Blevins 1

Skylar Blevins

Flores

1201 B35 English Composition

28 April 2019

The Correlation between College and Depression

College is school when it is being described in its simplest term, its school that people

pay to go to in order to possibly have a better future or to simply gather more knowledge.

College is something that teacher’s boast about all through high school, encouraging kids to go,

but also mocking the ones who decide not to. College is seen as this form of higher knowledge

and it is, this is the place where specific things are taught for degrees such as an Associate’s

Degree or a Doctored Degree. Before children leave high school their teachers try to ensure their

students that college is difficult, but, it’s possible. One thing that they fail to mention is not about

the mounds of books or the piles of papers, the little thing they left out that is something that is

very important. Depression, no one wants to talk about college depression because it taints the

perfect image of what college is supposed to be. The correlations between college and depression

will be explained through discussing what college is and what it enlists: the price of college,

depression explained, how college can cause depression, college suicide rates, what colleges are

doing, and is it enough? All of these combined will help prove that there is a correlation between

college and depression, or at the very least a correlation in the significant number of college

students that are depressed. First off college will be explained and what it is really like in college

for a full-time student.

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College is something that most people have dreamed about going to since they were

little, it’s where they get to make their first real choice towards the rest of their lives. College can

be defined according to, Merriam Webster Dictionary, “an independent institution of higher

learning offering a course of general studies leading to a bachelor's degree” (Webster). This is a

basic definition and one of many that could have been given, but what it still does not include

everything. A full-time college student must take a minimum of twelve credit hours, and

anything under that is considered part-time. Credit hours according to, Alexandru Pop, an online

article for Study Portals stated that “students usually receive credit hours based on the number of

"contact hours" they spend studying per week in class” (Pop). Now knowing what a credit hour

is it will help explain the next key part about credit hours. Going to class for an hour and a half

twice a week is NOT the only studying that will be done for that class.

For every credit hour, it is recommended that they study anywhere from two-four hours

per credit outside of class, per day! According to an online website called, Intelligent, “Most

college courses are three to four credit hours, so this means that for each class [t]hey should

spend about six to eight hours studying. Full-time students should anticipate spending about 30

hours each week studying” (Intelligent). Thirty hours seems like an absurd amount of time to

study for classes when [t]hey may only spend an hour and a half in each class twice a week or

however many times a student goes, that is purely the times for studying, which does not even

include homework. There are quizzes, homework, papers, finals, that students still have to study

for and they still need to complete all, of their assignments. The workload is hefty and a lot more

than most would think. Hypothetically speaking if a student needs to study for two exams and

finish up a paper, but also study for their other two classes which requires two-four hours, but
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they also have to go to work at five and work till ten. How are they expected to get any of this

done let alone all of it, and work? This leads to the next topic which is the price of college.

Fig.1. Statics about living, food security, and housing

The price tag on college can vary depending on where the college is and whether or not

the student is in the state or an out of state student. The price can also vary on the number of

credit hours that are being taken, no matter what the price of college can fluctuate depending on

the country, state, county, no college is the same when it comes to pricing. According to, College

Data, an online website, “According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for

the 2017–2018 school year was $34,740 at private colleges, $9,970 for state residents at public

colleges, and $25,620 for out-of-state residents attending public universities” (College Data).

This was the average in the United States, but these numbers are not including housing and

meals, according to the same website, it also stated that, “The College Board reports that the

average cost of room and board in 2017–2018 ranged from $10,800 at four-year public schools

to $12,210 at private schools” (College Data). Again this number varies depending on the meal

plan and the housing that is chosen.

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Now that a basic foundation has been made on how much college is, it can be discussed

as to how all of this is going to get paid for. There are a few options, one is paid out of pocket,

another is financial aid, and last but not least is student loans. A dreaded word to some, a

financial burden that follows all throughout their college career, building up each semester and

each year the numbers continue to increase. The process of taking out a student loan may feel

like signing a binding contract that tethers a person to the state because in some actuality it is

because now the person who took the money out owes the state money. The ones who pay out of

pocket may have to work during college, which adds to the pile of stress that a college student is

already facing. Working a job full or part-time is anywhere from twenty-forty hours a week, does

not allow much time for the student to study, it merrily just adds onto their workload, but if a

student does not want to be thousands of dollars in debt they do not have a lot of options. They

can apply for scholarships and do other things but college students to work while in college but it

is stressful, working in college makes their schedule a lot more complicated and does not allow

the student as much time to study or do homework.

