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Running head: DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Depression in College Students: Literature Review


Ashley Moffatt
University of Texas at El Paso
English 1312
November 2, 2014

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS


Abstract
Depression in college students is becoming a common more frequent problem. It is a
mental health disorder that has various symptoms and may be treated. There are various
discussions about the symptoms and causes of depression and forms of help for it. Most
discussions agree about trying to help solve the issue of depression in college students, but they
have their own ideas about how to come about it. The purpose of this review of literature is to
describe the ideas of different sources concerning the physical and emotional effects of
depression, to find out its prevalence related to the non-student population and to relate this to
the UTEP student community by providing possible resources to aid with this issue.

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Depression in College Students: Literature Review


Depression is a mental health problem that can affect many people such as college
students. The depression in college students is occurring more and a lot of discussions have taken
place about this. These discussions vary from the emotional and physical effects of the disorder,
to the causes and to the solutions or help for this if there is any. In order to have a better
understanding of the issue of depression in college students, it is important to explore different
ideas and answer some questions about it such as:
1. What are some physical and emotional effects depression can cause?
2. Are college students in general more likely to get depressed than those who are not
attending college? If so, why?
3. What resources does UTEP have to help students with depression?
These questions will provide background information regarding depression in general then
slowly narrow the subject down to depression in college students and provide discussions based
on this issue and suggest ideas for possible solutions to this.
What are some physical and emotional side effects depression can cause?
Depression is a serious illness that can cause harmful symptoms, but can be treated.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression is common but serious. Not
everyone experiences the same experiences, but some common physical and emotional
symptoms include fatigue, overeating or loss of appetite, insomnia or too much sleep, feelings of
hopelessness, persistent sadness, pessimism and many more. (National Institute of Mental
Health, 2011). The National Institute of Mental Healths thesis was extremely useful because it
shed insight on the difficult problem which is depression. Freeman (1995) builds on this by
claiming that those unfamiliar with this school of thought might be interested to know that it

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

basically boiled down to depression causing overwhelmed, angry, down and sad feelings through
his video Depression(5 min). Adding to the above claims, Griffin-Botzenhart (1983) states
depression symptoms also include various factors such as emotional, constitutional and
environmental factors. This thesis/dissertation provided an extensive amount of information
about depression, but mainly focused on an experimental side of the issue. It did not necessarily
relate specifically to depression in college students, so it is not very useful in answering the other
specific research questions. It does answer some of the question above about some of the
physical and emotional effects depression can cause.

Figure 1. The chart shows the symptoms of depression that are evaluated to diagnose it.

The chart above shows a more detailed list of the many symptoms depression can cause.
It shows how they are evaluated on different scales of measurement. The xs show that the

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

specific symptom listed on the left is a symptom of depression on a certain scale. This is one way
to answer the question of what the physical and emotional effects of depression are since many
of the symptoms are common on each scale in evaluating and diagnosing depression. Adding to
the information above in the chart, Strock (2002) also lists the symptoms of depression which are
similar to those in the chart such as feelings of guilt and concentration difficulty (p.3-4). Strock
also explains how not everyone who has depression experiences the same symptoms as others,
but they all are mostly related and tied to one another.
Are college students in general more likely to get depressed than those who are not
attending college? If so, why?
University students are at a higher risk of depression. According to Ibrahim et al. (2013),
university students are at an increased rate for depression as shown by some of their studies.
Goode (2003) in an article that appeared in the New York Times, agrees with this claim by
saying that college students are now having more trouble with psychological disorders. She
explains how more college campuses are having reports from students having depression more
frequently than they used to. Goode also gives an example of a young woman who had
depression who said that school was stressful and everyone on campus was always talking about
stress (para. 21). An important priority for a college students psychological well-being is
improving their achievements in their university (Mustaffa, Aziz, Mahmood, &Shuib, 2014).
This claim adds on to the claim made by Goode above by showing that this may be a reason why
students are depressed; if they are not doing well in school. This leads to the idea that mental
health issues faced by college students differ from those who are peers and not attending college.
According to Iarovici (2002) results from a National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and
Related Conditions, mental health issues really do differ from college students to non-college

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

students. They tend to experience different types of stress. Although Iarovici made a valid claim
that the mental health issues faced by college students are different, it must be pointed out that in
another survey according to authors of the article, Suicide and depression among college
students: A decade later, Furr, Westefeld, McConnell, Gaye and Jenkins (2001) the suicide rate
among college students was approximately half that of the nonstudent group (para. 2). This claim
is showing that since suicide is related to depression, since there is a lower suicide rate in college
students then the depression rate may be lower which means college students do not exactly
experience more depression.
Conceding that depression may not affect college students more than non-students
because of the above claim, research still shows that college stress is a less powerful prediction
of depression than stress from other aspects of life not relating to college( Lester, 2014, p.295).
This claim shows how Lester's results showed that college does not have so much of an effect on
depression in people. According to him, regular daily stress can contribute just as much to
depression as college can. He does say that it is important to distinguish regular stress from
academic stress in order to find out which one may be causing the depression so it can be easier
to resolve. His findings also show that depression may be increasing more frequently in college
students, but it is not too much compared to the non-student population.
Some depression symptoms may be unrecognized, so it is important to know how to
identify them. In the informational brochure from the federal government, there are the signs and
symptoms of depression listed. It goes on to talk about how college can offer new experiences
and challenges that can be stressful or make an individual sad, so it may be difficult to recognize
depression (Depression/Awareness, Recognition, and Treatment Program ,1997). According to
this document, interference with academic and social functioning is a way to identify depression.

