Everyone knows that college is a stressful and often depressing place. But nearly one in two will need psychiatric help before they finish school. That's a lot considering schools like Texas A&M have 22 councilors responsible for 45,000 students. Imagine a work load of nearly a thousand students each.

The most prominent issues are; academic stress and apprehension due to fear of disappointment. Failure is an uncommon fact of life for many young adults entering college these days. The chief of mental health services at a well known ivory college says that close to 50 percent of college students may suffer from some level of depression. In the last 13 years Kansas State’s number doubled for students seeking counseling for depression. Most students were upperclassmen.

From my experience it is more common to hear college students complain about anxiety and depression then the common cold. Though I do wonder how much of collegiate mental illness’s stemmed from drug and alcohol use. This is sort of a chicken and egg issue. I have a feeling when it comes to surveying college students about drug use it must be hard to get an accurate, truthful response.

How to get help:
Students who have problems with depression or anxiety should talk to mental health counselors at their school.

Parents should keep an eye on their kids:

• Sleeping more/less then usual
• change in appetite
• less motivation then usual
• Isolating themselves from those around them
• Chemical and Substance use

Though many of these behaviors may be present this does not necessarily single out a mental illness, it may just be something to talk about. In the words of a wise philosopher: "dude, at that age, my mind was doing wheelies."


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