In recent years, the issue of depression in students has become an increasing concern. For young people in general, depression and suicide is a huge issue. Suicide is the main cause of death in 18-24 year old men in the UK and every year around 1,400 young people under the age of 35 take their own lives.
Students face a lot of pressure in their lives, the pressure of potentially huge amounts of debt on their shoulders, pressure to perform well in assignments and exams pressure of living away from home and keeping up with rent and bills are just a few of the problems.
In 2011, The Royal College of Psychiatrists revealed that an increasing number of students in Britain were seeking help from mental health support services. This is all at a time of increasing amounts of student debt and more limited employment options after graduation. Many students in Britain are now paying £9000 a year in tuition fees and will leave university with an average debt of around £40,000. Along with that debt, there is the daunting task of trying to find good and suitable employment in an incredibly competitive environment. Taking this into consideration, it seems understandable that there is an increase of students facing mental health worries.
In addition to financial troubles, students also face having to move away from home and live with strangers, having to make friends from scratch when they don't know anyone at all. This can be daunting, what if you don't get on with your housemates, what if you find yourself struggling to make friends? This can add to feelings of depression and anxiety. As well as this there is the academic pressure to get good grades, coping with the stress of exams and assignments, dealing with poor results and failures.
It is worrying that these pressures and worries could be ruining the ambition of some of this country's brightest young people. More help need to be provided to ensure that students can get help to cope with the pressures of university and that when they graduate, they are not left feeling helpless and frightened by what could and should be a bright future.
Talking about your problems is a huge step in dealing with depression. Universities have counselling services for students, problems can be discussed confidentially with a impartial person. Keeping quiet and trying to deal with depression alone is not being strong, and opening up and talking does not make you weak.
Raising awareness of this issue is important, people need to know the kinds of pressure that young people face in order to be able to provide more help and support.
Here are some fantastic sites that provide information and support to anyone that is struggling or worried about someone:
http://www.thecalmzone.net/
http://www.studentsagainstdepression.org/
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