Informing about the workload of a college student and how much college tuition cost it

may not seem like it has anything to possibly do depression but it all factors in. This information

needed to be made known before continuing and informing about how college causes depression

or at the very least increases depression among students. This leads into the next key point which

is discussing depression.
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Fig.2. Demonstrates statistics of what college student feels

Depression is a term that most people have heard in their life at least one, many people

know what is, and a lot of people across the country and across the world have depression.

Depression can be defined, according to Merriam Webster as, “a mood disorder marked

especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase

or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and

sometimes suicidal tendencies"(Webster). Although this definition may not sound severe,

depression is a mental illness and is not a small or simple thing. No two cases of depression are

the same, some cases may demonstrate the same symptoms but depression is a disorder and an

illness. Depression can be caused by many things, but according to Harvard University, “It's

often said that depression results from a chemical imbalance, but that figure of speech does not

capture how complex the disease is” (Harvard). It’s still unclear as to what causes depression,

there is no textbook case because there are so many factors as to what could cause depression.

Chemical imbalances: stress, catastrophic events, loss of a loved one, genetics, medications,
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emotions, their past, and the amount of research on depression is endless. According to, Beyond

Blue, an online article stated that “While [t]hey [d]o not know exactly what causes depression, a

number of things are often linked to its development. Depression usually results from a

combination of recent events and other longer-term or personal factors, rather than one

immediate issue or event” (Beyond Blue).

Looking at depression, it is similar to a snowball effect because the snowball starts small

but gradually with each roll of the ball the snowball grows and grows and that is similar to how

depression is caused. It starts with one core thing that starts it no matter what the case is, but

gradually things starting adding to their depression and as they slip further and further into their

depression the worse it becomes. The symptoms that come along with depression are immense,

their feelings change, according to Beyond Blue they can feel things such as, “overwhelmed

guilty, irritable, frustrated, lacking in confidence, unhappy, indecisive, disappointed, miserable,

and sad” (Beyond Blue). These are just some of what a person can feel while they are depressed,

and it’s very similar to what a student can feel when they start failing a class, which brings the

next and key point as to how college and depression correlate.

Fig.3. Survey conducted when asking students if they had depression.

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One thing that has arrived on numerous websites and in numerous books is that schooling

increases the risk of depression if they have any of these other factors. In an online article,

Steven Reinberg, he stated that “Among more than 67,000 students surveyed, over 20 percent

said they experienced stressful events in the last year that were strongly associated with mental

health problems, including harming themselves and suicidal thoughts or attempts” (Reinberg).

The main finding of Reinberg is that most of the college kids depression is brought on by the

stress of school, or traumatic experience at school or the stress of college on an already existing

problem is simply too much to bear. Reinberg’s article also stated that “the rate of students

suffering from depression or anxiety is much higher now than it was in 2009, when the last

survey was conducted” (Reinberg). This makes sense seeing as how college has turned into this

strenuous event that requires an immense amount of work and effort, it’s has become gradually

more burdensome as the years have passed and more knowledge was obtained.

College is supposed to be a fun exciting time but eventually, the ‘honeymoon’ phase will

wear off and when it happens that tends to be where the depression starts to form. According to,

Rachel Ehmke stated on an online article, “Whether it’s their first brush with the disorder or not,

college can act as a catalyst for the onset of depression in many young people, and, on their own

for the first time, the timing [c]ould [n]ot be worse” (Ehmke). Depression is when a support

system is needed the most and if they are hours away or in another state it may be hard for them

to receive the help they need. Ehmke also stated that “College is also something of a pressure

cooker for depression because the more [t]hey are surrounded by people who are depressed, the

more likely [t]hey are to become depressed [t]hemselves” (Ehmke).

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Fig.4. Statistics on suicide and how they feel emotionally.

One thing that is common among most college students is a lack of sleep! Sleep is a

very important thing not only for the body to rest but mentally not getting sleep can be a key

cause of depression which may seem obscure, but is true. The body relies on sleep and needs

sleep, college students are known for their ‘erratic sleep schedule’ and a ‘lack of nourishment’.

This can all come back to the amount of time that college students spend on the ungodly amounts

of work that they must complete. When working and studying and doing homework, when in-

between all of this do those students get the time to take care of themselves, or check in with

themselves or someone. What if they need help with their depression but do not have time

because if they slack off the slightest bit they will fail. On the other hand, there are the kids that

feel lifeless and simply do not care because they worked so hard that first semester it drained

everything out of them.

