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College may spark depression in females, UCLA study says

U-WIRE

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Almost half of all women making the transition from high school to college will experience depression, a recent UCLA study says.

Uma Rao, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, said 47 percent of women entering college will be faced with one or more bouts with depression.

"We did find a high rate of depression, but we were not very surprised at our findings," Rao said. "Overall, we knew that women entering college are at a high-risk period of developing depression."

Rao's procedure - in which 150 women were followed for five years after high school graduation - and findings were published in the July issue of the Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

"One-third of the women we studied developed depression as a new phenomenon," Rao said. "However, people who already had depression were more likely to become depressed."

The idea of coming to college ready to battle depression is not stressed to incoming freshmen, as are the need to study or the dangers of drinking, said University of Iowa freshman Amanda Ball.

"I never thought of depression as a college statistic," she said. "If a lot of women do become depressed in college, you think that - like partying too hard - it would come up."

After puberty, women are twice as likely to develop depression than men, Rao said.

The shift from high school to college is usually the first considerable change in a young adult's life. Whether it's a good or bad experience, it's enough to spark bouts of depression, she said.

"Women tend to focus heavily on their problems and are often times unable to look past them," Rao said. "The introspective nature of women can lead to this behavior and ultimately depression."

Though most freshmen seem caught up in the excitement of their first week of college, Ball said, she can see why depression is prevalent among college woman.

"Taking on more than they can handle, boy problems - especially with college guys, not being at home and not being able to find friends are reasons I think would cause depression," she said. "It is a big change."

Iowa associate psychology professor Sam Kuperman agreed with Rao's findings, but, he said, the numbers seemed high.

"Only about 10 to 15 percent of the adult population is depressed - 47 percent is high," he said.

The study may not be completely accurate because the women turned in self evaluations rather than a professional evaluation, Kuperman said.

"The percentages are always lower if you actually interview the people," he said. "If they analyze themselves, they might put things out of proportion."

It is best to recognize the symptoms of depression early, such as changes in eating and sleeping patterns, feelings of self-worthlessness, spontaneous crying, lack of energy and thoughts of suicide, Kuperman said.

"Severe depression is not something that you can just snap out of; it is genetic and biological, just like any other medical disease," Rao said. "There is definitely help available, especially while in college, where professional help is more accessible."