the Blake School in Minneapolis, which they attended on scholarship. In their essay, they wrote frankly about depression, anxiety and shame after their mom’s cancer diagnosis and eventual death — providing context for why they “did not look like what was expected of a Stanford admit,” with a 3.06 G.P.A. and many absences. But at the suggestion of their college counselor, they omitted their sophomore-year hospitalization. “Is it lying to not include?” they wondered. “What is considered an accurate representation of me as a student when I actually do have mental health issues?”

Even after they got in, the stress stayed. “I was worried my admissions would be revoked if other information came out.”

My Harvard application taught me what was acceptable to share and what was not. I sensed that colleges wanted a pristine survivor who was not marred by trauma. At 16, I didn’t realize that it is impossible to emerge from certain hardships unscathed; the perfect overcomer is a fantasy that some young people are coached into creating. This illusion can do great damage. I saw that I was not that person, which caused me deep shame.

Effective admissions policies require grasping how mental illness manifests in different students’ lives. The same crisis that leads to an outpouring of support for a wealthy child might cause a foster youth to be sent to a locked facility, prescribed antipsychotics and forced to change schools. Stigma varies widely across communities, affecting how teenagers view their struggles and what leeway they get from adults. Some kids are far less likely to be diagnosed and treated; others receive superfluous labels and get overmedicated. Understanding these disparities is crucial in the face of worsening adolescent mental health and ever more competitive standards at the colleges that produce an outsize share of leaders.

For a decade, I believed my story was an anomaly, but every year that seems less and less true. There are so many young people unable to hide their crises. We all lose out if this disqualifies them from a better future.

Emi Nietfeld ( @eminietfeld ) is the author of a memoir, “ Acceptance .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram .

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of a city in Texas. It is Sugar Land, not Sugarland.

How we handle corrections

Study Tracks Shifts in Student Mental Health During College

Dartmouth study followed 200 students all four years, including through the pandemic.

Phone App Uses AI to Detect Depression From Facial Cues

A four-year study by Dartmouth researchers captures the most in-depth data yet on how college students’ self-esteem and mental health fluctuates during their four years in academia, identifying key populations and stressors that the researchers say administrators could target to improve student well-being. 

The study also provides among the first real-time accounts of how the coronavirus pandemic affected students’ behavior and mental health. The stress and uncertainty of COVID-19 resulted in long-lasting behavioral changes that persisted as a “new normal” even as the pandemic diminished, including students feeling more stressed, less socially engaged, and sleeping more.

The researchers tracked more than 200 Dartmouth undergraduates in the classes of 2021 and 2022 for all four years of college. Students volunteered to let a specially developed app called StudentLife tap into the sensors that are built into smartphones. The app cataloged their daily physical and social activity, how long they slept, their location and travel, the time they spent on their phone, and how often they listened to music or watched videos. Students also filled out weekly behavioral surveys, and selected students gave post-study interviews. 

The study—which is the longest mobile-sensing study ever conducted—is published in the Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies .

The researchers will present it at the Association of Computing Machinery’s UbiComp/ISWC 2024 conference in Melbourne, Australia, in October. 

These sorts of tools will have a tremendous impact on projecting forward and developing much more data-driven ways to intervene and respond exactly when students need it most.

The team made their anonymized data set publicly available —including self-reports, surveys, and phone-sensing and brain-imaging data—to help advance research into the mental health of students during their college years. 

Andrew Campbell , the paper’s senior author and Dartmouth’s Albert Bradley 1915 Third Century Professor of Computer Science, says that the study’s extensive data reinforces the importance of college and university administrators across the country being more attuned to how and when students’ mental well-being changes during the school year.

“For the first time, we’ve produced granular data about the ebb and flow of student mental health. It’s incredibly dynamic—there’s nothing that’s steady state through the term, let alone through the year,” he says. “These sorts of tools will have a tremendous impact on projecting forward and developing much more data-driven ways to intervene and respond exactly when students need it most.”

First-year and female students are especially at risk for high anxiety and low self-esteem, the study finds. Among first-year students, self-esteem dropped to its lowest point in the first weeks of their transition from high school to college but rose steadily every semester until it was about 10% higher by graduation.