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

It is difficult for students to identify this in themselves though at times because college is a new
experience for them and they may think that the feelings or thoughts they are getting are a
normal part of their college experience. This brochure gives clues to look for in identifying
depression and encourages the student to get help. It is a useful source in answering the research
question about whether or not college students are more likely to become depressed because it
includes information about college, stress, and depression. Another source claims first year
university students who report depression, are affected negatively by distress in their academic
performance (Reevy &Frydenberg, 2011). This source extends upon the source What do these
students have in common? by the Depression/Awareness, Recognition, and Treatment Program
(1997) by saying how academic functioning is affected in college students because of depression.
In another article, depression is linked to perfectionism. Perfectionism had a significant influence
on the level of the college students depression and anxiety. (Xueting, Hong, Bin, Taisheng,
2013,). This claim explains how being a perfectionist may pressure college students and cause
them to be depressed which can then affect their academic functioning. Perfectionism and
depression are related in several ways according to this source because perfectionism can cause
feelings to being the best at something, and if it does not happen, then the student may feel guilt
and have low self-esteem.
What resources does UTEP have to help students with depression?
An issue commonly discussed is about what type of help there is for students with
depression. The first thing to do is acknowledge depression as a major problem in order for there
to be an effective change to it (Lebrun, 2007, p.viii). The book Student Depression: A Silent
Crisis in our Schools and Communities, states the above claim and describes it in detail. The
only problem with this book is that it does not necessarily relate to college students. It mainly

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

refers to younger students such as elementary school or high school students. It does have a
solution which is to first identify the problem, but the information is not accurate when it comes
to college students due to the age difference.
College students mental health is declining, and schools should help with that.
According to the article On the Edge on Campus by Shea (2002), college campuses should
have a role in helping students who have depression. She describes an incident in which a
student who was depressed committed suicide and the college she was attending knew of her
suicidal tendencies (para.1). Her claim is basically trying to get more help from college
campuses to the students who have depression there.
College students who are depressed should seek the help of their school health center.
This is a claim adopted by ULifeline which also gives information regarding different health
center options for help with depression in a near area. It gives the UTEP Counseling Centers
phone number and urges the student with depression to go. Although the above claim made a
good point, it must be pointed out that college students who are depressed do not always seek
help (Furr, 2001, para.23). This then becomes an issue because people don't know whether there
are enough resources at colleges to help these students or if the college students are the ones who
are not going to get help. Treatment for depression can be in different forms. Therapy and
medication are good forms of treatment. (Depression and manic depression, 1996, 20 min). The
claim from the above video source gives a solution to depression, but it does not necessarily
relate to the research question about what resources UTEP has to help students with depression.
The video is also more specifically about manic depression instead of major depression which is
not too helpful because they are similar but not the same disorder.

DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS


An interview was conducted with the Administrated Assistant of the Counseling Center

at the University of Texas at El Paso. The interview was to explore the different resources UTEP
has to offer for students who have depression. Pat Curry, explained the many resources available
to students. She had said that there is therapy, either group or individual, informational
workshops to attend about the issue, and counselors to talk to in case one just needs a listener.
Curry talked about how the services for UTEP students are also confidential and free, so students
always have this as an option to get treatment. She also talked about how there are benefits for
the students who get help for depression in the way that if medication is needed, they will help
take care of the cost. The student can also get cheaper services for psychiatrists or other
psychologist offices. The interview was a very valuable source because the Administrative
Assistant has been working there for twenty-two years and is very knowledgeable about the
resources UTEP has for students struggling with mental health problems.
Conclusion
Many forms of literature have their own opinions on certain issues. This is seen in the
sources reviewed above regarding the topic depression in college students. Not all of the literary
works will pertain to the research questions even if they do mention the subject a few times. An
example of some sources not having information answering researching questions are shown
above. The sources were good to provide some background information, but there was not
enough information actually related to the specific topic.
Some sources agreed on the same ideas. They extended the claims of other sources that
related to theirs. This is helpful because it provides extra evidence and data for arguments or
questions in the future. It also helps establish credibility and validity to have numerous sources
with similar information. For some sources this was not the case though.

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A few of the sources did have opposing views on the same subject. An example of this is
on the question about whether or not college students were more likely to get depressed than
those who do not attend college. Some sources stated that college students were more likely to
get depressed, and some stated that it does not necessarily matter whether or not one is in college
for depression to happen.
When researching a topic it is important to consider all of the sources collected. This is to
get the most accurate and valid information possible. Even if the research questions do not get
answered completely, it is helpful to have the information to provide knowledge. The above
research questions in the literature review were not fully answered, and may not be answered
with agreeing opinions. There will still be different viewpoints because every source is different
and the author has their own truths.

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DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS


References

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Furr, S. R., Westefeld, J. S., McConnell, G. N., & Jenkins, J. M. (2001). Suicide and depression
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Goode, E. (2003). More in college seek help for psychological problems. The New York Times.

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