“I completely shut myself out from the world around me. It’s something you think you can handle yourself and I just wanted time to myself to get back on track.Coming into college you have the financial turmoil of having to pay bills for the first time. To fix this you get a job, but that takes time away from the mountain of homework we face. To do well on your homework you stay up later and later in hopes you can get everything done. You sleep less and less and get weaker and weaker. It’s a vicious cycle that is really hard to pull yourself out of. Throwing all these pressures on you when you already have had issues with depression can make things so much worse because you don’t have the time to work through it. It eats way at you.Sometimes it takes someone slapping you in the face. You pretend you don’t want help from those around you, but sometimes you need that friend grabbing you and saying, Hey, I’m going to help you whether you like it or not!”

This is one account from a UW-Platteville student who suffered from depression. According to a Student Health Services survey from spring 2007, 12 percent of UW-P students have been diagnosed with depression.

On a campus with an enrollment of approximately 6,600 students, the survey results indicated that nearly 800 students on campus suffer from depression. Dean of Students Rich Egley said that these students have numerous places to turn.

“Student Health Services, Counseling Services or any physician would be a good starting place for students suffering from depression,” Egley said. “In my opinion, the best first step is an assessment by a licensed professional, either a counselor or a doctor, to screen for depression and other mental health concerns.”

Egley said that Counseling Services, which is located in 220 Royce Hall, can provide this screening. Their offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the exception of Wednesday, when they are open until 8 p.m.

“Counseling Services is available to enrolled UW-P students to help them deal with the issues they face, including depression,” Director of UW-P Counseling Services Roger Meyer said. “Services are free and strictly confidential.”

Egley said that the screenings that can be provided by professionals such as those at Counseling Services can help people get a clearer picture of their situation.

“The screenings can rule out organic issues and other maladies that could be causing the problem,” Egley said. “Some other mental health concerns or behaviors that could need to be addressed are alcohol abuse, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Egley said organic issues could include the biochemistry of the brain being thrown out of equilibrium.

“Sometimes a daily dose of medication can help restore the equilibrium and relieve a lot of suffering,” Egley said.

Students who have not experienced depression sometimes have a hard time understanding the illness.

“Too many people look at people with mental health issues and say that person is nuts,” Egley said. “To those people I would just ask if they really thought someone would choose to be in that situation?”

Depression is often automatically lumped together with students considering suicide. This is a claim that is misguided, Meyer said. “Not everyone who is depressed is also suicidal.”

Depression can have many causes, and college life can introduce students to many new challenges that can increase their risk of developing depression.

“In college some people have what I would call foundation-shaking doubt of their ability to succeed in college or their major,” Egley said. “Relationships have a huge influence … and issues like students’ parents splitting up while they are in college or the death of a close friend or family member can have huge effects.”

Egley said that for people 18 to 24 years old, mental health issues can surface naturally.

“This can be hard to deal with because students can’t find a real trigger, but of no fault of their own their biochemistry is out of equilibrium,” Egley said.

Meyer stressed that depression is a treatable condition.

“They do need to seek out help,” Meyer said. “Depression does not just go away. Although mood may improve for a short time, without treatment depression almost always returns, sometimes more intensely than before.”

The treatment for depression includes many different processes.

“Treatment for depression includes counseling and, at times, antidepressant medication, which helps the depressed person function more effectively while they learn how to manage their mood through counseling,” Meyer said.

Egley said that many people who suffer depression too often lump taking medication in with doing drugs.

“If an antidepressant is going to help a person in conjunction with a program, or if that helps restore them to a point where depression doesn’t run their life, then we should be happy to have found that,” Egley said. “This is the ingredient that the body needs to run effectively.”

Sometimes the first prescribed medication is not the answer to helping those with depression.

“This is difficult because people think they can take a prescription and it will always work and this is not always the case as it sometimes takes trying multiple prescriptions,” Egley said. “Sometimes one drug doesn’t work, and with mental health individualization is critical.”

Egley said that the most important thing for students suffering from depression to remember is to not give up.

“If you have a bad experience with a medication, psychiatrist or counselor, you should try another,” Egley said. “Just get somewhere safe.”

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