“We can see that students came out of high school with a certain level of self-esteem that dropped off to the lowest point of the four years. Some said they started to experience ‘imposter syndrome’ from being around other high-performing students,” Campbell says. “As the years progress, though, we can draw a straight line from low to high as their self-esteem improves. I think we would see a similar trend class over class. To me, that’s a very positive thing.”

Female students—who made up 60% of study participants—experienced on average 5% greater stress levels and 10% lower self-esteem than male students. More significantly, the data show that female students tended to be less active, with male students walking 37% more often.

Sophomores were 40% more socially active compared to their first year, the researchers report. But these students also reported feeling 13% more stressed during their second year than during their first year as their workload increased, they felt pressure to socialize, or as first-year social groups dispersed.

One student in a sorority recalled that having pre-arranged activities “kind of adds stress as I feel like I should be having fun because everyone tells me that it is fun.” Another student noted that after the first year, “students have more access to the whole campus and that is when you start feeling excluded from things.” 

In a novel finding, the researchers identify an “anticipatory stress spike” of 17% experienced in the last two weeks of summer break. While still lower than mid-academic year stress, the spike was consistent across different summers.

In post-study interviews, some students pointed to returning to campus early for team sports as a source of stress. Others specified reconnecting with family and high school friends during their first summer home, saying they felt “a sense of leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of these long-standing friendships” as the break ended, the researchers report. 

“This is a foundational study,” says Subigya Nepal , first author of the study and a PhD candidate in Campbell’s research group. “It has more real-time granular data than anything we or anyone else has provided before. We don’t know yet how it will translate to campuses nationwide, but it can be a template for getting the conversation going.”

The depth and accuracy of the study data suggest that mobile-sensing software could eventually give universities the ability to create proactive mental-health policies specific to certain student populations and times of year, Campbell says.

For example, a paper Campbell’s research group published in 2022 based on StudentLife data showed that first-generation students experienced lower self-esteem and higher levels of depression than other students throughout their four years of college.

“We will be able to look at campus in much more nuanced ways than waiting for the results of an annual mental health study and then developing policy,” Campbell says. “We know that Dartmouth is a small and very tight-knit campus community. But if we applied these same methods to a college with similar attributes, I believe we would find very similar trends.”

Weathering the pandemic

When students returned home at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers found that self-esteem actually increased during the pandemic by 5% overall and by another 6% afterward when life returned closer to what it was before. One student suggested in their interview that getting older came with more confidence. Others indicated that being home led to them spending more time with friends talking on the phone, on social media, or streaming movies together. 

The data show that phone usage—measured by the duration a phone was unlocked—indeed increased by nearly 33 minutes, or 19%, during the pandemic, while time spent in physical activity dropped by 52 minutes, or 27%. By 2022, phone usage fell from its pandemic peak to just above pre-pandemic levels, while engagement in physical activity had recovered to exceed the pre-pandemic period by three minutes. 

Despite reporting higher self-esteem, students’ feelings of stress increased by more than 10% during the pandemic. By the end of the study in June 2022, stress had fallen by less than 2% of its pandemic peak, indicating that the experience had a lasting impact on student well-being, the researchers report. 

In early 2021, as students returned to campus, their reunion with friends and community was tempered by an overwhelming concern about the still-rampant coronavirus. “There was the first outbreak in winter 2021 and that was terrifying,” one student recalls. Another student adds: “You could be put into isolation for a long time even if you did not have COVID. Everyone was afraid to contact-trace anyone else in case they got mad at each other.”

Female students were especially concerned about the coronavirus, on average 13% more than male students. “Even though the girls might have been hanging out with each other more, they are more aware of the impact,” one female student reported. “I actually had COVID and exposed some friends of mine. All the girls that I told tested as they were worried. They were continually checking up to make sure that they did not have it and take it home to their family.”

Students still learning remotely had social levels 16% higher than students on campus, who engaged in activity an average of 10% less often than when they were learning from home. However, on-campus students used their phones 47% more often. When interviewed after the study, these students reported spending extended periods of time video-calling or streaming movies with friends and family.

Social activity and engagement had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the study in June 2022, recovering by a little less than 3% after a nearly 10% drop during the pandemic. Similarly, the pandemic correlates with students sticking closer to home, with their distance traveled nearly cut in half during the pandemic and holding at that level since then.

