Allison wanted to stop the urge she felt to cry on the weekends and during class. Bridget hated her new school and decided to transfer by week two. Kate had trouble sleeping after not making her school’s dance team. Emily felt depressed that not a single sorority accepted her pledge. The answer for these college freshmen: antidepressants.
About 80 percent of college students feel daily stress and 34 percent have felt depressed within the last three months, according to a survey by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Anxiety and depression are some of the most common health problems on college campuses because of the intensely stressful environments students live in, says the association. The college transition is especially hard for students with histories of anxiety and depression, like Bridget.
“I’m not good with change,” says Bridget. “College was the worst transition for me.”
Bridget experienced anxiety when her family moved from South Dakota to Chicago at age 14. After high school graduation, she chose to attend St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, the all-women sister school of the University of Notre Dame. She struggled being away from her family and friends. She felt isolated. She became upset and anxious and drove home every weekend, so her mother encouraged her to see a school therapist the beginning of her second semester. “I told the therapist I was transferring and just needed to make it through the year. She gave me a prescription for Lexapro after our third session.”
Psychologist Elizabeth Cronin of Brookline, Massachusetts works with college students suffering from different levels of anxiety. Young adults come to her family practice if they’re having relationship problems with their peers and parents, or having trouble adjusting to a new school setting. Students often experience stress during the college transition or feel anxious because their parents aren’t dealing well with the change. A lot of students who seek professional help for anxiety get prescriptions for antidepressants, which offer fast relief, but there is no quick fix for serious anxiety, according to Dr. Cronin. “Antidepressants alone are never the solution. Developing greater insight into yourself and practicing better coping skills will help you in the long run,” says the psychologist.
“I’d be scared to stop taking my meds because I don’t like the transition from being home all summer to back to school. My therapist said I can keep taking them until I’m at a stable point in my life,” Bridget says. She’s a happy senior at Boston College now with friends, an internship and volunteer activities, but she doesn’t want to stop taking her medication because even at a new school, she still has major stress. Bridget is among the many college students who feel anxious about their professional jobs and internships, schoolwork, friends and extracurricular activities.
Bridget underwent a thorough examination by both a psychologist and psychiatrist for her anxiety diagnosis, but not everyone on antidepressants has been properly evaluated. More college students take antidepressants each year, but Dr. Cronin says there are other ways to deal with everyday stress if students don’t have histories of anxiety or depression before leaving for school. She lists cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy as two of her top choices for treatment. “Therapy can be very helpful because it makes it possible for a student to set aside the time to address valid concerns and worries in a confidential environment with a neutral professional. Therapy is really effective because it offers a private space where a student can make some sense and come to some understanding about what’s going on,” says the psychologist.
Getting adequate sleep, sticking to a healthy diet, getting regular exercise and spending time with others greatly reduces anxiety in college students. Students already feel alone leaving their families and if they’re not interacting enough with other people, they’ll feel even lonelier. Participating in some sort of club and organization is very helpful. “That’s probably more important than eating healthy,” Dr. Cronin says about joining activity groups. If none of these coping strategies offer relief, then students can seek prescription drugs after a comprehensive evaluation by psychology and medical professionals.
Dr. Cronin feels like college students nowadays are more open to talking about their mental health. Bridget agrees and hopes that soon, no stigma will be associated with antidepressants or anxiety.
