The Triangle

Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press MCT Ann Coulouris, 22, has withdrawn from the University of Michigan until she can get her depression under control. She is shown in April 2004 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Today's college students are twice as likely to be depressed and three times more likely to be suicidal than they were a decade ago, according to a recent study.

"For a variety of reasons, school is more stressful than it was 10 years ago," said Sherry Benton, assistant director of training at Kansas State University and one of the researchers of the study, which was published in February.

Researchers examined the changes in the problems of students who visited the counseling center at Kansas State University over a 13-year period.

The study, which included 13,000 students, found that over the 13-year period of time, the percentage of students with depression rose from 21 percent to 41 percent. The percentage of suicidal students rose from 5 to 9 percent, and students with stress and anxiety problems rose from 36 to 62 percent.

There are many possible reasons for the increases in depression and other stress-related issues, Benton said, including more academic competition and financial stress.

Counseling center directors nationwide, however, said the depressed economy has caused more stress than grades.

"There's a perception among our students that there are not that many opportunities in the workplace," said Patricia Larsen, director at the University of Colorado at Denver. "They feel a lot of pressure to stand out."

She agreed with Benton that there is also more stress about paying for college because "families' dollars are stretched… (they) cannot provide as much support to the students."

Russ Federman, director at the University of Virginia, said college used to be a time of exploration, but now students must choose a major that will guarantee success in the job force.

"When I went to school in the '60s, it was not uncommon to be a liberal arts major," Federman said. "Now if you're a liberal arts major, it means you don't know what you want to do."

Another explanation, Benton said, is better medication of younger people with mental problems.

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