Campbell and several of his fellow researchers are now developing a smartphone app known as MoodCapture that uses artificial intelligence paired with facial-image processing software to reliably detect the onset of depression before the user even knows something is wrong.

Morgan Kelly can be reached at [email protected] .

• Mental Health and Wellness
• Innovation and Impact
• Arts and Sciences
• Class of 2021
• Class of 2022
• Department of Computer Science
• Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies
• Mental Health

There’s so much to confront here in Japan’s position vis-à-vis nuclear weapons.

Dartmouth Event to Explore the Promise—and Pitfalls—of AI in Medicine

The Perks of Being a Sociopath

“Don’t take things personally,” my professor warned my class. “Therapists have a responsibility to compartmentalize social emotions like shame and guilt. Try to ignore them,” he added. “What a patient is feeling toward you is not about you.”

It was day one of Clinical Practicum, a graduate-level psychology course meant to teach us how to work as clinicians. In addition to practical skills like assessment and treatment methods, we were introduced to the concept of transference, the inevitable unconscious process of patients redirecting their feelings onto their therapists. Negative transference was something that evidently contributed to a great deal of clinical burnout, as many therapists have a difficult time separating themselves from the emotions layered upon them by those they’re counseling.

 “What’s the benefit in ignoring social emotions,” I asked.

“It allows you to observe your patient’s feelings,” he replied, “instead of absorbing them.”

That sounded like an advantage.

It wasn’t the first time I’d considered the upside of not connecting with guilt and empathy, social emotions which most people learn in early childhood. As a sociopath, these feelings come less easily to me than inherent emotions like joy and sadness. Dealing with this has certainly been a challenge, but I’ve also come to believe that some atypical traits of my personality type can be beneficial.

The American psychologist George E. Partridge suggested in 1930 that the term “sociopathy” be used to refer to the condition of the subset of individuals exhibiting atypical, antisocial tendencies. Current estimates indicate the prevalence of my personality disorder to be about 5% of the population . That means roughly 15 million people in America could reasonably be considered sociopathic. Yet any Google search on the topic will yield a who’s-who of serial killers and monsters. Like many sociopaths, I can assure you I’m neither. Though, I always knew something about me was different.

Read More: The Evolution of a Narcissist

I’ve never been able to internalize remorse. I started stealing in kindergarten, and my behavior worsened in elementary school. I had urges of violence and struggled with impulse control. By junior high, I was breaking into houses after school to relax. As my personality grew, so did my obsession with the word I’d heard used to describe it. “Sociopath.” Even as a teen I recognized some version of myself in its description. Except I never felt like a monster. And I didn’t want to be destructive.

My rebelliousness was not against parents, or teachers, or authority. It was more of a compulsion, my brain’s desperate way to jolt itself out of a suffocating apathy I had no way to convey to others. My struggle with feeling was like an emotional learning disability.

I knew I lacked empathy and wasn’t as emotionally complex as everyone else. But that was the point: I noticed these differences. This contributed to a unique type of anxiety, a stress associated with the inner conflict some believe compels sociopaths to behave in a way that is damaging. Unlike many on the sociopathic spectrum, I was fortunate to have a support system that enabled me to learn how to cope with this anxiety. That meant I was capable of both self-awareness and evolution, key milestones of emotional development that sociopaths supposedly can’t achieve.

It didn’t add up for me. Why did conventional wisdom, mainstream media, even college-level psychology courses, all pigeonhole such a significant portion of the population as irredeemable villains? There is nothing inherently immoral about having limited access to emotion. Millions of people spend billions every year in an attempt to free their mind and elevate their consciousness through meditation (or prayer) with the goal that is—for me, at least—my default state. Because it’s not what we feel or don’t feel. It’s what we do .

Of course, some sociopathic traits can be used destructively. I’m not trying to minimize the negative aspects of sociopathy or any of the anti-social personality disorders. But they can also be used con structively.

