5 Tips to Avoid Depression

By Natalie Umberger

Roughly half of college students will have some degree of psychiatric disorder- mainly depression- at some point during their time in school, according to a 2008 study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Even more astonishing, 6.2 percent of college students surveyed in 2009 consider suicide and 1.3 percent attempted it, according to an American College Health Association study released in Spring 2010.

Symptoms of depression include:

Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
Loss of interest in daily activities. No interest in former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex. You've lost your ability to feel joy and pleasure.
Appetite or weight changes. Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month.
Sleep changes. Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping (also known as hypersomnia).
Irritability or restlessness. Feeling agitated, restless, or on edge.
Loss of energy. Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. Your whole body may feel heavy, and even small tasks are exhausting or take longer to complete.
Self-loathing.
Concentration problems. Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.
Unexplained aches and pains. An increase in physical complaints such as headaches, back pain, aching muscles, and stomach pain.

If you're feeling any of these symptoms on campus, try using these 5 tips to keep the feelings at bay:

Exercise: Physical activity releases endorphins- neurotransmitters that produce an overall positive feeling within the body, which fight depression naturally, according to psychiatrist and consultant Mark Goulston. Mental health experts claim that exercise is a remedy for those feeling mild or moderate depression. For those severely depressed, simply being active may not be the answer.
Don't be a hermit: While maintaining good grades freshman year might take extra effort as you adjust to the expanded college workload, don't lock yourself away and study endlessly. College and career consultant Claudine Vainrub says, "Colleges are not all about studying; they are also about networking and balancing life, extracurricular activities, and leisure." And if you feel you have to study around the clock, don't do it alone. "Studying should be a high priority for freshman, so find a study group to help hold you accountable and boost your mood," says psychologist Susan Fletcher.
Take advantage of technology: Staying in touch with family members and friends from childhood and high school has become easier than ever with the advent of Facebook and video chat services like Skype. While mental health experts maintain that it's important to make friends in your new environment and be involved in the college community, it's equally crucial not to let bonds dissolve with the people you knew before college. They, after all, know you better than people you first met a few months ago. "They may be going through something similar and since you know each other better than you do your new friends, you can talk about what's bothering you without fear of scaring off someone you don't know that well," says Erin Baebler, a college transition coach and admissions consultant.
Go to sleep: Maintaining a fairly regular sleep pattern can ward off depression. IN college, many students' sleep patterns are irregular thanks to late-night studying and partying, with is detrimental to their mental health. "Not only is maintaining a regular and sufficient sleep pattern important for avoiding depression, but recent learning research strongly suggests that sleep is key to learning and memory formation- the very reason why students are in school in the first place," Michael J. Daine, psychologist and director of CORE Psychological and Services says.
Use school counseling services: Campuses don't employ mental health experts simply to toss thousands of dollars down the drain. Their job is to help students, so experts recommend you use them. Most students are hesitant, however to take a trip to their college's counseling center, fearing ridicule from peers. Take advantage of the counseling center on K-State's campus.

Current students receive a free initial consultation, and may receive up to eight additional individual or couple sessions at no charge each semester. Typically, fifty-minute sessions are scheduled, and most people are helped in three to eight sessions. You may make an appointment in any of these three ways:

Call 785-532-6927
Stop by CAPS at 1105 Sunset Avenue, Room 101, in the Lower Level of Lafene.
Go online to www.k-state.edu/counseling

References

Burnsed, B. (2010, November 19). 5 Tips to avoid depression in college. Retrieved from www.usnews.com
Smith, M, & Segal, R. (2010, July). How much sleep do you need? . Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm