Ah, the days before college; how we all now yearn for them, but took little to no advantage of the opportunities provided to us before we hit the life-altering stage of our life. Back in the days of pre-school, fighting our parents and teachers because we did not want to go down for nap time. The little phase of rebellion where we denied ourselves of precious rest time followed us into a bigger stage of rebellion: adolescence. The days of being a teenaged boy or girl had more depth than our little infant fights with our parents and other elders. Then, one of many fights involved curfew. The doctrine over the deadline you had to be home differed, mainly being extended on non-school nights, was either leniently enforced or strictly enforced. Though we all had varying degrees of rebellion towards rules and standards our parents and teachers had, we knew we could depend on them to be our security blanket.
Then, college hit. And that security blanket we had gown accustomed to was no more. We had finally experienced our first full present we had been desiring since we were kindergarteners, and that was freedom. You think all is well...
Except...
The playful days of recess all of a sudden turned into stressful days and nights of essay writing, quiz/test-taking, among other things. Your first realization that this present of freedom comes at a pretty steep price, and that exchange you make entering college is that life will gladly give you the adult freedom; however, the price you pay is that life hands you a plate full of responsibilities and deadlines bombarding you from all angles. So, should freedom come at a steep price?
The steep price we see is the lack of oversight for those who have had emotional and mental issues masked via the security blanket that will be exposed at the college and university level, such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. 27% of current college students experience these mental health problems.
The best thing we can do for students with untreated depression, and to not contribute to the growing suicide rate among college students is for them to realize the symptoms, never be afraid to ask for help, and especially if suicide and/or self-harm are considered.
Anxiety disorders are among the most diagnosed mental disorders among college students. Social phobia, OCD, and panic disorder are amongst the common disorders linked with college students; they make the student feel like extreme stress is upon them, their ability to act normally is paralyzed, and their worries often seem out of control, but not to them. The most responsible act these individuals can use is awareness; always go to your college health center or a therapist to ask for help if need be, especially in the case of sleep deprivation or insomnia.
If these are left unchecked, they could lead to very dangerous behaviors, such as substance abuse.
