Running Head: Depression Proposal

Brendan White

12/11/16

ENC 1101

Depression Proposal

Introduction

The world is becoming more and more stressful each day. One of the most stressful time

periods in our lives is when we are in college as there is a lot of pressure to do well. Many

students correlate their success in college with how good of a job they will hold in the future.

Depression is common in many college students, but just to different extents. Each college

student goes through their own struggles and may feel some form of depression over their years

in school.

Problem

Many of us struggle balancing everything in our lives. College is also very expensive.

Many students feel the pressure of having to pay for college so they often get a part-time job and

must juggle this with school. Students that struggle financially receive scholarships that help

them, but these often put a ton of pressure on them as they must maintain a certain grade point

average or they may lose the scholarship. For some, the loss of a scholarship means the loss of

their college education. There are many other factors that play into stress. Making new friends

and the transition from life at home to life in school are two examples of these stress factors.

Depression can play a role and impact other aspects of student’s lives, even grades. Students will

feel sluggish and depressed while trying to complete school work. They feel like they are a

1

Running Head: Depression Proposal

failure and almost as if they can’t do it. This usually results in their grades dropping. Depression

can also lead to poor decisions that continue to hurt your life and can even affect your physical

health. Some common decisions that are a result of depression in college is binge drinking and

experimenting with drugs. One of the worst results of depression is suicide. Schools all over the

country deal with the terrible act of suicide every year. Schools continue to try to help relieve

students of stress, anxiety, and depression as they realize that these all contribute to terrible acts

such as suicide. A survey conducted by the American Psychiatric Association reported that 49%

of college students have felt depressed (Swanholm, 2009). Depression is a medical condition that

can be treated and cured with the proper support and treatment.

Depression can come from factors that are unexpected. Many students hate the feeling of

failing. Many students prepare their whole life juggling clubs, school, sports, and other activities

and exceeding in all of them just to get into a good college. Students carry a lot of pressure from

schools and parents. Many are used to performing and succeeding at such a high level that they

are shocked when they reach college. The work and life in college is very different to that of

high school. Many students have a difficult time accepting the slightest slip up in school as they

are used to doing so well. This depresses students as they feel they have failed and it creates

more stress for them as they feel they must get back to their old ways and maintain high grades.

Parents often invest a lot of money on students putting them through elite programs and schools.

One of the main reasons behind this is to get their kids into a prestigious university. Students

then feel the pressure that they must live up to their parent’s expectations. They want to succeed

and don’t want to be viewed as a failure.

Colleges should be responsible for taking care of students. College is considered a place

to help students grow and strive toward greatness. If this is the case, then why aren’t there more

2

Running Head: Depression Proposal

resources to help students deal with depression, a very common problem many students face?

Schools just haven’t acknowledged the major issue of depression nearly as much as other issues.

Solutions

Schools tend to avoid mentioning depression as it is a sensitive topic that most would

rather pretend didn’t exist instead of trying to fix. There are many solutions that could all play a

part in a decrease of depression on college campuses. One step that schools could take would be

to provided services to help diagnose a student’s depression. Depression is a medical condition

and can be diagnosed by a doctor. A college campus could use a doctor or many doctors to

diagnose students. Students face many different factors that lead to their depression and often

have difficulty juggling all their activities and managing to try to fix their problems. A special

center just for students dealing with depression could be organized to help students find solutions

and take steps to solve each one. Counselors could be with students at the center to help each

student deal with different problems whether it is social, financial, or school issues. Counselors

could help students make a plan and schedule.

Depression is a topic that students may feel embarrassed about and might try to avoid. To

prevent students from avoiding seeking help when they need it, the school would put holds on

registering for classes so the student must complete the steps before they can register. The school

would have an online assessment similar to the drug and alcohol education and assessment to

evaluate whether or not a student needs help. The school would also require a student to seek a

counselor before they register. Schools could create a club or group that goes around making

aware of the issue of depression. Hearing about depression and how it is an issue from your peers

can be more comforting than hearing it from a doctor. This group could put up flyers and posters

promoting the help centers for students with depression. Counselors and doctors could also help

3

Running Head: Depression Proposal

with a diagnosis of “psychological treatment” as mentioned in “Psychological Treatment of

Depression in College Students: A Metaanalysis” as it refers to the different causes of depression

as well as the different treatments of depression that vary from the normal types that can be seen

in adults (Cuijpers, 2016). The treatment of metaanalysis is brought up and even though it may

be very elaborate, it is effective. Counselors can help students deal with “magnified negative

emotion and self-blame” as is mention in “Language use of depressed and depression-vulnerable

college students.” (Rude, 2004)

Feasibility

The first aspect of creating a club does not take much. Many schools already fund all

school clubs and organizations from the tuition that students pay. The club would be made up of

any student who wants to join. The students would go around campus and post information about

depression and seeking help for depression. The group would be similar to groups that address

drug and alcohol abuse on college campuses. The groups could have members that meet with

other members who are depressed. The groups could explain their problems and try to help one

another by finding solutions.

Depression is considered a medical condition that can be diagnosed by doctors. The

school could hire any doctor, but could keep in mind recent graduates from that university as

they understand even more so the depression and stress of a college student as they have just

recently graduated from that particular university.

