Students dealing with school, work, family and friends can be atrisk for depression problems, which start as normal responses tostress but can develop into a disorder that disrupts a person'sentire life.
"People begin to put emphasis on society's message on how tolive," said Clay Harrington, a psychologist at Clay HarringtonCounseling. "They try to take control of these things, and whenthey can't get control, that leads to depression."
Causes of depression primarily include stress, grief or sometype of loss, which is a by-product of grief, but childhood issues,such as abuse, also play a major role in depression's onset,Harrington said.
Kim Wall, a junior in The University of Memphis UniversityCollege, said she has suffered from depression since the age of 14but did not see it as a problem until last year. She was finallydiagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety.
"A good portion of my problems came from school because I'm aperfectionist when it comes to grades," she said. "If I get belowan 'A,' I'm not happy with that."
Eating a good diet and exercising to instigate a natural fatigue(the body needs a degree of fatigue in order to achieve propersleep functions) of the body are two simple ways to preventdepression from occurring, Harrington said.
"One of the most practical solutions is to not give into feelingdown," he said. "The best thing is to get yourself moving, andnormally the issues of the day will carry you through."
Several anti-depressants, such as Zoloft and Prozac, serve aseffective combatants to the disease for a number of people.
"I took Zoloft while I was doing my undergraduate studies at UT(Knoxville)," said Jessica Hiett, special education graduatestudent at The U of M. "It really helped since I was experiencing alot of anxiety due to certain issues I couldn't deal with."
She said there wasn't a drastic difference after beginning themedication, but it did allow her to deal with stress and normaleveryday activities.
Learning to relax and let things go are two primary issues thatpeople dealing with stress have a hard time developing, Harringtonsaid. Many of the topics students worry about involve tangiblesolutions that can prevent future anxiety disorders.
"The best way to prevent depression is to catch it early beforeit becomes clinical depression," he said. "Everyone gets down aboutthings, so you just have to recognize it and be honest with youremotions."
