How do you know when what you are experiencing is just a bad day or something more serious? We all have our ups and downs depending on how our day or week is going. The transition from bad day to rut to clinical depression can be gradual and leave even the strongest person thinking, "What is wrong with me? I just have to try harder! Why am I so lazy? Why can't I get out of bed?"
Clinical depression is a medical illness similar to pneumonia that even the strongest person cannot overcome without treatment. Clinical depression is similar to heart disease and cancer in that all of us have a susceptibility to each. If we have a family history of one of these illnesses, our susceptibility increases. This explains how some develop a clinical depression only after extraordinary stressors and others develop clinical depression seemingly out of the blue. Clinical depression is a very common illness that affects approximately 3-5% of the population at any one time. There is a 20% chance of having an episode of clinical depression at some point in one's life. The percentages are similar for the general population and college students.
Clinical depression is readily treatable with counseling and/or medication. Medication can correct the chemical imbalance (low levels of brain serotonin and norepinephrine) that is found in people with symptoms consistent with clinical depression. Unfortunately, fifty percent of people who have clinical depression never get help and suffer silently. Untreated, the average clinical depression can last 9-12 months. With treatment, people often report significant relief within 4-6 weeks.
Clinical depression often has its first onset in people between the ages of 18 and 22. Many stressors are inherent to these years, which may contribute to the onset of a clinical depression: separating physically and psychologically from one's family, managing the increase in freedom, dealing with the successes and disappointments that occur in academic, athletic, and extracurricular activities, developing and losing love relationships, many people experience death for the first time during these years with the loss of a friend or family member, choosing a major, finding a job, leaving the familiarity and security of college for the real world.
In general, when approaching a friend, it is most helpful to state what behaviors you have noticed that are of concern, i.e. I noticed that you have not left your room for the past few days and you have not been going to class. It is okay to ask about suicide directly. One does not increase the risk of suicide by asking about it, in fact, many people are relieved. If the student is having serious suicidal thoughts, it would be important to call the Counseling Center to have the student seen right away. A counselor can also give advice on how to approach a friend one is concerned about.
CSU, Bakersfield Counseling Center - 661/654-3366
Kern County Mental Health - 661/868-8000
Clinica Sierra Vista - 661/326-8167
Frazier Mt. Community Health - 661/858-2970
If you are in doubt about where to turn for assistance, please feel free to call the Counseling Center at 661-654-3366.
This information was prepared by the Dartmouth College to assist students with mental health issues. Information contained herein was gleaned from on-line publications found at the following location:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chd/resources/depression/index.html