For an even more specialized center for students with depression, the school could build

an additional facility on extra space on the campus so that they can accommodate as many

students as possible. The center would be made up of counselors to help students discuss their

4

Running Head: Depression Proposal

problems as well as find solutions to solve the problems. The counselors will help students create

and balance their schedule so that they can find solutions to their problems. For example, the

counselor can help a student find a job, improve their grades, find time for their social life, and

stay healthy. The counselors could be made up of both qualified counselors who may have been

counselors at other schools or could be made up of volunteers. Some may argue that the facility

would be similar to an infirmary or a health and wellness center. This facility would be different.

Many students go to seek help at the infirmary and the health and wellness center which results

in many students unable to be seen due to the mass amounts of students. The depression facility

would also have doctors and counselors who are specialized in the area of helping people with

depression. Considering how many students’ depression affects, the facility would get a lot of

use as well as make the other facilities more efficient as they don’t have to accommodate as

many students. However, some may argue how useful a facility like this would be. A study that

implemented a system to get rid of student depression on four college campuses included a

counseling centers where students could seek help and guidance, workshops to help them find

solutions for problems in their lives, and made depression aware on college campuses by

handing out brochures, flyers, and videos online. The program was reviewed by faculty members

as well as students. Lynda D. Field said, “the evaluations indicated that the program had a clear

impact upon the community's ability to better respond to depressed students (Field, 2006)”. This

study shows the success and improvements of a system that is similar to my solution.

Making sure that all students take tests in person is very difficult as there are a lot of

students at universities. So, the schools could set up tests online to help students find out if they

have signs of depression. The schools could also have videos similar to the alcohol, drug, and

decision making videos that students are required to watch at many schools. The videos could

5

Running Head: Depression Proposal

help students find out if they need help or steps to take to help them deal with any problems.

Putting these tests and assessments online makes it easier for students to take who are

embarrassed or shy about their problems with depression. Many students put off seeking help. A

study of 1,455 students was taken by Susan R. Furr, an assistant professor in the Department of

Counseling, Special Education, and Child Development at the university of North Carolina at

Charlotte (Furr, 2001). From the study, she said “When asked if they had sought any type of

counseling to assist them when they were in a depressed state, 17% of the students who reported

experiencing depression indicated that they had sought counseling.” Students need the help, but

don’t seek it. To make sure students seek help and watch these videos and take these tests, the

school could put a hold on student’s schedules to prevent them from registering for classes the

following semester which will then force the students to watch the videos and take the tests.

These tests and videos could be created by the same doctors and counselors who have worked

with people with depression.

Many large schools have very large endowments. Schools sit on billions of dollars when

they could use the money for programs, tests, and facilities. The school’s endowment could

really help with the programs, tests, employees, and facilities that would be created to help

students with depression. Spending millions out of billions of dollars is not that significant

especially when it comes to helping students. If a school is unwilling to pay for the programs and

facilities with their endowment, they can resort to raising the tuition. Raising a school’s tuition a

tiny bit won’t make or break a student. If a student can’t afford the tuition, they will be able to

receive scholarships, grants, and financial aid. Some argue that raising the tuition of everyone is

not fair if everyone doesn’t take advantage of the facilities. To respond to this argument, schools

have clubs and facilities including the infirmary that students have the option to take advantage

6

Running Head: Depression Proposal

of, but choose not to. These doctors would be more specialized in the field of depression so they

can give students the best options.

Conclusion

Depression is a very serious issue on many college campuses. However, there are steps

that can be taken to get rid of depression on campuses all over the country. Even though some of

these steps might cost extra money, it is worth it if it means that depression is eliminated.

Depression is a growing issue that needs to be put to rest. Eliminating depression will help the

students and the universities.

7

Running Head: Depression Proposal

Sources

Cuijpers, P., Cristea, I. A., Ebert, D. D., Koot, H. M., Auerbach, R. P., Bruffaerts, R., & Kessler,

R. C. (2016). PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE

STUDENTS: A METAANALYSIS: Review: Treatment of depression in students.

Depression and Anxiety, 33(5), 400-414. doi:10.1002/da.22461

Field, L. D., Elliott, M. S., & Korn, P. R. (2006). A successful community-based intervention for

addressing college student depression. Journal of College Student Development, 47(1),

105-109. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195180257?

accountid=10920

Furr, S., Westefeld, J., McConnell, G., Jenkins, J. (2001). Suicide and depression among college

students: A decade later. 32(1), 97-100. Retrieved from

http://www.campushealthandsafety.org/resources/resource_rt_349.html

Rude, S., Gortner, E., & Pennebaker, J. (2004). Language use of depressed and depression

vulnerable college students. Cognition & Emotion, 18(8), 1121-1133.

doi:10.1080/02699930441000030

Swanholm, E., Vosvick, M., & Chng, C.-L. (2009). Pessimism, trauma, risky sex: covariates of

depression in college students. American Journal of Health Behavior, 33(3), 309+.

Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=AONE&sw=w&u=gain40375&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE

%7CA209477230&sid=summon&asid=3bfe10b314baddb5841c0603d67319ff

8

Running Head: Depression Proposal

Depression Proposal Advertisement

The image above displays an advertisement that would be set up around campus as a flyer, a

handout, and would be online so students could see it. The advertisement informs students on the

serious issue as well as where and when they can seek help to get rid of their depression. It also

lets students know how they can get involved whether it’s by taking an evaluation or joining the

depression awareness club. The advertisements would reach the students by the help of the

depression awareness club.

Images Cited

"Go to Bing Homepage." Health+and+Wellness+Clip+Art - Bing Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 11

Dec. 2016.

9