MORE COLLEGE STUDENTS SUFFER SEVERE DEPRESSION

AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS DEPRESSION AND
USE OF PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINES HAVE INCREASED

WebMD Health News - Some mental health problems, including moderate and severe depression, are more common among college students today than in the past, according to a study that looked back 12 years. But other problems, such as having thoughts of suicide, are less common among today’s students, says researcher John Guthman, PhD, director of counseling services at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. With his colleagues, he looked at the records of 3,256 college students who sought college counseling support between 1997 and 2009 at a mid-sized private university. The percentage of students with moderate to severe depression who sought counselling at U.S. campuses increased 7 per cent. “University and college counselling services around the country are reporting that the needs of students seeking services are escalating toward more severe psychological problems,” said Guthman at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting in San Diego.

“While the condition of students seeking counselling doesn’t necessarily reflect the experience of the average college student, our findings may suggest that students with severe emotional stress are getting better education, outreach and support during childhood that makes them more likely to attend college than in the past.” The study findings are no surprise to Michael Fitzpatrick, MSW, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which hosts campus clubs nationwide to help college students with mental health issues. “Many campuses have responded positively to provide more mental health services,” he says. He says the rise in moderate to severe depression may reflect the fact that more youth with mental health problems are getting diagnosed earlier and so arrive at college with the diagnosis. As a result, he says, many colleges have ‘‘ramped up” their mental health services to accommodate those students who have existing needs when they arrive on campus.

Attention to mental health issues on campuses has risen in the wake of campus shooting and suicides. Most depression or mental illnesses begin during the late teens, just as students are entering college. Quite clearly our schools are not preparing our students for university ... but what about us - as parents? Why do not give them a spiritual view of life before sending to college?

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

By being surrounded by and part of the exploitative tendency we will always live in fear of failure, in fear that someone else will come along and take what we have, and in fear that our future progress will be threatened. This fear causes depression. ... Under the illusion of material wealth, or lack of, it is easy to become depressed and to fall into intoxication as an escape from facing our true nature. Pride from the falsity of ownership does not satisfy the soul. ... We should not think that depression can be counteracted by the invention of new psychiatric medicines. Depression must be dealt with at its roots, where for the majority of people it is difficult to get to as they are not prepared to question their concepts about existence and the meaning to life. When the underlying philosophy of material evolution is atheistic, lending an utterly meaningless interpretation to why we are alive, would it not be better to take another look at a spiritual perspective on life?

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“The Illness of the Century - Depression”
“Vedic Wisdom Collection”
http://www.vedic-wisdom.org/
http://www.sabiduriavedica.org/sv.php?id=49_57
http://vwonline.blogspot.com/2006/03/illness-of-century-depression.html