Depression in College Students

Jayden Nguyen

English 1213

Professor Hammett

Depression is defined as “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest” (Sawchuk, 2022). Globally, depression and anxiety are quite common among college students; for instance, “In North America, 53% of 1455 American college students reported that they had experienced depression since the beginning of college” (Liu et al., 2022). Depression leads to negative outcomes, such as a poor sleep schedule, a bad appetite, loss of interest in school, and decreased concentration. As students suffer from depression, their academic performance is heavily affected, as Liu et al. (2022) explain that undergraduates who have lower grades are more likely to be affected by depression. As depression is a growing social epidemic that affects college students worldwide, universities should minimize the mental disorder by expanding counseling services, organizing engaging social events, and promoting emotional support from other students to improve mental health and academic performance.

One of the effective solutions is that universities should increase the amount of counseling services to give college students an accessible way to get support for their mental health. Students with depression choose not to get help, or they wait a long time for counseling. Hiring counselors and increasing the hours they work would provide students with a better experience with immediate response. There have been lots of studies that prove that more counseling services help students strengthen their mental health, as Huenergarde (2018) explains, “Students who attended six or more sessions reported significantly perceived decreased scores on anxiety, stress, and depression than students who attended five or fewer sessions.” This demonstrates that expansion in counseling services results in an improvement in mental health and reduces depression. 

When students can use counseling multiple times without having to wait, their depression symptoms decrease. Adding counseling services would allow more students to attend their sessions consistently, rather than waiting on a list or not even having services to visit that day. Students who have a lower level of depression are the ones who have attended counseling frequently, making the students’ performance better academically, as Francis and Horn (2016) state, “A number of studies have indicated that students who receive counseling relative to comparison groups report higher self-rated academic, social, and emotional adjustment.” Counseling services are a way to help the students emotionally and academically as a strategy to care for the students on their journey through college.

Other solutions universities should implement are socially engaging campus events and encouraging students to support each other to strengthen mental health, which reduces depression. When students interact in activities together, they create connections that make them feel supported, leading to a reduction in depression. When students avoid socializing in activities, their mental health deteriorates and can lead to higher levels of depression. Creating engaging activities like clubs and charity events encourages students to socialize and support each other. Researchers Yue and Fangli (2018) state and prove that “most of the previous studies on stress and mental health pointed out that social support can buffer the negative impact of stress on an individual’s mental health by stress.” This evidence clearly demonstrates that student support can reduce the symptoms of depression. Additionally, Yue and Fangli (2018) found that “the total score of resilience is significantly negatively correlated with the total score of SCL-90 (P<0.01).” The statistical result shows that as resilience increases, depression and its symptoms decrease.

 Since social engagement at campuses and student support strengthens resilience, universities that hold these events can get students involved and minimize depression. All these solutions for minimizing depression are needed, but creating these solutions is not always possible. By including counseling services with socially engaging activities, universities improve the well-being of their students. While Huenergarde focuses on counseling sessions and their impact, Yue and Fangli describe the productivity and strengths of social support and resilience. Together, the studies show that a strategy of having counseling services and social support through engaging activities will improve mental health better than any single strategy. 

Universities might not be able to expand accessible counseling services because of expenses. Some universities lack the funding to afford trained professionals and the facilities to provide the service. Greta Anderson (2018) points out that “University and college administrators across the country have increasingly said that student mental health issues are one of the most pressing, and costly, challenges on campus today.” Harrisburg Area Community College is an example of one of many colleges that are unable to afford the solution. Anderson (2019) states that, “HACC is facing a $9.7 million budget deficit for the 2019-20 fiscal year, and the college will eliminate 20 staff counseling positions.” These financial struggles that the college is facing depict the challenges they face in improving mental health.

If a university fails to reduce student depression, it will result in even bigger problems. Students struggling with depression that is not treated might perform poorly. Students might drop classes, get bad grades, or even drop out of school. When students make bad grades and there are fewer students who lead to universities having less tuition money, it could impact the college. Universities should invest their funds into counseling services to keep up the performance rate of the students and increase their own funds in future years. While the expenses of counselors and buildings might be too high, eventually, the investment will come out with its benefits academically and economically.

Overall, universities can improve students’ mental health and academic performance by expanding counseling services, creating socially engaging events, and encouraging student support. Expanding the number of counselors and facilities increases the number of available sessions, which minimizes the depression levels and their symptoms. Other solutions, such as organizing club and charity events and encouraging social interaction, strengthen social connections and resilience, which research shows can reduce depression. While some people argue that the services are expensive, evidence shows that academic and mental health improvement is greater than the cost. The universities can prioritize more of their money into funding for mental health programs, even if the cost is high, as their students’ mental health will not falter, and their academic performance will improve.