Depression can be described as a mood or emotional state that is characterized by feelings of low self-worth or guilt and a reduced ability to enjoy life.
There are several symptoms that mark depression and they include; feelings of hopelessness, sadness, pessimism, lowered self-esteem, inability to enjoy various activities that one used to enjoy, reduced energy, loss of appetite and loss of sleep among other things.
A survey by The National College Health Survey revealed that roughly 45% of college students reported that they are depressed to a point that it was difficult to function. 80% of students admit to being overwhelmed in their college days.
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College depression isn’t a clinical diagnosis. It usually begins when one joins college. Even if it is a college of your dream, no one is safe from overwork on the amount of new information. The transition between high school and college can be so overwhelming to students so much that it can lead to depression.
College students face many challenges, pressures, and anxieties as compared to their high school counterparts. One has to adjust to a new environment that may be far from home, make new friends, adjust to a new work schedule and workload, dealing with financial problems and also relationship problems.
The signs and symptoms of college depression are similar to those of depression but may not be limited to health problems such as a backache, headaches, loss of appetite and feelings of suicide. The good news is that there are several life hacks that a girl can use in order to calm college depression. These are discussed below.
Sleep
One characteristic of depression is the loss of sleep or insomnia. Losing out on sleep also causes depression. According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep and depression have a complex interdependent relationship; depression can lead to sleep problems and at the same time, sleep problems can also cause or contribute to depression. This is a vicious cycle that grows gradually over weeks or months. A girl needs her beauty sleep and it is recommended for one to sleep between 7 and 8 hours in order to feel well-rested addition, sleep is good for regulating the body’s metabolism.
Relaxation methods
There are several relaxation methods that one can use to calm down depression. These include; meditation, yoga, SPA among others. However, meditation is the only method that has been medically proven to calm down depression.
Meditation is a very powerful natural tool that has been used to calm down depression and anxiety. In the past, meditation was only used in a spiritual setting. But thanks to modern technology such as the EEG and MRI scanners, scientists were able to take an in-depth analysis of the brains of people who have been meditating for decades. The results revealed that people who meditated daily were much happier while people who rarely meditated were sad and depressed. To effectively meditate, you can use the following steps;
• Lay a mat on the ground. Sit upright in a comfortable position.
• Close your eyes. Breathe in and out. Make sure you take deep breaths.
• After a while, your mind will wander. Bring attention back to your breath and let your mind be calm.
• You can think of any calming thing or place and do this for 15-20 minutes daily.
Carefully plan your day
You need to get organized. Carefully prioritize your work in order of importance and sense of urgency. This way, you won’t lose track of time and panic later on due to uncompleted work. You need to employ a planner and keep a to-do list to organize your work. You should keep the planner where you can easily access it. A notebook or your phone would suffice. In addition, keep every paper you write, the handouts you are given and the notes you take for every class. You never know when they might become handy.
Seek support from other people
Always remember that you are not the only one suffering from a case of depression. You should seek support from other people. You can talk to the college’s counsellor or seek a certified counsellor outside the school premises if you need professional help. You can talk to your parents or close friend as long as you feel comfortable sharing with them. Remember that sharing is caring, and it will help you reduce the emotional isolation and prevent you from thinking that you are all alone. For academic help, there are lots of online services that offer various help to students.
Participate in an extracurricular activity
There are a lot of extracurricular activities you can participate in. There are fraternities and sororities, sports activities and basically various activities you can engage in. you can choose to engage in any activity that interests you and is outside of classwork to enable you to meet people that are interested in the same activities such as you and voila, you have friends that you have the same interests with.
These five steps have been proven to actually work. As much as they will keep you from feeling depressed, they will also enable you to maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep you happier. However, the most important step is to realize that you need help and be committed to the treatment regime that you have chosen.