Depression has become one of the most common mental health concerns. It is now affecting more than 6 million American adults each year. Depression is common predominantly amongst those who have occurrences of social or personal conflicts, health related disabilities, deaths of close family or friends, and social seclusion (Branson, Boss, Cron, & Kang, 206). It can be caused by several different factors. These may include difficult life events, medication side effects, a family history of depression, imbalance of neurotransmitters, or negative thinking patterns. It may also co-occur along with another condition such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or a hormonal disorder. Individuals with depression may exhibit signs of sad or anxious mood, abnormal sleeping patterns, irritability, persistent pain, digestive conditions, trouble with focusing or decisions, lethargy, feelings of guilt or hopelessness, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts or actions. Being such an impairing mental condition, adequate and effective treatment may be difficult to find.
Research shows that depression is considered to be among the most commonly diagnosed and treated o
f all psychiatric disorders (He, Zhang, et al., 209). More specifically, in the population of students with disabilities within college campuses, 24 percent reported that they have a mental health condition or depression making this group the largest proportion (Agarwal & Kumar, 204). Depression during this stage can result in negative educational, social, and economic outcomes. In particular, suicide is reported to be the leading cause of death in college students in the United States (Acharya, Jin, & Collins, 208). Study results are reflective of the importance of depressive symptoms in relation to suicide ideation among college students and suggest that depressive symptoms must be a key focus of the conceptualization and assessment of risk (Cukrowicz, Schlegel, Smith, Jacobs, Van Orden, Paukert, Pettit, & Joiner, 20). It may be possible that because depression in college students is more often a first onset disorder it can be treated better as opposed to a recurrent depressive disorder. With college years being such a critical period for individuals with depression, alternate treatment options should be further explored and made available.