*

* *48.7% of college counseling centers participated in depression
screening days (up from 41.6%),

referring 37% of students to counseling

* *54.6% of students affirmed that counseling helped them to remain
enrolled

 

From the Poynter Institute:

 

 Virginia Tech story is starting to develop, in part, as a story about a
depressed and angry person. I urge you to put some context on the issue
of depression and not allow your stories to paint people with depression
as psychotic killers in waiting. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention says:
(http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001201-d001300/d001247/d001247.html)
Depression is one of the world's oldest and most common ailments. It can
have both physical and psychological symptoms. Millions of Americans are
estimated to suffer from depression, a condition so widespread that it
has been dubbed "the common cold of mental illness." 

 

Depression is not something that you can snap out of. It can be
associated with a chemical imbalance in the brain. Depression is a
condition that knows no age boundary. In 2000, 10 percent of college
students and 13 percent of college women were diagnosed with depression
[PDF]
(http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/prevention/suicideprevention/collegedata.p
df)  (National Mental Health Association, 2000). 

 

Take a look at the 2005 National College Health Assessment Survey data
(http://www4.nau.edu/fronske/NCHA2005survey.htm) . Read the Executive
Summary here [PDF]
(http://cumc.columbia.edu/student/health/pdf/NCHA%202005%20Executive%20S
ummary.pdf) . The report says this about college students:

   Depression ranked fourth in top 10 physical and mental
problems.    37 percent of students have felt so depressed it
was difficult to function.    51.2 percent of students have felt
things were hopeless.    6.6 percent of females and 4.1 percent
of males have seriously considered suicide.  

 

Among young people, depression is more prevalent than you might think.
The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center reports:
(http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/depression.asp)   

 

COLLEGE STUDENT SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION DATA

National Data:

* *Suicide 2nd leading cause of death among college students

* *In the past 60 years, suicide rate has quadrupled for males 15 to 24
years old, and

has doubled for females of the same age (CDC, 2002).

* *Males between the ages of 20 and 24 were 6.6 times more likely than
females to

complete suicide in 2001. (American Association of Suicidology, 2001
data).

* *In 2000, 10% of college students and 13 % of college women were
diagnosed

with depression (National Mental Health Association, 2000)

* *18-24 year-olds think about suicide more often than any other age
group

* *More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable
mental

health disorder, commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse
disorder.

2005 NCHA Survey Data (N = 54,111 surveys):

* *Depression ranked 4th in top ten physical and mental problems

* *45% of students so depressed could not function

* *56% of students felt hopeless

* *11% of females and 9% of males seriously considered suicide

2005 Counseling Center Directors Data (N = 366):

* *90.3% of directors believe the # of center clients w/severe
psychological problems

has increased (increase from 86% in 2004)

* *48.7% of centers participated in depression screening days (up from
41.6%),

referring 37% of students to counseling

* *54.6% of students affirmed that counseling helped them to remain
enrolled

References/Resources

* *American Association of Suicidology, 2001 data www.suicidology.org

* *American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, www.afsp.org
<http://www.afsp.org/> 

 

COLLEGE STUDENT SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION DATA

* *Centers for Disease Control, 2001-2002 data. CDC WISQARS Fatal and

Nonfatal, 2001

* *Murphy, S. L. (2000). Deaths: Final date for 1998. National Vital
Statistics

Report, 48 (11). DHHS Publication No.

* *(PHS) 2000-1120.

* *Here for Life, www.hereforlife.org

* *The Jason Foundation, Inc., www.jasonfoundation.org

* *National College Health Assessment, Spring 2005. American College
Health

Association.

* *National Mental Health Association, 2000

* *National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, 2005. Gallageher,
Robert P.

University of Pittsburgh.

 

 

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number below.   Apologies...We are working on it. Sincerely,

 

Rev. Dr. E-K. Daufin, Professor

Department of Communications

Alabama State University

915 South Jackson St.

Montgomery, AL 36101-0271

334.229.6885

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