Freshmen depression rises across nation

Georgia College students face stress during transition from high school to college

Today, first-year college students’ emotional health is at its lowest point since 1985, according to a report by the Higher Education Research Institute of UCLA.

Director of Counseling Services at Georgia College, Mary Jane Phillips, said more freshmen women at Georgia College seem to have lower emotional health than freshmen men.

“First of all, Georgia College has a female skewed population,” Phillips said. “Women also seek medical care at a much higher rates than men. The number of women and men with low emotional health may be close, but because not a lot of men come to counseling, the number of women reporting low levels of emotional health goes up, and the number of men reporting low levels of emotional health goes down.”

Most freshmen that go to counseling have issues with high stress. According to Phillips, between 35 to 40 percent of the students she sees are freshmen feeling overwhelmed.

“Everyone that comes in has some life stuff,” Phillips said. “Add that life stuff to several, small external stressors, and it all begins to pile up and become too hard to handle.”

Several different problems contribute to a freshman experiencing high levels of stress. Financial and relationship issues seem to be the biggest problems, but the transition from high school to college is an important issue as well.

Financial Problems

Phillips said she counsels a lot of students with financial concerns.

There are several things that can affect a student financially including a parent getting laid off or a student losing the HOPE Scholarship. All of these factors can severely alter a first-year student’s college experience.

According to the 2010 CIRP Freshman Survey, two-thirds of incoming students said their economic situation greatly affected their college choice.

Kelsey Stone, a senior at Jones County High School and incoming freshman for Fall 2011, is concerned about making money after leaving her parents’ house.

“I really worry about being able to find a job, because that seems to be a necessity for a college freshman,” Stone said. “I won’t be living off my parents anymore, so I need some form of income, even if it’s minimum wage.”

As far as financial issues go, the HOPE scholarship can supply many students with a more manageable opportunity. However, at first it can be difficult trying to adjust to having fun while still trying to maintain the grades to keep HOPE. Freshman Michael Ericson said he ran into this problem during his first year at Georgia College.

“I have found it very hard to keep HOPE and still enjoy college as much as I can,” Ericson said. “But (now) I divide my time better as I understand how much is needed for classes.”

Transition From High School To College

A relationship problem, which includes issues with a friend, significant other or roommate, is the number one reason most freshmen go to counseling. Phillips said that one of the biggest issues she sees in this area are situations dealing with long distance relationships. A lot of students come to college still holding onto their high school boyfriend or girlfriend, and can often times lead to symptoms of depression.

“Students are trying to figure out how to build their schedule around spending time with their boyfriend or girlfriend, their friends at college and their academics,” Phillips said. “It can put a lot of stress on a student.”

Dealing with the transition from high school to college is something that all freshmen have to learn how to handle. How they choose to cope with the transition really makes a difference in their stress level in college.

Not having enough structure is the key factor that is causing some freshmen to feel overwhelmed. With new friends, harder classes and more freedom, it can be hard trying to find the right balance.

Phillips suggests freshmen—or anyone who is feeling overwhelmed—should try to find at least one person they can comfortably talk to when they are starting to feel stressed out.

Phillips said if more freshmen came to counseling, then most of their stress would subside. Unfortunately, there are a couple of things keeping freshmen from going to counselors for help.

“Seniors know who (the counselors) are; freshmen do not,” Phillips said. “Either that, or they have different expectations of counselors since high school counselors were mostly responsible for helping with class schedules.”

If freshmen do not get the help they need when small stressors begin to bother them, it is possible that things will begin to pile up, and they can become clinically depressed.

It is best to talk things out with a counselor, or attend workshops offered through the university that may give pointers on how to deal with common stressors.

Phillips put extra emphasis on the fact that talking to someone about feelings of stress or depression does not mean someone is “weak.”

“If I have an issue, but I don’t want to talk about it, I think that shows more of a psychological weakness than strength,” Phillips said.

Posted by Anna Morris on Mar 3 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.