Introduction
Chronic illness is a disease that persists for a long time. A chronic disease is one lasting three months or more, by the definition of the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. Although Chronic Illness is dangerous, people often overlook depression, and a lot of time they run close together. Depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is a common however a severe mood disorder. It causes extreme indications that influence how you feel, think, and handle daily exercises like; sleeping, eating, or working. To be diagnosed by a psychiatrist with depression disorder, one must show symptoms for more than two weeks. College students face a lot, especially freshman year college students, transitioning to a different
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In the past 35 years, the suicide rate for college campuses has tripled (Oswalt 1995), which is an indicator that there is a clear need for something to be addressed within the college community. Research has shown that about 10-15% of college students are depressed throughout their college years (Lindsey 2009). Depression can be a debilitating illness, especially to college students and can cause students to fall behind, and feel overwhelmed or incompetent. Lack of effort and academic disappointment could result in students with more suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide. In fact, the number of students with suicidal thoughts has tripled over the past 13 years as the number of students seeking help for depression doubled in the same span (Lindsey 2009). Academic failure as the result of depression among college students has played a role in the increase of suicidal thoughts. The daily stressors of college life are one contributing factor to depression in college student’s students. College students are afraid to fail or be a disappointment to themselves or their parents, if not both, which leads to impaired decision making. Stress reactions and depression are linked because the anterior cingulate cortex, the region of the brain implicated in executive decision making is also related to how well people respond to antidepressants (Voelker …show more content…
Depression can affect college students in all aspects of life; physically, mentally, and emotionally. The students who reported that they were depressed also stated that they considered their health fair or poor (Lindsey 2009). In their cases, depression not only affects them psychologically but also physically. Students with chronic illness who experience depression become more at risk for suicidal thoughts, or their condition to worsen because they are extremely stressed. Depression plays a huge role in college students with chronic illness such as bipolar mood diseases, or any chronic illness that requires medication. Depression sometimes alters your decision making and can cause one to be not as concerned with their overall health. Disrupted decisions can produce episodes, or their current chronic illness to worsen. Chronic illness and depression affect one another, despite which one is presented first. Chronic disease can cause depression when depression-like symptoms aren't already
Over the years, it has been evident that many scholars, researchers, and mental health professionals in the psychology field are heavily relying on college/university students when studying mental health conditions. More specifically, a prominent mental condition that has dramatically risen over the years in its prevalence is what most people encounter at least once in their lifetime but the extreme aspects of this disorder causes excruciating emotional pain and is highly debilitating. This disorder is depression. Depression is a disorder on a spectrum and the more extreme the illness is, the higher level of damaging effects it has,
The top 4 mental health issues facing college students are depression, anxiety, suicide, and eating disorders. Depression is a huge problem with college students mainly because depression is linked to and leads to suicide. If one and three college students are depressed that's 33% of students who are on a pathway to suicide. Anxiety is one of the main problems because
Depression, anxiety, and suicide are relatively common phenomena among college students (Klerman & Weissman, 1989; Twenge et al., 2010).
College represents a form of higher learning. For many, it is also a time for personal growth as we transition into adulthood. This in itself is a stressful situation as one must make drastic adjustments to a new role, environment, and demands. Stress is a major contributor to the development of mental and emotional issues (Rodgers, L., Tennison, L. 2009). Research has been done to determine the impact of depression and anxiety on university students. It has been
Before the main problems for college students were homesickness and relationships. Now the majority of students struggle with depression, anxiety, and self-harm.
Mental health is a serious topic that is often not taken seriously. Due to my own struggles with depression, I have experienced the impact mental illness can have on a student’s life. Mental illness can make everyday life feel unbearable and can have just as serious of an effect on a person as a physical illness. The causes of increasing mental health problems in college students are numerous, and it will take work from both students and universities to overcome this problem, but change is necessary for the health of U.S. college students.
College can be a difficult. It is a time in your life when you are trying to figure out what you want to do as a career and basically what you are going to do with the rest of your life. Being in college is hard enough, but there are things that can make it harder. Mental Illness affects thousands of people. It makes the daily lives of the people it effects harder than they really need to be.
An intercept survey was conducted on a small percentage of CSUN students. The participants were asked a series of questions that touch on awareness, knowledge on symptoms, experience with symptoms, and resources. Majority of the participants expressed that they have experienced symptoms of depression but have not been diagnosed with depression or do not consider themselves as depressed. Some participants have disclosed that they experiencing or have experienced depression was due to the combination of financial difficulties, stress from school, and relationship problems.
Today a college education can overload students with too many stressful situations. Not only does Stress overload today's college students, but it is also the leading cause of personality disorders. In her essay, Cathy Bell explains that major depressive disorder strikes 5-12% of men and 10-20% of women; half of these people will have more than one occurrence and 15% of them will commit suicide ("Depression for the young"). For instance, many depressives are first recognized and treated during their years in college. For a large amount of people, depression exposes itself because of traumatizing experiences, such as leaving home and/or academic stress. For other students alcohol and drugs become a
Most chronic illnesses do not fix themselves and are generally not cured completely. Some can be immediately life threatening, such as heart disease and stroke. Others linger over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes. Most chronic illnesses are continuous throughout a person’s life, but are not always the cause of death, such as arthritis.
There are a multitude of elements that influence the onset of depression and depressed feelings. The daily stressors of college life are one contributing factor to depression in college students. Some of the other stressors include: conflict between work and family, relationship problems, financial concerns, and poor grades, lack of social support or networks, a sense of not belonging, having fewer friends, and experiencing loneliness (Lindsey 2009). The economy has had an impact on every party of our society, including education. Heavy student loans are just another burden on these kids who do not know what their future career will hold for them (Curetalk). These different responsibilities are just other factors that influence the emotional health of college students.
Relate to Audience: A lot of college students suffers from depression daily. The stress from being in an unfamiliar environment, working and going to school at the same time can be a very heavy load to deal with. On
Chronic illness is defined as an illness that lasts a long time and usually cannot be cured completely, but can often be managed through diet, exercise, lifestyle and medical care. Some chronic illnesses are cancer, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. (Ogden, 2017) Many of us are more aware of common acute illnesses. Acute illnesses such as the common cold, stomach viruses, some types headaches are short term. When an acute illness is over, the sufferer recovers and moves on with their life. Acute illnesses have a minimal or temporary life impact, as life returns to normal when the illness is over. On the other hand, a chronic illness generally requires major life adaptations, as permanent changes to lifestyle must be made. People also often
Chronic illness is becoming more and more common within our society. Unlike other diseases, a chronic illness is often slow in progression and can take a long period of time to treat. When someone is diagnosed, their lives are not only drastically changed, but their loved ones as well. Furthermore, how you deal with your diagnosis of a chronic illness will completely shape the rest of your quality of life. The women and families dealing with LAM, are inspirational. Though there is no known cure, they still strive for life and the hopes of a possible solution.
With more and more college students becoming depressed and anxious, researchers have been working hard to try and improve college student lifestyles. According to Therese Borchard, associate editor of World of Psychology, at least 44 percent of American college students reported feeling symptoms of depression this past year (Borchard).