College depression: What parents need to know

Helping your child make the emotional transition to college can be a major undertaking. Know how to identify whether your child is having trouble dealing with this new stage of life — and what you can do to help.

Depression is an illness that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. College depression isn't a clinical diagnosis. Instead, college depression is depression that begins during college.

College students face many challenges, pressures and anxieties that can cause them to feel overwhelmed. They might be living on their own for the first time and feeling homesick. They're also likely adapting to a new schedule and workload, adjusting to life with roommates, and figuring out how to belong. Money and intimate relationships can also serve as major sources of stress. Dealing with these changes during the transition from adolescence to adulthood can trigger or unmask depression during college in some young adults.

Depression during college has been linked to:

Impaired academic performanceSmokingRisky behaviors related to alcohol abuse, such as having unsafe sex

Many college students occasionally feel sad or anxious, but these emotions pass within a few days. Untreated depression persists and interferes with normal activities.

Signs and symptoms that a student might be experiencing depression during college include:

Feelings of sadness or unhappinessIrritability or frustration, even over small mattersLoss of interest or pleasure in normal activitiesInsomnia or excessive sleepingChanges in appetite or weightAgitation or restlessnessAngry outburstsSlowed thinking, speaking or body movementsIndecisiveness, distractibility and decreased concentrationFatigue, tiredness and loss of energyFeelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixation on past failures, or self-blame when things aren't going rightTrouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering thingsFrequent thoughts of death, dying or suicideCrying spells for no apparent reasonUnexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches