composition 102
Dealing with the Problem of Depression
In 2015, John Achter, an interim dean at the University of Wisconsin Stout, presented a report on the health status of students to the university’s Board of Regents. In his report, he noted that almost a third of the University of Wisconsin’s students had reported significant mental problems in the preceding 12 months (Herzog, Karen). He further pointed out that almost 9.3% of the University of Wisconsin students seriously consider suicide every year with 1% of them attempting to take their lives. The growth of the reported depression cases has led to a sharp increase in the number of Wisconsin students seeking professional help through counselling, recording a 27% increase in 2015 as compared to 2014 (The University of Wisconsin). In 2015, there were 16.1 million reported cases of depression in the United States (NMIH). Increasing the availability of counsellors on campus and encouraging the depression victims to regularly attend therapy sessions for checkup and follow up are the most effective methods of dealing with the persistent problem of depression among the Wisconsin students.
Depressive episode refers to the state of being mentally unstable for more than two weeks. The study by the National Institute of Mental Health also established that 18.1% of the adult population had experienced at least one anxiety disorder for the period of 12 months with 22.8% of these cases being severe. Prevalence of this disorder was found to be higher among women, recording 60% of the reported cases. Another study by NMIH found that in 2015, more than 3 million adolescents aged between 12 and 17 had experienced a depressive episode. This number represented a 12.5% of the population in this age group with females being more affected at 19.5% compared to males who recorded 5.8% (NIMH). Statistics indicate that depression is a persistent problem in society today, cutting across different age groups and gender.
Depression, which is also referred to as depressive disorder, is a mood disorder that affects a person’s temperament and also affects how one thinks, feels, and behaves for a period no less than two weeks. There are various causes of depression that range from genetic, biological, psychological, and environmental factors, but there are specific issues that increase chances of its development. The first major cause is the high pressure from society to attain unrealistic expectations. Society usually demands every member to give concrete results, which are sometimes beyond one’s capabilities. People who do not perform as per the expectations might feel inadequate and fail to fit in society, which, in extreme cases, leads to anxiety and consequent depression (Gladstone et al. 40). Depression is also genetically inherited. Children from parents with a history of depression are likely to experience depressive episodes from the onset of adolescence. Additionally, people who have had a negative experience in their early childhood are likely to experience depression. This negative experience may have been a form of sexual abuse, bullying, neglect, or any other traumatic experience. Finally, depression is also caused by major negative life events such as divorce, job loss, or development of a chronic illness (Walsh 4). This issue is of great concern since the greatest cause of suicide, the second leading cause of death among the young people, is depression.
It is important to note that today there are five times more pupils that are dealing with depression today than there was in the mid-1950's (Abram). Such a sharp increase has been attributed to the enhanced exposure to the outside world by the media, which creates an image of the expected performance level, consequently increasing the expectations that people hold towards others. Today, children are expected to perform to a certain standard, disregarding the fact that every individual has different potential. Therefore, the first probable solution is teaching the students some coping strategies. Today, most students lack the required coping strategies, which usually see them overwhelmed when they are faced with unending pressure to perform better in school, complete all the assignments or conform to their peers’ expectations (Barrett, Rebecca). By teaching the students the required adaptation mechanism, it would be easy for them to deal with the constantly arising depressive episodes.
The second proposed solution that can be effective in solving the depression problem is increasing the number of counsellors that are available to attend to students at a given time. The report by John Achter noted that, although the number of people seeking professional counselling help had increased by 22% in 2015, the number of counsellors had not been significantly increased to match the increase. Lack of sufficient counsellors to attend to the patients meant that they could not receive immediate attention, as recommended, but had to wait for 26 days, which is considered to be undesirable for depression cases as they are usually classified as urgent (Karon et al.). Increasing the number of professionals can significantly help the patients who usually require talk therapies. Talk therapies are effective since they allow the victims to share their problems with others so that they do not feel lonely in their problems. There are two types of talk therapies. First is the cognitive-behavioral therapy that helps victims fight off the negative thoughts (Gladstone et al. 48). The second type of potential talk therapy is psychotherapy, which is sharing the problems with a professional who helps dissect them and proposes potential solutions.
Depression is a persistent problem at The University of Wisconsin-Stout just the same way it has been on a national level. The increase in depression cases has been attributed to high expectations that are placed upon individuals, students in this case, by society. Students today have to deal with the never-ending pressure from their parents to post better academic performance, from the bulk school work, and also from their peers to conform to the current trends. As established in the paper, although the reported mental instability cases reported in The University of Wisconsin-Stout increase every year, the response to contain the situation has not been adequate. Therefore, it has been recommended that there should be more counselling sessions targeting individuals who have been diagnosed with any mental disorder, with more emphasis on depression cases. Students should also be taught some coping strategies to help them deal with pressure that they constantly face from various spheres today.
Works Cited
Abram, Susan. "Study: Stress, Anxiety Much Greater On Students Than In Decades Past". Dailynews.Com, 2017, http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20100111/study-stress-anxiety-much-greater-on-students-than-in-decades-past.
Barrett, Rebecca. "Australian Students 'Lack Skills To Cope With Life Problems'". ABC News, 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-06/study-shows-that-kids-need-to-build-resistance/5651584.
Gladstone, Tracy R.G. et al. "The Prevention Of Adolescent Depression". Psychiatric Clinics Of North America, vol 34, no. 1, 2011, pp. 35-52. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.psc.2010.11.015.
Herzog, Karen. "Anxious? Deeply Depressed? More College Students Saying Yes". Archive.Jsonline.Com, 2016, http://archive.jsonline.com/news/anxious-deeply-depressed-more-college-students-saying-yes-b99720719z1-379221551.html.
Karon, Amy, and Sam Zastrow. "At UW-Stout, ‘Obsessive’ Data Crunching To Save — And Improve — Lives". Wisconsinwatch.Org, 2017, http://wisconsinwatch.org/2012/02/at-uw-stout-obsessive-data-crunching-to-save-and-improve-lives/.
NMIH,. "NIMH » Major Depression Among Adults". Nimh.Nih.Gov, 2017, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/major-depression-among-adults.shtml.
Penn, Elizabeth, and Derek K. Tracy. "The Drugs Don’T Work? Antidepressants And The Current And Future Pharmacological Management Of Depression". Therapeutic Advances In Psychopharmacology, vol 2, no. 5, 2012, pp. 179-188. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/2045125312445469.
The University of Wisconsin,. "Officials Tell Regents Many Factors Impact Student Success". The University Of Wisconsin, 2016, https://www.uwstout.edu/mobile/newsdetail.cfm?formID=257508&pageID=564825.
Walsh, Lynne. Depression Care Across The Lifespan. 1st ed., Chichester, West Sussex, U.K., John Wiley & Sons, 2009,.