In pursuit of my PhD in clinical psychology, I spent thousands of hours counseling patients. My apathetic baseline enabled me to help people process their complex “big” feelings. I was able to act as an impartial container into which they could pour their deepest secrets, and I reflected no judgment about what they told me. I could better function as a neutral witness instead of a reactive participant because of my personality type. I recognized when negative transference occurred in my sessions, but it didn’t affect me the way it did other clinicians.

Secure in the knowledge that my psychological well-being isn’t something they need to protect, my friends and family, too, spare no details when looking to me for advice, support, or encouragement. This transparency allows me to be impartial when helping them confront often overwhelming feelings of indecisiveness, inferiority, shame, or guilt. Because I don’t experience those learned social emotions the way most people do, I can usually offer an insightful, helpful point of view.

I feel fortunate to have been spared the downside of these societal constructs. While research on sociopathy may still be sparse, there is no shortage of resources detailing the harmful effects of shame and guilt. From low self-esteem and a propensity toward anxiety and depression, to problems with sleep and digestion, the negative aspects of these emotions seem, to me, to far outweigh the positive.

Society would undoubtably fall to pieces if nobody ever felt bad about doing bad things. I get that. I acknowledge that “good” behavior is beneficial to society, just as I know there are tremendous benefits to living in a harmonious community. But, contrary to popular belief, it’s quite possible to make good choices even without the burdens of guilt and shame.

As someone whose choices are not dependent on these constructs, I like to think I can offer a helpful perspective. I’ve found that lending this point of view to people I care about lets them see their obligations through a more objective lens. This allows for healthy boundary-setting and self-advocacy, which can be just as helpful to overall well-being. Conversely, I’ve been able to adopt pro-social perspectives offered by others, enabling me to learn how they interpret things and better internalize empathy and compassion.

Like so many psychological conditions, sociopathy exists on a severity spectrum. For more than half a century we have identified sociopaths based solely on the most extreme negative behavioral examples, which only further alienates those living on the less extreme end of the scale. But there are millions of us who would prefer to peacefully coexist, who have accepted our own apathy, and have learned how to be valuable members of our families and community. We’ve learned to do this while living in the shadows. My hope is that one day we can step into the light.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
• Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
• Why We're Spending So Much Money Now
• The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
• Breaker Sunny Choi Is Heading to Paris
• Why TV Can’t Stop Making Silly Shows About Lady Journalists
• The Case for Wearing Shoes in the House
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

I was nervous and lonely after I got put on a PIP at work. But I survived and think it helped me grow.

• A woman who works in digital marketing was put on a performance-improvement plan in a new job.
• As a result of an ADHD diagnosis and treatment, she was able to improve her performance, she said.
• She survived her PIP and has tried to help new hires so they don't feel as isolated as she did.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a woman based in the US who works in digital marketing. She was put on a performance-improvement plan several months into a new job. She'd been fired from a prior role and didn't expect to survive the PIP. However, diagnosis and treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder helped improve her focus. She asked that Business Insider withhold her identity because she didn't want her story to reflect poorly on her employer's training process. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

I work in digital marketing. When I was placed on a PIP, I had a lot of people tell me to start looking for another job. Some said not to even fight the PIP because my bosses already had it in their minds to fire me. Even recruiters and my friends who work in HR said that.

But my circumstances were a little different. Most of the bosses are pretty young. They're my age — early 30s — and I think they really did have the intention of sharpening me up a bit. They did exactly what the performance improvement plan is supposed to be for, which is to get team members up to the standards they expect.

The problem I had was that my boss hired me and then went on maternity leave. Once I started, there was a period of several months when she was gone, and I felt like I was just left out in the woods. I was relying on my teammates to train me — people who didn't have experience doing that. When my boss got back, she seemed frustrated that the two new hires — myself and someone else — weren't up to par.

I did feel it was unfair to be placed on a PIP because of that, but I'd had a history of losing jobs. I had always had a lot of focus issues. However, during the PIP, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which I think explains why I sometimes struggled at work.

I survived my PIP, but a coworker didn't

Two of us were placed on a PIP at the same time — the two new people. Everyone else on the team had been there for four or five years. They ended up firing the other new team member. When they fired him, I thought I was also on the chopping block, though eventually, my coworkers told me he just wasn't meeting the expectations of the PIP.

