The dark side of college life: Academic pressure,
depression, suicide
Daniela Lamas / Knight Ridder Newspaper
(KRT)
MIAMI - Caitlin Stork tried to kill herself the first time
when she was 15. She was hospitalized, discharged, and
attempted suicide again.
The doctors diagnosed depression and put her on Paxil. It
wasn't until the drug drove her into a manic state that
she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and prescribed
lithium.
Stork is now a senior at Harvard University, still taking
the mood-stabilizing lithium and the anti-psychotic Seroquel.
"You would never believe how much I can hide from
you,'' Stork wrote for a campus display on mental
health. "I'm a Harvard student like any other; I
take notes during lecture, goof off … but I never let
on how much I hurt.''
Stork is one of a growing number of college students coping
with mental illness. More students, with more serious
problems, are using campus mental health centers than ever
before. The number of depressed students seeking help doubled
from 1989 to 2001, according to one study, and those with
suicidal tendencies tripled during the same period.
Suicide is the second leading killer of college students -
with an estimated 7.5 deaths per 100,000 students per year,
according to a study of Big 10 campuses from 1980 to 1990.
Three New York University undergrads died in three separate
apparent suicides this fall.
It's a complicated landscape, where it's easier to
find blame than answers. Doctors and students point to
increased academic pressure, starting at a much earlier age.
In addition, there's easy access to drugs and alcohol in
a culture where stress is the norm and sleepless nights a
badge of honor.
Students with serious mental illness also are getting
diagnosed and medicated earlier. As such, some young adults -
like Stork - can make it to college, while they might not
have years earlier.
Colleges acknowledge this is a hot issue. With limited
funds, they've hired more psychiatrists, stepped up hours
at counseling centers, instituted outreach programs
throughout the campus and instructed teachers to watch
students during exam times.
"Around this time, it's very, very hard, but we
don't turn people away,'' said Florida State
University's counseling center director, Dr. Anika
Fields, who called the weeks before first-semester exams
"crunch period.''
But critics say colleges need to do more. There's little
evidence of which interventions work best, stigma still
surrounds mental illness, and students describe a disconnect
between counseling centers and the campus population.
Many schools simply aren't ready, says Stork: "The
science is advancing faster than the universities.''
For students without diagnosed mental illness, it's
still hard to recognize whether problems exist, and to ask
for help. Having more counselors helps, they say, but
it's not enough.
"A lot of students aren't that comfortable going up
to a psychiatrist, and saying, 'Hey, I need some
help,'" said Peter Maki, a University of Miami
student and member of the group Counseling, Outreach, Peer
Education (COPE).
Maki, a psychobiology major, is one of a group of students
trying to turn COPE from a group that does "secretarial
work" to a link between counseling center and student
body.
"There's definitely a gap," said Ashley Tift,
a University of Miami senior who chairs COPE. She referred a
friend to the counseling center who was depressed and
drinking too much. It helped, but she wouldn't have known
where to turn if she weren't involved with COPE.
At Harvard, Stork heads a student group, the Mental Health
Awareness and Advocacy Group. At a conference last year,
members learned that personal contact has been proven the
best way to reduce stigma - better than education.
They created an annual mental health awareness week, with
panels, relaxation techniques and prominently displayed
student narratives on bulletin boards in a heavily trafficked
campus area. An undergrad with obsessive-compulsive disorder
wrote about her need to wash her hands 50 times per day. A
depressed freshman considered taking too many pills, lying in
bed while everyone else seemed to welcome the new
opportunities and activities.
With these and her own experiences in mind, Stork urges
Harvard's resident advisors to "err on the side of
nosiness" rather than risk missing a student in trouble.
When all safety nets fail, there's the threat of
suicide.
In a nationwide study, 9 percent of college students
admitted to "seriously considering attempting
suicide" between one and 10 times in the 2002-2003
school year and just over 1 percent actually tried to kill
themselves.
Jed Satow was a sophomore at the University of Arizona when
he committed suicide in 1998. He was impulsive, acted without
thinking of consequences, but neither his friends, professors
or parents recognized his actions as signs of depression,
said his father, Phil Satow.
"People don't know when their roommate or friend
has crossed the line. This sort of thing is not generally
talked about," said Satow, president and founder of the
Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to decrease the youth
suicide rate. "The reality is that there needs to be
cultural changes on college campuses to deal with stress and
depression."
The Jed Foundation launched a free Web site this fall,
Ulifeline.org, which links students to mental health centers,
information and anonymous screening for issues including
depression, eating disorders and suicide. Colleges can
subscribe, enabling students to avail themselves of all the
services.
"This allows students on their own, without stigma, to
be screened 24 hours a day," Satow said. "If you
take a public health approach, alerting the whole campus in
what to look for, in all probability more kids like my son
will come in. It's a real communal problem."
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CAMPUS MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY
In a survey of nearly 20,000 students on 33 campuses,
college students reported experiencing the following within
the 2002-2003 school year:
-Feeling overwhelmed by all they had to do:
Male … Female … Total
Never: 10.8 … 2.6 … 5.4
1-10 times: 68.8 … 64.5 … 65.8
11+ times: 20.4 … 32.9 … 28.8
-Feeling so depressed it was difficult to function:
Male … Female … Total
Never: 60.6 … 52.6 … 55.2
1-10 times: 33.3 … 39.8 … 37.7
11+ times: 6.1 … 7.6 … 7.1
-Seriously considering attempting suicide:
Male … Female … Total
Never: 90.8 … 89.1 … 89.7
1-10 times: 8.2 … 10.0 … 9.4
11+ times: 1.0 … 0.8 … 0.9
-Attempting suicide:
Male … Female … Total
Never: 98.6 … 98.7 … 98.6
1-10 times: 1.2 … 1.2 … 1.3
11+ times: 0.3 … 0.1 … 0.1
-Source: American College Health Association, National
College Health Assessment: Reference Group Executive Summary,
Spring 2003.
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SOME SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION
Think your friend or child might have a problem? The
following are some symptoms of depression, from the National
Institute of Mental Health. Not everyone who is depressed
experiences every symptom.
-Persistent sad, anxious or "empty" mood
-Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
-Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
-Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities,
including sex
-Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"
-Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
-Insomnia, early-morning awakening or oversleeping
-Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
-Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
-Restlessness, irritability
-Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to
treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic
pain
For more information, go to www.nimh.nih.gov or call
866-615-NIMH (6464).
To contact The Jed Foundation, go to jedfoundation.org, or
call 212-343-0016.
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© 2003, The Miami Herald.
Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at
http://www.herald.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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