A 2001 survey said that 14 percent of 701 students in the Boston area had many symptoms of depression with half of them considered as severe cases, states USA Today.
Jerald Kay, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Wright State University School of Medicine acknowledged that depression in students has doubled over the past 15 years and suicides have tripled.
The 2006 American College Health Association Survey found that 45 percent of women and 36 percent of men on college campuses suffer from depression.
Psych Central says, that the main cause of depression in college is change. Many students have difficulty dealing with the stress of school and being away from home because they must adapt to an unfamiliar atmosphere with new people.
According to USA Today, many students arrive at school already medicated. Because it is a new, "less stressful" environment many choose to stop taking medicine because they feel "better." Unless directed by a doctor, this is never a good idea.
Other reasons students become depressed includes family dysfunction, high-pressure classes and that college is the beginning of "the real world." Also, those aged between 18 and 25 are vulnerable to mental illness, reports USA Today.