The PIP meeting was the first time my employer formally stated expectations and standards. How can you meet expectations if you don't know what they are? I heard things like, "You need to reply to clients within 24 hours. Send meeting notes 30 minutes prior to a call." No one had ever said any of that.

I've heard that the more realistic the objectives, the more you can pass a PIP. Ours are pretty well-defined and pretty realistic. It was things like being online by 8 a.m. and having your camera on for meetings. These things hadn't been stated but were easy to achieve.

A lot of my job is meeting with clients. When my boss returned from maternity leave, she was on all of my calls supervising. Afterward, she would send me notes with, "Here's what I would have said." That was the first time that I ever had any real feedback. Before she came back, my other workers were supervising. Everyone would just say, "Oh, good job on the call."

Related stories

Both my managers are very busy. Before my PIP, I felt like I had to ask my coworkers questions on calls. I didn't want to send a message through Teams because I didn't want any trace of it. I didn't want it to seem like I didn't know anything. I didn't know what they expected me to know.

After my PIP, we eventually got two new hires. I told my boss, "Here's what went wrong. Here's what the new hires need to know so they are not placed on a PIP." There was a lot of company knowledge that I didn't glean when she was gone. I felt like I didn't have anyone to turn to because I didn't want to keep bugging my coworkers. We work remotely, and I think that in an office setting, I would have had more opportunities to ask questions. I feel like I was thrown to the wolves in some regard.

I just made sure the new hires knew that they could ask me anything at any time. I felt very alone during my PIP, and I don't want others to experience that feeling. I am a first-generation college graduate. I was the first generation to work in a corporate role. So I have nobody to go to when something like this happens.

ADHD medication is helping me focus

The ADHD medication is helping a lot. It's helping with my focus. Once I was diagnosed and started learning more about ADHD, I felt like I understood my whole life. I remember being a teenager, and I was a straight-A student. I had wanted to be a doctor, but I told myself, "I can't handle that." I didn't know that I had this attention-deficit disorder. The diagnosis and medication have really changed the game for me.

When I was put on the PIP, I was in crisis mode. I was considering switching to a different career. I was thinking of becoming an EMT. Random stuff. But I thought, let me knuckle down in this job first and give it 110%. At the time, I didn't have an ADHD diagnosis.

I never felt confident during the PIP that I was going to survive it. I would get messages from my bosses like, "Good work. You're coming up to speed on things." Everything that they said during it was positive, but because of what I'd heard about PIPs, I expected to get fired.

Then, after my diagnosis, I was taking my medication every day and working around the clock. I was very vocal and transparent with both of my bosses about what I was doing because we had weekly check-ins for the PIP.

But it was hard to know what to disclose. On one call, I was very hesitant to mention it, but I said, "I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I know that it's affecting my performance. I apologize if there were any gaps." I told them I was on medication that's really helping. They said, "Thank you so much for telling us. We're really glad that you opened up to us about that. We wish you would have said something sooner because we could make accommodations." It ended up being a positive for me to say that, but I was taking a gamble because it can also be used against you.

It's not the warmest office. It's not the most transparent management. I didn't feel like I had a rapport with one of my bosses until I met her in person. Then she ended up apologizing for the PIP and saying that after she had her baby, she had postpartum depression and was kind of going through a lot and needed the team to be at 100% because it would help her out, too.

I didn't have the final PIP meeting. They just sent an email saying that I passed and that we wouldn't have the check-ins and everything was fine. And they copied HR. I felt very relieved. But I still felt weary and like I needed to tread lightly. You still have to continue the standard that they set.

The PIP process, on the whole, was positive — having so much transparency for the first time. Now I know I can go to my bosses and say, "Hey, I'm not able to get a refill of my medication because of a shortage. I'm sorry if you need to remind me about anything. Just feel free to be harder on me during this."

Overall, I feel more job security now. They're even putting me on new accounts. Do you have something to share about a PIP or what you're seeing in your workplace? Business Insider would like to hear from you. Email our workplace team from a nonwork device at [email protected]  with your story or to ask for one of our reporter's Signal numbers. Or check out   Business Insider's source guide  for tips on sharing information securely.

Watch: Jill Kramer, CMO of Accenture, says disability inclusion should be baked into creative briefs

• Main content