I asked four students what they thought about depression. Here’s what they said.
Name: Arturo Cedillo
Age: 21
School: Baruch College (City University of New York)
Major: Accounting
Year: Junior
*Participant requested photo to be omitted.
What is depression?
“Probably a person being sad, or mentally down, or isolating themselves from society”.
Why do you think so many college students (~30%) have reported having depression in recent years?
“Probably because of stress from school and tests”.
Should accommodations be made in schools/classes for college students with depression? Why or why not?
“Not really accommodations but more like a program in order to bring out these problems, and to solve them. To integrate [students with depression] into the regular school basically. Maybe a club which won’t discriminate against these people who have depression. But they have to first openly say that they have depression, admit it, and then go seek help”.
Name: Ralphaelle
Age: 20
School: Baruch College (City University of New York)
Major: Psychology
Year: Sophomore
*Participant requested last name and photo to be omitted.
What is depression?
“Depression I like the feeling of hopelessness and overwhelmingly sad and things like that. It can come in a lot of different ways for a lot of different people. There’s a lot of different reasons. The main reason of feeling lost, hopeless, sad, irritable, things like that”.
Why do you think so many students (~30%) have reported having depression in recent years?
“I think a lot more people have it and a lot of people don’t report it, actually. I think that a lot of people, especially college students, go through so much stress. It’s really a time in our lives that we come to terms with a lot of things we’ve experienced in the past, and we’re starting to become our own person, and depression comes up a lot with that. And a lot of college students are worried about the future. That’s also common theme, I feel. Just about the future, and going on with it. So I feel like people in college just feel they can deal with it, and that’s why maybe 30% isn’t really a big number in the retrospect of everything. A lot more college students actually have depression, they just don’t even realize it cause they’re so preoccupied with what’s going on”.
Should accommodations be made in schools/classes for students with depression? Why or why not?
“I personally have depression. I never seeked help before until this year, and that was mainly because my teachers made it known to me that there was free counseling on campus and things like that. [Baruch College] in general is actually pretty accommodating for people who need help like that. I feel like in the beginning, like on syllabus day, if they just make the announcement like ‘oh, we do have free counseling centers for that,’ I feel like that would be a good way to help people realize that there is some type of outlet for them within classes and things like that”.
Name: Norbelis
Age: 19
School: Baruch College (City University of New York)
Major: General Marketing
Year: Sophomore
*Participant requested last name and photo to be omitted.
What is depression?
“I would say it’s more like a state of mind that you have to learn to get out from. You could have everything and not be satisfied, but you’re not satisfied because of your outlook.”
Why do you think so many college students (~30%) have reported having depression in recent years?
“I feel like that number is really low, I feel like it’s a little higher than 30%. It could be just because school is stressful. It really is. I guess the goals are just — I wouldn’t say they’re too high, but sometimes people just don’t have those goals. It’s kind of hard to keep up with goals that you don’t even want. So many people go through a state of depression. Everybody has their down days and I guess school and stress would make that a little more ‘down-er’ and actually qualify as depression. So, maybe people just don’t report it because people honestly don’t notice the symptoms sometimes. They just say ‘oh, okay. This is just how today is.’ But it stays every day.”
Should accommodations be made in schools/classes for college students with depression? Why or why not?
“I would say no. When you have depression you kind of isolate yourself, but you need to realize that you’re the one isolating yourself. Sometimes it’s not really the other party. So, no accommodation is needed because it’s only dependent on you. You have to get yourself out of it. You have to go out of your way and get some counseling if you need it, therapy if you need it.”
Name: Jadia
Age: 22
School: Baruch College (City University of New York)
Major: International Marketing
Year: Senior
*Participant requested last name and photo to be omitted.
What is depression?
“You’re not happy with your surroundings. You’re not happy with everything you have. You might have a lot of money, or everything that you want to have material-wise, but you’re still not happy. You want to be away from people. You still feel like there’s something that you need, and you’re depressed. Nothing really satisfies you.”
Why do you think so many college students (~30%) have reported having depression in recent years?
They might feel like they’re discriminated against. The person that they probably love is not with them. Things like that. Multiple factors I would say. Like [Norbelis] said, it’s like a state of mind. It’s all in your mind, your mind controls you. That might be why.”
Should accommodations be made in schools/classes for college students with depression? Why or why not?
“Absolutely, yes. Those people need help! And it would be great if school provides them with some sort of support where they can go to and speak about it or try to find out what would the reason be and how they can solve it. It would be great.”
What is your definition of depression? Why do you think so many college students are reporting having it? Answer in the comments below.
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