There are not many points to be earned in college typically there are five exams, other

classes have quizzes and assignments, and papers to balance out, or at the very least provide a

small buffer. However, there are not enough points to outweigh the damage that can be done by
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failing on test, and after failing one test it can become more discouraging for the next test. A

depressed student failing a test adds fire to the flame it furthers there already morbidly dark

thoughts. They can feel worthless, they can want to succeed with such a passion but cannot

fathom enough effort to get those grades because they are already beaten down and broken.

These students that are facing depression are not defined by their grades. Their grade is purely a

number, it does not show the effort they put forth and who they are as a person. Colleges know

about the inclined stress of taking this next step in their education can cause, but do they care?

It is simple and although this may sound harsh to some but it’s true, to some faculty do

not care about the students that attend, however, there is also an immense amount of faculty that

do care for their students. To some the students who walk that campus they are merely walking

money signs, the only thing about them is how much money they can bring in, but the others.

The other faculty that care and strive so hard to ensure that the students time on campus and their

college experience, in general, is as pain-free as possible is something that helps those depressed

students. The college’s care, that’s why they set up facilities and time with councilors in order to

get the help they need. Although they are not changing the workload they are changing the

availability of the access to help they need, it essentially like extending a lifeline to the students.

Some form of help is better than none, and some professors will give extensions if they know

about the student’s condition, some may not but those few who care are cherished by their

students.

In conclusion, all of these factors tie together and trying to say that college is the cause of

all depression would be a lie. However that is not saying that college does not cause depression,

it can and it does. The hours of work, the stress, the tests, the tears, the pain, the loss of hope all

can come from college. Students want to succeed and they want to become the best versions of
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themselves that are humanly possible but sometimes things get in the way of that like depression.

The stress, the anxiety, the fear of failing is such a burden that it can keep people up at night

when being a failure should not be determined by a number on a spreadsheet but it is. The

classes are graded based off of their scores, not their effort that they put forth, the numbers do

not reflect them. Classes can be retaken, the student’s mental health and health, in general,

should come first! One class is not worth losing a life for, although the college does not cause

depression, it is a key factor in causing depression among students. Some people are the cause of

their depression for others it is something that has merely been triggered simply while attending

college. College should not receive this hateful bash for ruing people’s lives, but it gets the

blame most of the time, some just do not want to put in the work to be successful and then get

depressed when they cannot slide by. College is an elite education that prepares its students for

the adult and real world, they teach doctors how to perform surgery, teach nurses how to have

the skills to save a life, teach a teacher how to inform a class to give them a better future. College

is a factor in depression but is not the root and these are the correlations between college and

depression, the amount of work that stress the student, the amount of money that burdens the

student, the depression that forms due to the overwhelming stress and lack of sleep, but the

colleges try to stop by helping the students, but at the end of the day it simply is not enough.
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Work Citied

“Beyondblue.” What Causes Depression, www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/what-

causes-depression.

“Coping With Depression While In College.” Psychology, Neuroleadership, &

Neurofeedback, www.breakthroughpsychologyprogram.com/coping-with-depression-

while-in-college.html.

“Data Point of the Month.” Research - Data Point of the Month - Healthy Minds Network,

www.healthymindsnetwork.org/research/data-point-of-the-month.

Ehmke, Rachel, and Child Mind Institute. “Helping College Kids With Depression.” Child Mind

Institute, childmind.org/article/helping-college-kids-with-depression/.

GotAnxiety, ADAA. “Depression Among College Students.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 May 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEUY-WQhh3E.

Harvard Health Publishing. “What Causes Depression?” Harvard Health,

www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression.

“Manage Your Time.” Intelligent, www.intelligent.com/manage-your-time/#.

Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/college.

Pop, Alexander. “What You Need to Know about Academic Credit Systems in the U.S.”

MastersPortal, 5 Jan. 2018, www.mastersportal.com/articles/1110/what-you-need-to-

know-about-academic-credit-systems-in-the-us.html.
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Reinberg, Steven. “1 In 5 College Students so Stressed They Consider Suicide.” CBS News,

CBS Interactive, 10 Sept. 2018, www.cbsnews.com/news/1-in-5-college-students-so-

stressed-they-consider-suicide/.

“What's the Price Tag for a College Education?” CollegeData, www.collegedata.com/en/pay-

your-way/college-sticker-shock/how-much-does-college-cost/whats-the-price-tag-for-a-

college-education/.